Litico Rodriguez Movies

Gerardo Chijona directs this screwball comedy hailing from Cuba. Macho truck driver Candido (Enrique Molina) forbids his drop-dead gorgeous daughter Sissy (Thais Valdes) to become a dancer at Havana's hippest club, the Tropicana, though she does so anyway. On the job, Candido accidentally smashes into hunky biker Sergito (Vladimir Cruz) who has a star-shaped mole on his butt, just like Candido. Out of guilt, he brings Sergito home to recuperate. Though Sissy is more than delighted at having this injured Adonis lollygagging about the house, Candido's buddy Promedio (Litico Rodriguez) fears a potential sexual encounter. As all of this is going on, Candido's arch-nemesis Armando (Santiago Alfonso), a choreographer at the Tropicana, tries to strike vengeance by seducing Sissy. When she rebuffs the creep, she is demoted to chorus girl. As the film progresses, subplots are layered upon subplots until the film's delirious denouement. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Who says there's never been a Cuban musical comedy film? Patakin is an oddball variation on those old "beach party" movies, replete with bikinied babes and ear-piercing music. The plot involves wastrelly Miguel Benavides, who refuses to work so long as he can rely on his wife's income. While Benavides swaggers around town in search of extramarital affairs, his behavior is contrasted with that of Assenah Rodriguez, an industrious tractor driver. Patakin fits Oscar Levant's description of a musical comedy as a series of disasters followed by a floor show--with the added ingredient of Mr. Death, who makes one of his rare screen appearances refereeing a climactic boxing match between the two protagonists. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi