The Gay Senorita | |
---|---|
Directed by | Arthur Dreifuss |
Screenplay by | Edward Eliscu |
Story by | J. Robert Bren |
Produced by | Jay Gorney |
Starring | Jinx Falkenburg Jim Bannon Steve Cochran |
Cinematography | Burnett Guffey |
Edited by | Al Clark |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 69 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Gay Senorita is a 1945 American comedy-drama film directed by Arthur Dreifuss, which stars Jinx Falkenburg, Jim Bannon, and Steve Cochran.
In Los Angeles, when Dona Maria Sandoval wants to build a street which will highlight Latin American culture, naming it Sandoval Lane, she learns that businessman J.J. Frentiss has other plans for the location, a large warehouse. Despite pleas from Dona Maria and her two neices, Elena and Loreta, J.J. refuses to change his plans. J.J. asks his nephew, Phil, to intercede with the women and convince them to sell their property.
Through subterfuge, Phil is introduced to the Sandoval family. He becomes romantically interested in Elena, who thinks his name is Phil Dolan, a singer in a local Latin society orchestra. Phil, an architect, becomes interested in the Sandoval's project, and agrees to become the official architect of the project. In making the agreement, the Sandovals turn over the deed to their property to Phil as security.
Meanwhile, J.J. has traveled to New York on business. While there, he is approached by members of the Mexican Consulate, who thank him for his support of the Sandoval project in promoting Latin American culture. J.J. is furious and immediately flies back home to Los Angeles. He confronts his nephew, exposing his lies to the Sandoval family, and lets them know that he is still going through with his plan for the warehouse, which has been made easier now with Phil's obtaining the property lease.
Elena and the rest of the Sandoval family feel betrayed by Phil, but he asks them to give him a little time to make things right. Phil's attempted plan goes awry, but in the end J.J. is swayed to allow the Sandoval project to go through, and agrees to move the location of his warehouse.
The working title of the film was Fiesta Town. [2] Sam White was originally scheduled to produce the film but was replaced by Jay Garney in October 1944. [3] [4] In April 1945 it was reported that the former opera star, Marguerite Sylva had been signed to play the role of Dona Maria. [5]
The Film Daily gave the film a positive review, particularly pointing out the unique backdrop of the film. They praised the direction and cinematography, and gave good notices to the performances of Corinna Mura, Isabelita, and Luisita Triana. [6]
María de los Ángeles Félix Güereña was a Mexican actress and singer. Along with Pedro Armendáriz and Dolores del Río, she was one of the most successful figures of Latin American cinema in the 1940s and 1950s. Considered one of the most beautiful actresses of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, her strong personality and taste for finesse garnered her the title of diva early in her career. She was known as La Doña, a name derived from her character in Doña Bárbara (1943), and María Bonita, thanks to the anthem composed exclusively for her as a wedding gift by Félix's second husband, Agustín Lara. Her acting career consists of 47 films made in Mexico, Spain, France, Italy and Argentina.
José Luis Rodríguez González, nicknamed El Puma (Cougar), is a Venezuelan singer and actor who is known for having recorded many international super hits and participated in a handful of telenovelas. He has also served as a coach and mentor on the Peruvian, Argentinian, and Chilean versions of The Voice, as well as a judge on The X Factor Chile.
Míriam Colón Valle was a Puerto Rican actress. She was the founder and director of New York City's Puerto Rican Traveling Theater. Beginning her career in the early 1950s, she performed on Broadway and on television. She appeared on television programs from the 1960s to the 2010s, including Sanford and Son and Gunsmoke. She is best known as Mama Montana, the mother of Al Pacino's title character in Scarface. In 2014, she received the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama. She died of complications from a pulmonary infection on March 3, 2017, at the age of 80.
María Dolores "Lola" Flores Ruiz was a Spanish actress, bailaora and singer. Born in Jerez de la Frontera, Flores became interested in the performing arts at a very young age. Known for her overwhelming personality onstage, she debuted as a dancer at age sixteen at the stage production Luces de España, in her hometown. After being discovered by film director Fernando Mignoni, Flores moved to Madrid to pursue a professional career in music and film, with her first gig being the lead role in Mignoni's Martingala (1940). Flores succeeded as a film and stage actress. In 1943 she obtained her breakthrough role in the musical stage production Zambra alongside Manolo Caracol, in which she sang original compositions by Rafael de León, Manuel López-Quiroga Miquel and Antonio Quintero, including "La Zarzamora" and "La Niña de Fuego", mostly singing flamenco music, copla, rumba and ranchera. She then started to receive widespread media coverage.
