Pepe (1960)

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.

Director:

George Sidney

Writers:

Claude Binyon (screenplay), Leslie Bush-Fekete (play)

Stars:

Cantinflas, Dan Dailey, Shirley Jones

Nominated for 7 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cantinflas	...	Pepe
Dan Dailey	...	Ted Holt
Shirley Jones	...	Suzie Murphy
Carlos Montalbán	...	Rodriguez
Vicki Trickett	...	Lupita
Matt Mattox	...	Dancer
Hank Henry	...	Sands Manager
Suzanne Lloyd	...	Carmen
Carlos Rivas	...	Carlos
Maurice Chevalier	...	Maurice Chevalier
Bing Crosby	...	Bing Crosby
Michael Callan	...	Dancer
Richard Conte	...	Richard Conte
Bobby Darin	...	Bobby Darin
Sammy Davis Jr.	...	Sammy Davis Jr.

Storyline

In Mexico, Pepe is the good-natured ranch foreman of Sr. Rodriguez. Pepe's pride and joy is Don Juan, a magnificent white stud stallion that he raised from a colt for Sr. Rodriguez and that he refers to as his "son". As Sr. Rodriguez has decided to sell Don Juan at auction, Pepe enacts a plan to dissuade any interested buyers so that he can buy Don Juan himself. The plan doesn't work, as Don Juan is sold to washed-up Hollywood movie director Ted Holt - his current Hollywood status due to alcohol over-consumption - who wants to use Don Juan for his comeback project to be shot in Mexico with an all-Mexican cast except for an American female lead. Pepe decides to head to Hollywood and earn lots of money so that he can buy Pepe and bring him back to Mexico. In Hollywood, Pepe gets into one misadventure after another with a cavalcade of Hollywood movie stars, those misadventures based largely on Pepe's limited grasp of the English language, he often taking what is said to him in their ...

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Plot Keywords:

hollywood | horse | mexican man | one word title | forename as title | 

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Taglines:

PEPE...THE MOST FABULOUS FUNE SHOW EVER ON THE SCREEN! (original print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Mexico USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 April 1962 (Mexico)

Also Known As:

Pepe - Was kann die Welt schon kosten

Filming Locations:

Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico

Box Office

Gross USA:

$9,600,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation,Posa Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

180 min 158 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Due to the failure of this film, Mario Moreno never worked in Hollywood again. Some of his friends claimed that he got angry everytime someone mentioned this movie to him.

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Alternate Versions

Although several sources list the film's running time as either 190 or 195 minutes, according to studio records it is exactly three hours. The intermission might have attributed to the extra 10-15 minutes. Later cut to 157 minutes after initial screenings.

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Connections

Referenced in This Is Your Life: Shirley Jones (1971)

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Soundtracks

Lovely Day (Concha Nacar)
Music by Agustín Lara
Lyrics by Maria Teresa Lara
English Lyrics by Dory Previn (as Dory Langdon)

User Reviews

A delightful family movie

I have fond memories of this movie. I remember along with my brother Alan, begging our parents to take us to the drive-in to see Pepe. I don't know anyone who did not like Cantinflas. With the advent of DVD, I don't know why this title has not surfaced.