Unfortunately, Ninon Sevilla was induced to reprise her "mulata" in the ill-conceived, poorly directed (Alfredo B. Crevenna) Yambao (1957). Aware that Pedro Armendariz had done his best to steal her limelight in "Mulata" (1954), Ninon was delighted with second-rate co-stars Ramon Gay (from the Aztec Mummy pictures) and Senorita Durgel, with whom she had worked harmoniously in Crevenna's 1956 "Amor y Pecado". So the accent is firmly on Sevilla all the way. Alas, she proves a huge disappointment. The film's poster lists seven songs and dances, but there seemed more a like dreary dozen to me. All but one are total write-offs, while the one that is mildly pleasant has nothing to do with the movie and seems to have been added as an afterthought. Not that the foolish, half-baked story with its copycat echoes of far better films like "Chloe" is any more entertaining. And as for the acting, the word "puerile" comes readily to mind, even to describe the exotic Sevilla herself who way overdoes the eye popping, teeth gnashing and similar amateurish histrionics. What's worse, she disappoints her fans by confining her dancing strictly to repetitive mambo-junko. We keep waiting for director Crevenna to wake up and realize this dime-store potboiler would play better as a comedy. Alas, he never does, even though Ninon's over-the-top scenery-chewing should have caused lightning to strike.
Review of Cry of the Bewitched
