Cuban Pete (1946)
Unable to complete the deal by telephone, advertising executive Roberts sends his assistant Ann to Cuba to lure a Cuban band, led by Desi Arnaz, on to an American radio program. Attracted to Ann, Arnaz and his band come to New York but complications arise when the squeaky-voiced, addle-brained sponsor of the program decides she wants to be the vocalist on the program.
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Reviews
Purely Joyful Movie!
Blistering performances.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
Okay, I can't really review the movie too much but then again, there's not really too much movie to review. It's typical studio musical fodder (and pretty low-budget at that) with the plot serving merely to convey us from one musical number to another. But what numbers! The movie's sole reason for existence was to showcase the hot, new (1946) Cuban sensation...Desi Arnaz! We got glimpses of his act in 'I Love Lucy' reruns but here, we get to see just how hot he was.My lasting impression of this movie is of Desi leading his orchestra through some wild, propulsive, Latin rhythm, Conga drum slung over his shoulder, sweat streaming down his chest and disappearing beneath his half-buttoned shirt, whipping his long black hair out of his eyes and yelling at the top of his lungs. He was, in short, a rock star! One can imagine why he would have been tempted to stray from Lucy...women were probably throwing themselves at his feet. This was one sexy guy! When you see the movie, feel free to fast-forward (I doubt this is going to find it's way to DVD) to the musical numbers. They're all you need to see but you'll probably want to see them two or three times.