Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Judy Garland | ... | Manuela | |
Gene Kelly | ... | Serafin | |
Walter Slezak | ... | Don Pedro Vargas | |
Gladys Cooper | ... | Aunt Inez | |
Reginald Owen | ... | The Advocate | |
George Zucco | ... | The Viceroy | |
Fayard Nicholas | ... | Specialty Dancer | |
Harold Nicholas | ... | Specialty Dancer | |
Lester Allen | ... | Uncle Capucho | |
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Lola Deem | ... | Isabella |
Ellen Ross | ... | Mercedes | |
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Mary Jo Ellis | ... | Lizarda |
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Jean Dean | ... | Casilda |
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Marion Murray | ... | Eloise |
Ben Lessy | ... | Gumbo |
It is the year 1830. In the Spanish Main, local beauty Manuela Alva, is living on the island of Calvados and dreams of falling in-love with the legendary Caribbean pirate Macoco. However, her guardians, her aunt and uncle, aiming to get rich, insist she marries Don Pedro, the town mayor, a fat and bullying man. Manuela resigns herself to her fate but before the wedding day, in the nearby Port Sebastian, she meets by chance a troupe of traveling circus actors, led by the handsome Serafin. They both are attracted to one another but, while Serafin wants to woo Manuela, she refuses his advances claiming to be promised in marriage to Don Pedro. At the circus show, during a hypnosis act, Serafin learns that Manuela is secretly in-love with Macoco the pirate. This revelation persuades Serafin to resort to a trick in order to woo her. He pretends to be the famous pirate Macoco and he plays the part well, assisted by the complicity of his troupe. His performance is so well executed that it ... Written by nufs68
Highly stylized this is not an essential MGM musical along the lines of Meet Me in St. Louis or the Wizard of Oz but there is much that is memorable here aside from the Be a Clown finale. Perhaps Gene Kelly's most physical performance his pirate dance is phenomenal and he is loose and full of fun. Watching Judy there are hints everywhere of the jittery mess she was behind the camera while this was in production, she is almost never still for an instant throughout the entire film, especially her hands, and she is thin to the point of gauntness. Even with her evident spiral she still manages to be both funny and moving and the voice is in great expressive shape. A huge flop upon release its reputation has grown with the years and it can now be viewed as the artwork it is.