The Gay Desperado

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The Gay Desperado
Nino Martini in The Gay Desperado.jpg
Film still with Nino Martini for film
Directed by Rouben Mamoulian
Written by Wallace Smith (screenplay)
Leo Birinsky (story)
Produced by Mary Pickford
Jesse L. Lasky
Starring Ida Lupino
Leo Carrillo
Nino Martini
Cinematography Lucien Andriot
Distributed by United Artists
Milestone Pictures (2006 DVD release)
Release date
  • October 2, 1936 (1936-10-02)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited States
Language English

The Gay Desperado is a 1936 American comedy film starring Ida Lupino, Leo Carrillo, and Nino Martini and directed by Rouben Mamoulian, produced by Mary Pickford, and originally released by United Artists. The film was restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive and the Mary Pickford Foundation, and released on DVD in 2006 by Milestone Pictures after being out of distribution for many years.

Contents

Portions of the film were shot in Tucson, Arizona and show the old adobe quarter Barrio Viejo of the City and Mission San Xavier Del Bac.

Plot

Chivo (Nino Martini), a singer who works in a movie theater providing live entertainment, is apprehended by a music-loving Mexican bandit Pablo Braganza (Leo Carrillo) who wants to make Chivo part of his band. Braganza, who admires American gangsters, also kidnaps Jane and her rich boyfriend Bill to become more like the American movie gangsters he admires.

Cast

Reception

Writing for The Spectator in 1936, Graham Greene gave the film a good review, describing it as "one of the best light comedies of the year". Greene asserts that "Mr. Mamoulian's camera is very persuasive" and together with the film's "careful compositions" and the overall intent of the film he summarizes the film as having "a framework of fine and mannered prose". [1]

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References

  1. Greene, Graham (November 13, 1936). "Fredlös/The Gay Desperado". The Spectator . (reprinted in: Taylor, John Russell, ed. (1980). The Pleasure Dome. Oxford University Press. p.  116–119. ISBN   0192812866.)