The Kid from Spain (1932)

The movies are a business of entertainment. In watching and reviewing the many pictures that span the grandness of film's short history, that simple fact must not be forgotten. Not every movie was meant to change the world, innovate techniques, stir emotions, or allow one's imagination to take flight. Many times we go to the movies to just get away and be entertained, if only for 90 minutes. The Eddie Cantor picture The Kid from Spain is a perfect exaple of what people in 1932 would have gone to see any night of the week. Perhaps a date night or even Mom and Dad just stepping out for the evening after a days work. The Kid from Spain had the workings of a movie that would have drawn an average audience to the neighborhood cinema. For the ladies, there was a love story and music. For men, there was an abundance of pretty girls. For both, we have a comedy simply there to make us laugh and forget our worries.

The Kid from Spain is a musical comedy of a man who somehow gets himself into crazy situations including getting mixed up with gangsters, hiding himself in Mexico, and having to fight a bull, all toe help of his good friend and the love of his new girl. Also mixed within the picture is a couple of fine, earlier Busby Berkeley musical numbers. Eddie (Cantor) is a young man with a habit of getting himself in awkward, troublesome situations. After getting mixed in with a bank robbery he crosses the border into Mexico where he must allued the detective looking for him. While there he runs into his dear friend Richardo (Robert Young) and helps him with his girl Anita, meanwhile meeting and becoming romantic with her younger sister Rosaline (Lyda Roberti). In evading the authorities Eddie poses as a famous bullfighter, ultimately concluding in a humorous bullfight before being notified by the detective (Robert Emmett O'Connor) that Eddie is innocent of the charges with the robbers. Eddie, of course, is left flabbergasted after all he has gone through.

Lets be frank and say that this picture is not up for any Oscars of any kind. It is a silly comedy of silly characters in silly situations, not Hamlet. Despite the film being directed by Leo McCarey, a fine comedic director in his own right, the film has a few muscial numbers, two of which are grand and are directed by the famed musical director Busby Berkley. Cantor is energetic and really drives the picture with his comedy. His mannerisms, abilities, and timing create a near perfect mix for such a comedic story. The tale is fantastical for humor purposes with many open ended story lines. We never find out about the bank robbers. We never see if Richardo and Anita get together. The only thing that is concluded is Eddie lived through the bullfight and able to return to America without fear of being arrested for mistakenly being the driver for the robbers. Busby Berkley's numbers are wonderful, despite being drastically out of place in such a humble comedy, but it does help pad the rather short and weak story which is nothing else other than a showcase for the comedic and muscial skills of  Eddie Cantor.

Cantor, by the time of this film, was a well known radio and stage star. His skill of comedy, song, and his big eyes would be his trademark. