Raquel Torres Movies

In this adventure, a brave hero races across Middle-Eastern desert dunes to win the love his best friend's wife, the manager of an oil company. This naturally enrages the manager and he begins thinking his pal is out to destroy his business. Eventually the wronged manager learns that his seemingly conniving pal is actually an undercover agent and has been working to keep desert raiders from taking over the company. After succeeding, the agent dumps the philandering wife and goes on his merry way. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this 1933 Marx Brothers film, the mythical country of Freedonia is broke and on the verge of revolution. Mrs. Teasdale (Margaret Dumont), Freedonia's principal benefactress, will lend the country 20 million dollars if the president withdraws and places the government in the hands of the "fearless, progressive" Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx). At his inauguration, Firefly shows up late, insults everyone in sight, and sings a song about how he intends to abuse his power. Naturally, the crowd cheers wildly. Meanwhile, Ambassador Trentino (Louis Calhern) of neighboring Sylvania schemes to oust Firefly and take over Freedonia himself. To gather enough evidence to discredit Firefly, he sends his most trusted spies, Chicolini (Chico Marx) and Pinky (Harpo Marx). Five minutes after they show up in Freedonia, both spies become important members of Firefly's cabinet, though Chicolini keeps his day job as a peanut vendor. Firefly eventually declares war on Sylvania, an absurd farrago with Firefly changing uniforms from scene to scene, Chicolini going to the other side because the food is better, and Pinky parading around the battlefield with a sandwich board reading "Join the army and see the navy." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Comedian Frank Fay and director Michael Curtiz reportedly despised one another at sight, and their mutual animosity tends to seep through every frame of Under a Texas Moon. The vainglorious Fay is cast as Don Carlos, a gay caballero ("gay" meaning "carefree") whose serenades every senorita he meets. When a group of ranchers post a $7000 dollar reward for the capture of the Bad Man of the Pool (Fred Kohler), a notorious bandit, Don Carlos passes himself off as a daring cattle rustler and promises to bring the Bad Man to heel within 10 days. Characteristically, he spends nine of those ten days romancing such lovelies as Raquella (Raquel Torres), Lolita (Myrna Loy) and Dolores (Armida). All of this was played for laughs, but Frank Fay's special brand of quiet put-down humor didn't play quite as well on screen as it did on stage. Under a Texas Moon was originally released in Technicolor, but try finding a color print today. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Colonel Tim McCoy, M-G-M's only series Western star, played a Pony Express rider in this well-produced but otherwise average silent Western. In the course of his duties, McCoy gets acquainted with a beautiful Spanish landowner (Raquel Torres), whose property is besieged by a gang of land grabbers headed by the always nefarious Harry Woods. The studio released McCoy from his contract at the advent of sound and despite the solid box-office results of the McCoy series never again involved itself with the B-Western genre. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Filmed on location in Tahiti, White Shadows in the South Seas was originally intended as a project for famed documentary filmmaker Robert Flaherty, whose Nanook of the North had cleaned up at the boxoffice. At first given complete artistic control, Flaherty began faltering in terms of keeping cast and crew organized; even worse, he moved too slowly to suit his parent studio MGM. More and more directorial authority was relegated to Flaherty's assistant, the phenominally fast W. S. "Woody" Van Dyke. Frustrated, Flaherty resigned (some reports claim that he fell ill and was taken off the project), and the film became solely the responsibility of Van Dyke. Despite the wails from the pro-Flaherty camp about "compromise" and "bastardization", the finished White Shadows in the South Seas is a superlative work. Loosely based on a 1919 book by Frederick O'Brien, the film charts the denigration of the South Sea islands and its denizens thanks to the intervention of white civilization. Monte Blue plays a alcoholic doctor who is disgusted by the negative effects of European colonization. He sails away to an island still untouched by "white shadows", where he falls in love with native girl Raquel Torres. Enchanted by the idyllic lifestyle of the islanders, Blue reacts with horror when he sees a group of white men sailing into view, bringing their usual seductive trinkets of alcohol and cigarettes. Attempting to quell the invasion, Blue is killed. As her island falls victim to civilization, Raquel mourns over her lover's grave. Gorgeously photographed, White Shadows in the South Seas is a masterful blend of drama and documentary. Most surviving prints do not include the clumsily constructed talkie sequences, wherein Monte Blue teaches Raquel Torres how to whistle (this scene works far better when conveyed silently). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi