Pepe (1960)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

George Sidney

Writers:

Claude Binyon (writer)
Leslie Bush-Fekete (play)

Release Date:

March 1961 (Austria)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Tagline:

A New Excitement in Screen Entertainment!

Plot:

The young Mexican Pepe's beloved horse is sold to Hollywood star Ted Holt, leading to Pepe's journey to Hollywood to get the horse back, and Pepe's encounter with half the stars working in Hollywood at the time. |

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Based On Play | Character Name In Title

Awards:

Nominated for 7 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Cantinflas	...	Pepe
Dan Dailey	...	Ted Holt
Shirley Jones	...	Suzie Murphy
Carlos Montalbán	...	Rodriguez (auctioneer)
Vicki Trickett	...	Lupita
Matt Mattox	...	Dancer
Hank Henry	...	Sands Manager
Suzanne Lloyd	...	Carmen
Carlos Rivas	...	Himself, Actor, Cameo appearance
Maurice Chevalier	...	Himself, Cameo appearance
Bing Crosby	...	Himself
Michael Callan	...	Dancer
Richard Conte	...	Himself, Cameo appearance at Sands
Bobby Darin	...	Himself, Cameo appearance
Sammy Davis Jr.	...	Himself, Cameo appearance at Sands

Runtime:

195 min | 158 min (cut version)

Country:

Mexico | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Final film appearance of both Billie Burke and Charles Coburn who appear together in the same sequence.

Movie Connections:

References Some Like It Hot (1959)

Soundtrack:

Lovely Day

So much effort for nothing!

It seems Hollywood just didn't know what to do with Cantinflas; after his appearance in AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, it took four years for him to appear in his next Hollywood movie - which was this train wreck that I'm sure had many of its participants licking their wounds for years to come!

Upon seeing PEPE, it seems even its filmmakers weren't sure what to do with him, given the fact that a great deal of the movie is devoted to the ton of cameo appearances, appearances where Cantinflas is more or less made to simply blubber statements that you can barely make out, or just sit back stunned. In fact, even in the scenes where he appears with the regular characters, Cantinflas really doesn't have that much to do. Needless to say, he ends up being completely unfunny. There's nothing he does here that gives me a clue as to why he was so popular south of the border. (One other possible problem may be that reportedly his style of humor was geared towards the language and customs of his part of the world.)

The whole movie is agonizing to sit through for its 158 minutes - the scary thing is that the movie was originally LONGER - over THREE HOURS LONG! (I am curious as to what was cut out - anyone know?) The only moment that provides anything of real entertainment is the "beatnik ballet" segment. Though it runs too long, and is somewhat goofy, some of the choreography is pretty spectacular.