Silvia Pinal Hidalgo is a Mexican actress. She began her career in the theater, venturing into cinema in 1949. She is one of Mexico's greatest female stars, one of the last surviving major stars from the Golden Age of Mexican cinema and part of the Golden Age of Hollywood for her film Shark! (1969). Her work in film and popularity in her native country led Pinal to work in Europe. Pinal achieved international recognition by starring in a famous film trilogy directed by Luis Buñuel: Viridiana (1961), El ángel exterminador (1962) and Simón del Desierto (1965).
Steve Cochran was an American film, television and stage actor. He attended the University of Wyoming. After a stint working as a cowboy, Cochran developed his acting skills in local theatre and gradually progressed to Broadway, film and television.
Libertad Lamarque Bouza was an Argentine actress and singer, one of the icons of the Golden Age of Argentine and Mexican cinema. She achieved fame throughout Latin America, and became known as "La Novia de América". By the time she died in 2000, she had appeared in 65 films and six telenovelas, had recorded over 800 songs and had made innumerable theatrical appearances.
Eugenia Lincoln "Jinx" Falkenburg was an American actress and model. She married journalist and publicist Tex McCrary in 1945. Known as "Tex and Jinx", the couple pioneered and popularized the talk show format, first on radio and then in the early days of television. They hosted a series of interview shows in the late 1940s and early 1950s that combined celebrity chit-chat with discussions of important topics of the day.
James Shorttel Bannon was an American actor and radio announcer known for his work on the I Love a Mystery and Red Ryder series during the 1940s and 1950s.
Alcanzar una estrella is a Mexican telenovela first broadcast on Canal de las Estrellas in 1990. Also broadcast in Latin America and on Univision in the United States, the telenovela tells the story of an introverted girl's infatuation with her teen idol. The leading roles were played by singers Mariana Garza and Eduardo Capetillo, ex-members of the Mexican pop band Timbiriche. The two also sang the theme songs, which were written by Ricardo Arjona. Arjona and other singers such as Patricia Manterola also made acting cameos. The story was produced by Luis de Llano, producer and manager of Timbiriche and Garibaldi, and written by actress Rita Macedo, de Llano's mother. Alcanzar una estrella turned out to be Macedo's last credit as an actress before she committed suicide in the mid-1990s.
Hilda Isabel Gorrindo Sarli, nicknamed Coca, was an Argentine actress. She was known for starring in several sexploitation films by Armando Bó, especially in the 1960s and 1970s. She began her career as a model, becoming Miss Argentina and reaching the semi-finals of Miss Universe 1955. She was discovered by Bó in 1956 and made her acting debut the following year with Thunder Among the Leaves, in which a controversial nude scene featuring Sarli made it the first film to feature full frontal nudity in Argentine cinema.
Patricia Paz Maria Medina was a British actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the films Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954) and Mr. Arkadin (1955).
The Absentee is a 1951 Mexican drama film directed by Julio Bracho. It was entered into the 1952 Cannes Film Festival.
Gustavo Rojo Pinto was a Uruguayan-Mexican actor.
Fernando "Papi" Cortés was a Puerto Rican film actor, writer and director. He was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but he spent most of his adult life in Mexico City, where he died. On 1932, while in New York City, Fernando Cortés married Puerto Rican childhood friend María del Pilar Cordero, who adopted the stage name of Mapy Cortés. The couple soon traveled to Spain with a Cuban theatrical troupe. They worked on the Spanish stage, radio and film until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1936. Fernando progressively began to take a backseat as actor and baritone and focused on promoting the career of his wife Mapy, who became a noted vedette in Barcelona.
Miguel Angel Sandoval Cabrera, was a Guatemalan-born American pianist, conductor and composer. He spoke Spanish, English, French, and Italian. His musical works contributed greatly to both countries, and he is viewed as a musical ambassador of Guatemala.
Sombrero is a 1953 American musical romance film directed by Norman Foster and starring Ricardo Montalbán, Pier Angeli, Vittorio Gassman and Cyd Charisse.
Manuel Fontanals (1893–1972) was a Catalonian Spanish-born art director who settled and worked in Mexico during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema.
The Rossini Bicentennial Birthday Gala is a live album of operatic and sacred music by Gioachino Rossini, performed by Rockwell Blake, Craig Estep, Maria Fortuna, Thomas Hampson, George Hogan, Marilyn Horne, Kathleen Kuhlmann, Mimi Lerner, Chris Merritt, Jan Opalach, Samuel Ramey, Henry Runey, Frederica von Stade, Deborah Voigt, the Concert Chorale of New York and the Orchestra of St. Luke's under the direction of Sir Roger Norrington. It was released in 1993 as a 119-minute video album and in 1994 as a 78-minute CD.
Canción Andaluza is the final studio album by Spanish musician Paco de Lucía, released on April 29, 2014 through Universal Music Spain. It was released posthumously after his death on February 25, 2014. Produced by de Lucía himself, it features collaborations with fellow Flamenco singers Estrella Morente and Vicente Castro "Parrita", and Venezuelan salsa musician Oscar D'León.