Directed by Walter Lang
Starring Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda, John Payne
Alice Faye (never one of my favorites) plays Nan Spencer, a department store clerk who’s scrimped and saved for a vacation to Cuba. So, when the cruise ship runs aground and passengers are escorted off with a raincheck for a ship that sails two weeks later, she balks. Her vacation is now or never, and she wants it now!
Nan has got the goods on the captain, so to smooth over the situation, a handsome company rep (John Payne) escorts her on an all-expenses paid stay in Havana in the hopes of getting her to sign the waiver. A minor technicality–before that’s done, songs will be sung, rumbas danced, a suave gambler will romance the beautiful blonde he mistakes for a wealthy heiress, and romantic entanglements will all be ironed out happily ever after.
Pretty weak overall, though it does perk up whenever Carmen Miranda appears to perform a musical number. If that’s the best this movie has to offer for you, you’re better off renting Carmen Miranda – Bananas Is My Business“>Carmen Miranda: Bananas Is My Business. [**]
2 Things @ Once 