My Man and I (1952)
** (out of 4)
Chu Chu Ramirez (Ricardo Montalban), a Mexican immigrant, becomes a U.S. citizen and plans on living the American dream of working, making a home and being happy. He gets a job with a racist couple (Claire Trevor, Wendell Corey) but after the work is done they refuse to pay him and go as far as to falsely accuse him of a crime, which might land him in jail. This film has a good heart behind it but the screenplay just wonders around and never really focuses on anything. The film follows a pretty standard storyline, which takes away any possible drama since we can see where everything is going. Montalban is excellent in his role but it's a shame he didn't have a better screenplay to work with. Both Corey and Trevor are great as well and they come off very easy to hate. Shelley Winters plays a troubled woman who is befriended by Chu Chu. The most interesting aspect is how Chu Chu views America as a place of good and where nothing can go wrong. When he's accused of the crime he has a hard time figuring out how an innocent man can go to jail and I wish the film would have centered more on these issues. Seeing how a foreigner views America is something interesting to work with but the film goes all over the place.
** (out of 4)
Chu Chu Ramirez (Ricardo Montalban), a Mexican immigrant, becomes a U.S. citizen and plans on living the American dream of working, making a home and being happy. He gets a job with a racist couple (Claire Trevor, Wendell Corey) but after the work is done they refuse to pay him and go as far as to falsely accuse him of a crime, which might land him in jail. This film has a good heart behind it but the screenplay just wonders around and never really focuses on anything. The film follows a pretty standard storyline, which takes away any possible drama since we can see where everything is going. Montalban is excellent in his role but it's a shame he didn't have a better screenplay to work with. Both Corey and Trevor are great as well and they come off very easy to hate. Shelley Winters plays a troubled woman who is befriended by Chu Chu. The most interesting aspect is how Chu Chu views America as a place of good and where nothing can go wrong. When he's accused of the crime he has a hard time figuring out how an innocent man can go to jail and I wish the film would have centered more on these issues. Seeing how a foreigner views America is something interesting to work with but the film goes all over the place.