Weekend in Havana (1941)
John Payne works for a travel agency. When a cruise liner hits a snag, he’s sent to give reimbursements to all the passengers in exchange for a signed waver to ensure they won’t sue. Only one passenger won’t sign: Alice Faye. She insists a reimbursement won’t make up for a ruined vacation, so John and his company fly her to Havana for the weekend. She says she’ll sign the waver after she’s enjoyed herself. When John has to make sure she has a good time, he has no idea he’ll be making good her gambling debts, paying Cesar Romero to seduce her, and falling in love with her himself!
This movie is actually really cute, if you can use that little fast-forward button on your remote whenever Carmen Miranda comes on the screen. She’s just as annoying as she usually is, but since the main plot doesn’t involve her, she’s easy to skip over. It’s Alice’s movie, with John and Cesar in the background, and Carmen even further in the background. Alice is given a couple of songs, some witty dialogue, and absolutely adorable costumes that look like a precursor to Doris Day’s wardrobe in Romance on the High Seas. Very far in the background you’ll be able to see Sheldon Leonard desperately trying, and mostly succeeding, to hide his signature gangster accent, which is fun.
While normally I’m a John Payne fan, this movie doesn’t do anything to showcase him. He’s a wooden, bespectacled pencil pusher, and given the choice, Alice would be an idiot not to choose the handsome, charming Cesar Romero instead—even though he’s being paid to pay attention to her! Alice and John made quite a few movies together, so check out a different one if you want to like him.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. There’s a roulette scene about half an hour in, and the spinning wheel will make you sick. In other words, “Don’t Look, Mom!”
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru, and thanks "Meringue in Sugartown USA" for posting!
More Alice Faye movies here!
More Cesar Romero movies here!
This movie is actually really cute, if you can use that little fast-forward button on your remote whenever Carmen Miranda comes on the screen. She’s just as annoying as she usually is, but since the main plot doesn’t involve her, she’s easy to skip over. It’s Alice’s movie, with John and Cesar in the background, and Carmen even further in the background. Alice is given a couple of songs, some witty dialogue, and absolutely adorable costumes that look like a precursor to Doris Day’s wardrobe in Romance on the High Seas. Very far in the background you’ll be able to see Sheldon Leonard desperately trying, and mostly succeeding, to hide his signature gangster accent, which is fun.
While normally I’m a John Payne fan, this movie doesn’t do anything to showcase him. He’s a wooden, bespectacled pencil pusher, and given the choice, Alice would be an idiot not to choose the handsome, charming Cesar Romero instead—even though he’s being paid to pay attention to her! Alice and John made quite a few movies together, so check out a different one if you want to like him.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. There’s a roulette scene about half an hour in, and the spinning wheel will make you sick. In other words, “Don’t Look, Mom!”
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru, and thanks "Meringue in Sugartown USA" for posting!
More Alice Faye movies here!
More Cesar Romero movies here!