Estelita Movies
- 1953
Ray Middleton and Bill Shirley, Republic Pictures' answer to Hope and Crosby, star in Sweethearts on Parade. Middleton and Shirley play Cam Ellerby and Bill Gamble, the featured singers in a travelling medicine show. While stopping over in a small town, Cam renews his acquaintance with his former wife Sylvia (Eileen Christy), who now has a pretty, grown-up daughter -- Kathleen -- played by Lucille Norman. When Kathleen makes noises about a show-business career, Sylvia won't hear of it -- nor does she approve of her daughter's romance with Bill. One gets the sneaking suspicion that everything will turn out all right in the end for all four protagonists. With 26 songs in the picture, how could things not turn out all right? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Middleton, Lucille Norman, (more)
- 1952
Estelita Rodriguez, Republic Pictures' own Latin Bombshell, is back in Tropical Heat Wave. Once again, Rodriguez, playing herself, is a new arrival from Cuba who sets the U.S. on its ear with her unbounded enthusiasm. Taking a singing job at her uncle's Manhattan nightclub, Rodriguez is threatened with abduction or worse by mobster Norman James (Grant Withers) unless he is allowed to gain control of the nitery. Professorial criminologist Stratford Carver (Robert Hutton) comes to the heroine's rescue by posing as a hard-bitten hoodlum (though in fact he seems a lot less frightening than Rodriguez!) Like the concurrently produced Judy Canova musicals, Tropical Heat Wave consists of several rambunctious musical numbers, a kidding-on-the-square romance, and a slapstick finale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Estelita, Robert Hutton, (more)
- 1952
The Fabulous Senorita in this frothy musical is Republic's resident Latin bombshell Estelita Rodriguez, here billed simply as Estelita. The story concerns the daughter (Estelita) of a Cuban millionaire who falls in love with a bookish professor (Robert Clarke) rather than the wealthy fiance of her father's choosing. The plot complications require our heroine to pose as twin sisters, with highly contrasting personalities. Meanwhile, a very young Rita Moreno essays one of her fist important screen roles as Estelita's actual sister. Laughs are provided by owl-eyed Marvin Kaplan as a nerdish undergrad. The story and songs are for the birds, but Estelita Rodriguez is always worth watching. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Estelita, Robert Clarke, (more)
