Charles Teske Movies

The Technicolor musical Masquerade in Mexico is Mitchell Leisen's remake of his own Midnight. Stranded in Mexico City without a dime, glamorous Angel O'Reilly (Dorothy Lamour) is rescued by wealthy Thomas Grant (Patric Knowles). But Grant's motivations are anything but altrustic. In order to get his wife Helen's (Ann Dvorak) mind off handsome bullfighter Manolo Segovia (Arturo de Cordova), Grant passes Angel off as a Contessa at a weekend party, reasoning that Segovia will switch his attentions to our heroine. Screenwriter Karl Tunberg has added a jewel-theft angle to the original Edwin Justis Mayer/Franz Spencer story, which improves things not at all. Masquerade in Mexico is admittedly a handsomer production than Midnight, but the remake lacks the sparkle of the original film's stars Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, John Barrymore, Francis Lederer, Mary Astor et. al. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jack Oakie and Peggy Ryan head the cast of the Universal "B plus" musical On Stage Everybody. As indicated by the title, this is a "Let's put on a big show" affair, set this time at a radio station. Veteran vaudevillian Michael Sullivan (Jack Oakie) refuses to admit that his brand of entertainment is all but dead, though his partner-daughter Molly (Peggy Ryan) is a little more progressive. After resisting the "newfangled" radio for several years, Michael becomes an enthusiastic supporter of the Airwaves, even unto helping organize a bigtime variety show spotlighting new talent. Based on the ABC radio network program of the same name, On Stage Everybody spotlights several promising newcomers (none of whom, alas, went on to stardom), along with such established favorites as the King Sisters. Previewed at 75 minutes, the film was eventually released in a 65-minute form. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide