Desi Arnaz and His Orchestra (1946)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Jack Scholl

Release Date:

12 October 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Music

Plot:

After a career in his native Cuba as a singing orchestra leader, and a few film roles in the USA as both...

Plot Keywords:

Orchestra Leader | Orchestra | Singing | USA | Mexico

Cast

Desi Arnaz	...	Himself
Amanda Lane	...	Herself
Searles & Galian	...	Themselves

Also Known As:

Melody Masters: Desi Arnaz and His Orchestra (USA) (series title)

Runtime:

USA:10 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #11542)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Vitaphone production reel #A1465

Movie Connections:

Featured in Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie (1993) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Guadalajara

Baba-Loo

As anyone who lived through the Fifties and/or who watches the TVLand channel, Desi Arnaz's occupation as Ricky Ricardo was leading the Ricky Ricardo Orchestra at the Tropicana Nightclub. Occasionally we got to see Ricky actually performing, especially in the beginning. But after a while Desi was just a foil for his wife's comic routines. And then of course Lucy had a lot of 'splaining to do.

But this musical short from Warner Brothers shows Desi Arnaz as the musical performer he was singing and leading the orchestra he put together post World War II. He gets to do three musical numbers with his orchestra including Baba-Loo which was the song that Ricky Ricardo was famous for on I Love Lucy which we rarely ever heard, but which many jokes were made about.

Amanda Lane sings Easy Street which Lena Horne made famous and the dance team of Searles&Galian dance a nice samba number. Still this musical short gives us an opportunity to see the musical talents of Desi Arnaz.