The Gay Desperado

Really not interested.

A musical featuring an operatic tenor, no dancing, and a plot involving stereotypical Mexican bandits aspiring to be stereotypical U.S. gangsters? Bad, right? Yeah, that's what I thought, but I was wrong. The script is sweetly goofy, the art direction and shot composition (featuring looming shadows, Diego Rivera sombreros and huge phallic cacti) is lovely and camp, Martini, Lupino, and Carrillo are charming, and the whole cast--including the Raft, Robinson and Cagney lookalikes--is a hoot.

A operatic Mexican gangster movie produced by Mary Pickford?! Yeah, it's a weird one! It's got singer Nino Martini in a rare movie role as a hopeless gangster-in-training but he's kept around because of his voice. The bandit leader Leo Carrillo is inspired by American gangster flicks and tries his best to emulate and kidnaps some rich kid for ransom. But on that 'napin' they also take Ida Lupino who Martini falls in love with and sweet music develops as they trash the kitchen! Silly and amusing.