Week-End in Havana (1941)

Wow! Such a good movie.

Truly Dreadful Film

Powerful

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The film begins with a cruise ship getting stuck on a reef. The cruise line sends one of its execs (John Payne) to meet the passengers in order to placate them and get each one to sign a release. However, one (Alice Faye) is not so easily satisfied and refuses to sign. After all, she cannot afford to take another trip a couple weeks later and she insists that the cruise line owes her a vacation and NOW! So, to avoid a lawsuit, he arranges for the woman to be flown to Havana to be wined and dined in style. She is happy but won't sign the release until AFTER the trip is over--as it COULD still be a lousy vacation. So, to be sure the vacation is great, he arranges for a local ne'er-do-well (Cesar Romero) to romance her. The problem is that he already has a girlfriend (Carmen Miranda)--and she's one jealous lady! What's next? Well, it's pretty predictable but quite entertaining.This picture is pretty much what you'd expect from a film from this studio--some very nice Technicolor, a few songs and a lot of fun. While none of "Week-End in Havana" is certainly NOT a great film, it is a decent little time-passer and is worth seeing. It's also one of Miranda's best films, as she's used more effectively than in many of her Fox movies.By the way, at the 73 minute mark, you can catch a brief glimpse of Hugh Beaumont--but look fast or you'll miss him.

Despite the super-lovely Alice Faye's top billing, exotic Carmen Miranda manages to steal the show. She not only has the pick of the songs, the liveliest dances and the most colorful costumes, but shares the movie's funniest moments with Cesar Romero. Mind you, Alice is most attractively photographed, does wear some beautiful clothes, and does get to sing the haunting "Tropical Magic", one of Harry Warren's loveliest tunes. (Harry, incidentally, hated the picture. He loved Alice, but was somewhat ambivalent about Carmen Miranda and John Payne with "his limited and rather ordinary singing voice." Harry also complained that Fox treated him badly, forcing him to work night and day for four weeks because Carmen had scheduled the movie between other engagements. "I turned out a lot of music, some of which was dropped from the picture. I fell ill and was hospitalized for three months with pneumonia. When I returned to the studio, I found I'd been taken off salary for the whole time, whereas Mack Gordon had been kept on. Waving my walking stick, I stormed into Zanuck's office but his yes-men wouldn't let me see him. Maybe Zanuck knew nothing about it, but his lieutenants did. They were horrible people." In Fox's defense, it should be pointed out that Mack Gordon did write lyrics for "Romance and Rhumba" during Harry Warren's absence).To my surprise, John Payne's role is more of a character part than that of a romantic lead. It's the lively, personable Cesar Romero who not only shares most of the comedy with both Alice and Carmen, has some delightful run-ins with the heavy (Sheldon Leonard), but supplies romance as well.The comedy is also helped out by George Barbier as the peppery president and Billy Gilbert as a self-important innkeeper. In the scenes with both these expert comics, Payne plays the fall-guy. And he makes an amusing job of it too.Walter Lang has directed with his customary expertise and no-one will feel short-changed by the lavish Miranda dance numbers choreographed by Hermes Pan.

I really enjoyed this musical. Carmen Miranda and Ceasr Romero are especially charming and at the top of their game. The songs and dancing routines are first class, a little "Hermes Pan" influence. I am also a fan of John Payne. His understated and often over looked skills as an actor are on display as be brings a light touch to this enjoyable romp. I thought Alice Faye was wonderful but would like to have seen her do a couple of more musical numbers like she has done in her other projects. No one can introduce a song during the era of the 30s and 40s like Alice. The colors are big, bright and beautiful and makes for a wonderful watch. I may be old fashioned but this is a film i could watch with the grand children and laugh out loud with them.

Alice Faye knows more than she should about a cruise ship accident and gets herself a big vacation courtesy of the ship line in "Weekend in Havana," costarring John Payne, Carmen Miranda, and Cesar Romero. Alice plays a demanding young woman who insists on recompense for a long-planned vacation when handsome John Payne tries to convince her to sign a waiver. Payne escorts her to Havana where, anxious to get home for his wedding, he proves a dull escort. Faye soon hooks up with Romero, who thinks she's wealthy. He's on the lam from a casino proprietor to whom he owes money. Carmen Miranda, his girlfriend, is the jealous entertainer.Everyone in the film is delightful. Having just seen Romero in "Captain from Castile," he is even more impressive in this light role. Miranda is always fun to watch. Faye is very pretty and sings well in her lush contralto. John Payne is easy on the eyes and makes an able leading man. Cobina Wright, as Payne's fiancée, is quite stunning.I admit to liking Springtime in the Rockies and The Gang's All Here more, but "Weekend in Havana" makes for fun viewing.