estherwalker-34710 Review of Carnival in Costa Rica

Carnival in Costa Rica (1947)

Parental vs. self choice of a marital partner, during carnival time

[7/10 · 18 August 2021]

A Technicolor feast! Poor Cesar Romero! He seemingly had it all to be a top leading man. Tall, classically handsome, charismatic, adept at comedy, and with a name he was born with that exuded prominence. This 'Latin from Manhattan' did become a star in quite a few '40s Fox musicals and romantic comedies. But, while he often romanced the leading lady for a while, he almost never ended up with her at film's ending. No doubt, his Latin heritage relegated him to being the perennial supporting male lead, as he is here, where this 40y.o is playing a school boy freshly returned to Costa Rico from studies in the US. He's at least 10 years older than the 3 other romantic leads, but you wouldn't really know it. He had a flair for comedy, as shown in some of his films, including a bit in this one, when he put on dark glasses and pretended he had a bad cough, and was otherwise debilitated, when he met Vera-Ellen, his wife-to-be, according to their fathers. He had found a girlfriend(played by Celeste Holms) in the US, who had accompanied him to Costa Rico..............Dick Haymes was firstly known for his mellow singing. But, he sometimes served as the leading man or second lead in mid-'40s Fox musicals, being rather handsome, if sometimes rather wooden. Unfortunately, all of these films, including this one, are among the most obscure of Fox '40s musicals, although some have a fairly high IMDB mean rating. This film is available for free at YouTube, and, unlike some, has a DVD out for sale. Here, he plays an American coffee buyer, Costa Rica being most famous at this time, for growing coffee. He singled out Vera-Ellen, playing a Costa Rican, in a parade, and established a romantic relationship with her. Periodically, he sings, alone or with another..............Vera-Ellen was known firstly for her slim figure and athletic dancing, which she somewhat displays here, although her long Costa Rican dress largely hid her famous legs. She has 2 productions where her dancing is featured: one early on, at a fiesta, where she spends part of the time dancing with famous Russian and international dancer and choreographer Leonide Massine, who choreographed the whole production. Her second dance production occurred rather late in the film, during her supposed dream of marrying Dick Haymes' character. At 26, this was one of her early films, after being included in 2 Danny Kay films. She looked and seemed younger than her age, with a 'little girl' smiley face. She also looked rather fragile, with the smallest waist in Hollywood, due, in part, to her anorexia, which wasn't even recognized as a psychological problem at this time. She 'sings' several times, but her singing was always dubbed. Here, she plays the daughter of an American mother and Costa Rican father, with a presumed dark wig covering her normally light brown hair. However, it's still difficult to explain her obviously very fair skin. Like Cesar, she is characterized as having recently returned from studying in the US, and marked by her father to marry Cesar's character. However, she soon develops her own idea of whom she wants to marry..............Celeste Holm is the 4th lead, ending up as Cesar's American wife whom Cesar met while studying in the US. She was a good-looking extrovert blond, and seemed to have a good singing voice. This was only her 2nd film. She would receive an Oscar in her next film. However, her Hollywood career was rather brief, she preferring the stage and, later, TV series work, NYC being her preferred home...............J. Carrol Naish, playing Vera-Ellen's father , usually played ethnics, often Latinos. With his dark Latin looks I was shocked to discover that he had Irish ancestry! .............. The famous Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona is listed in the credits as a bandleader. I may have seen him very briefly, but not sure. However, all the songs were adaptations of his music. Unfortunately, his 2 most famous compositions: Malaguena, and Siboney, were not included............. The screenplay focuses on the conflict between the fathers and their children, played by Cesar and Vera Ellen, as to whom they will marry. Also, there is a bit of switching around among the 4 romantic stars, as was typical of musicals of that period. The uncertainty extends to the finale............. Otherwise, there is much Latin gaiety to be experienced. If you like that sort of thing, I can recommend another very obscure film: the 1941 "Fiesta", produced by Hal Roach, and available at You Tube. I have yet to see the 1947 Esther Williams film also titled "Fiesta", and confused with the '41 film at YouTube.