| Fiesta | |
|---|---|
French theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Richard Thorpe |
| Produced by | Jack Cummings |
| Written by | George Bruce Lester Cole |
| Starring | Esther Williams Ricardo Montalbán Mary Astor Fortunio Bonanova Cyd Charisse John Carroll |
| Music by | Johnny Green |
| Cinematography | Wilfred M. Cline |
| Editing by | Blanche Sewell |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | June 12, 1947 |
| Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Fiesta was an American Technicolor musical-drama film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1947, starring Esther Williams, Ricardo Montalbán, Mary Astor and Cyd Charisse. The film was directed by Richard Thorpe and written by George Bruce and Lester Cole. The film focuses on Mario Morales (Ricardo Montalbán), a bullfighter who wants to be a composer, and his twin sister, Maria Morales (Esther Williams), who wants to be a bullfighter even though she is a woman. When Mario runs away to study music, Maria takes his place in the ring to lure him back.
The film was shot on location in Puebla, Mexico.[1] This was Montalbán's first credited role in a Hollywood film, and resulted in him being offered a contract by the studio.[2] It was also the first of three films pairing Williams and Montalbán, the other two being On an Island with You (1948) and Neptune's Daughter (1949).
Fiesta was the first time Williams's name was billed above the title.[3]
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The film took longer than expected because Thorpe decided that he did not want the bulls killed. However, this led to the bulls attacking the stuntmen, four of them ending up in the hospital, and two of them barely surviving after being gored in the groin due to infections caused by the dirt on the bulls' horns. (Williams was doubled by men. After years of swimming, her shoulders were broad and her backside was flat, and had a different body build that that of a bullfighter and a visible difference on film.) Not killing the bulls made the Mexican people angry, which didn't help, since they were already angry that their own toreadors could not star in the film. At the end of filming, the unit manager, Walter Strohm convinced Thorpe to kill the bulls, even though they cost $1000 each.[1]
Director of photography Sidney Wagner and one other crew member died of cholera after eating contaminated street food they had bought in town.[1] William's husband, Ben Gage, was arrested after getting into a fight with an employee of the hotel the cast was staying at, the same man who had recently shot the crew's doctor after being yelled at. Gage's arrest was covered by gossip columnist Hedda Hopper. Gage and the film's makeup artist George Lane were then declared persona non grata and wanted expelled from Mexico, but the company would be allowed to finish shooting the film. However, Williams knew that Lane would be fired when he returned to California, so she stalled shooting until he came back. Instead, the studio sent another makeup artist, Bill Tuttle to Mexico, and he promised Williams he would help Lane get another job.[1]
The studio insisted that Williams wear a traje de luces matador outfit for the film. Traditionally, the suit is made to lie very flat on the toreador's chest, and this proved to be difficult. The tailor in Mexico refused to work on the suit unless Williams "agreed to have her bosom surgically removed." Strohm had the suit sent back to Irene, MGM's costume designer in Hollywood, to be fitted to her body, which included closing the fly with hooks. On the trage de luces, when worn by men, the fly is left slightly open, so the "world can appreciate what's in there."[1]
The film features Williams in the water for one short sequence. This was a stark contrast with many of her box office hits, which all featured elaborate water sequences. Publicity photos for the film featuring Williams in a bathing suit were utilized much more than those of her in the traje de luces suit.[1]
Fiesta was nominated for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture at the 1948 Academy Awards, but lost to Mother Wore Tights.[5]
On October 6, 2009, Turner Entertainment released Fiesta on DVD as part of the Esther Williams Spotlight Collection, Volume 2. The 6 disc set was a follow up to the company's Esther Williams Spotlight Collection, Volume 1, and contains digitally remastered versions of several of Williams's films including Thrill of a Romance (1945), This Time for Keeps (1947), Pagan Love Song (1950), Million Dollar Mermaid (1952) and Easy to Love (1953).[6]