Latin Lovers (1953)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Mervyn LeRoy

Writer:

Isobel Lennart (writer)

Release Date:

28 August 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

TORRID! THRILL! TEASE! (original ad - all caps)

Plot:

Nora Taylor has $37,000,00 but thinks every man she meets prefers her bankbook figure to her own, and that include her current fiancé...

Plot Keywords:

Brazil | Secretary | Wealth | Beautiful Woman | Fortune Hunter

Cast

Lana Turner	...	Nora Taylor
Ricardo Montalban	...	Roberto Santos
John Lund	...	Paul Chevron
Louis Calhern	...	Grandfather Eduardo Santos
Jean Hagen	...	Anne Kellwood
Eduard Franz	...	Dr. Lionel Y. Newman
Beulah Bondi	...	Woman analyst
Joaquin Garay	...	Zeca
Archer MacDonald	...	Howard G. Hubbell
Dorothy Neumann	...	Mrs. Newman
Robert Burton	...	Mr. Cumberly
Rita Moreno	...	Christina
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Paula Kelly	...	Herself (member, The Modernaires)
The Modernaires	...	Themselves

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (PCA #16391) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Fernando Lamas was originally cast in the role that Ricardo Montalban played. Lamas and Lana Turner were lovers and when they broke up, she insisted he be replaced.

Quotes:

Roberto Santos: I took one look at you and knew I had to kiss you.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Shirtless: Hollywood's Sexiest Men (2002) (TV)

The Merry Widow Goes To Brazil! Where's Fernanado?

This movie came right on the heels of The Merry Widow and was suppose to reunite Lana and Fernando for one more film, but - uh - complications arose! So, Lana Turner tells it in her autobiography, they were at a party and Lex Barker asked Lana to dance with him, and she didn't know how jealous Fernando could be and she accepted, and after the dance, he thanked her and Fernando said something like "Why don't you take her in the bushes and f--- her!" Then they went home and an argument took place and Fernando beat her up and caused bruises all over body. So, she reported this to the studio with the claim that she would not make the movie with Fernanado, and so they replaced him with Ricardo Montalban a very devout Catholic and would not, in any way, have an affair with Lana. So, later on Fernando never knew why he was taken off the picture. Well, according to Esther Williams, who would later marry Fernando; in her autobiography she stated that Lana would yell out in her doorway of her dressing room, "Fernando, you get your f----ing Argentine ass in here!" And, also, according to Esther Williams, she placed a glass on the wall of her dressing room and heard Lana moaning "Ohhhhhh! Fernado!!!!!!" And that Lana at times would take a leather belt to her body and put the bruises on her legs and body herself and claim it was someone else! And to prove that Fernando didn't ever lay a hand on Lana, he successfully stayed married to Esther Williams until the day he died! Oh!!!! For those old days when we had these colorful genius that made those great movies! Where are these colorful genius' today? Don't have any! Anyway, true, this movie is very entertaining, but it's really just a rehash of The Merry Widow in many ways, and if you notice, when Lana hears Ricardo singing, the same lighting, the same look on her face before they do the Samba together. One thing that not too many people never knew about Lana Turner is that she was an excellent dancer, and only showed signs of it in The Merry Widow and Latin Lovers, but the ending is kinda unrealistic. If she "did" give the money to Ricardo, I'm sure she was smart enough to keep most of it for herself with him knowing about it! After all, he didn't know how money she had! By the way, that was not Ricardo singing. He can sing, but that wasn't his voice and you almost expect them to repeat "Baby It's Cold Outside" and of course, I'm surprised that in many of the scenes Lana never once said those famous lines, "Oh! Ricardo! No!" Oops! That was the line used by Esther Williams! And speaking of Esther Williams, since movies like this usually have guest movie stars in them, I'm surprised that Esther didn't do some kind of Brazilian Samba Water Ballet in it! Not Lana's best, but a nice diversion on a boring weekend afternoon with nothing to do!