- Director: Leo McCarey
- AMG Rating:
- Genre: Musical
- Main Cast: Jane Wyman, Eddie Cantor, Lyda Roberti, Robert Young, Ruth Hall, John Miljan
- Release Year: 1932
- Country: US
- Run Time: 96 minutes
Plot
In director Leo McCarey's film The Kid From Spain, actor Eddie Cantor plays mischievious college boy Eddie Williams, who, with his buddy Ricardo (Robert Young), is kicked out of college for sneaking into the women's dormitory. Ricardo (Young), on his way back to Mexico, suggests Eddie (Cantor) come along. First, however, Ricardo must stop at the local bank for some cash. Unfortunately, the bank is robbed as the two boys are leaving, and the fleeing thieves mistake Eddie for their getaway driver. In a panic, Eddie races off towards the Mexican border in hopes of getting way from them. Realizing that the bank robbers will go after him--Eddie, after all, is the only one who saw their faces--he convinces a skeptical border guard that he, too, is a Mexican. Once in Mexico, he's mistaken for a renowed bullfighter, and plays along with his newly assigned identity in order to avoid the American detective on his trail. Mayhem ensues, and Eddie eventually falls in love with Rosalie (yda Roberti), a young Mexican woman with an over-protective father. The musical numbers in The Kid From Spain were staged by a young Busby Berkeley and feature the oldwyn Girls, whose ranks in this film include Betty Grable, Paulette Goddard, and Jane Wyman.~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
Review
A considerable financial hit in its day, The Kid from Spain is a typical Eddie Cantor-Goldwyn musical: a lot of Eddie, a “high concept” situation, an amusing and unusual love interest (not allotted too much screen time, of course), those Goldwyn girls in some interesting musical numbers, and just enough plot to keep things going. And, of course, blackface for one sequence. While the blackface is somehow more palatable with Cantor than it is when done by Al Jolson, it still disconcerts and disturbs modern audiences, and tends to temporarily stop one’s enjoyment of the film. Fortunately, director Leo McCarey keeps thing moving at a snappy enough pace that the film is able to recover, and Cantor’s appealing personality does help. He’s aided by the unique Lyda Roberti, who’s strange but a treat, especially in her duets with Cantor. And the Busby Berkeley touches - a water ballet (in high heels) and a finale with multiple overhead shots, including one in which the girls put together a jigsaw puzzle that forms a bull’s head – are quite welcome. Robert Young is ludicrously miscast as a very Latin lover, but the secondary characters are never important in a Cantor film. Spain is clearly dated entertainment, but the best of it – including Cantor’s matador routine – is fast and funny. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie GuideCast
- Eddie Cantor - Eddie Williams
- Lyda Roberti - Rosalie
- Robert Young - Ricardo
- Ruth Hall - Anita Gomez
- John Miljan - Pancho
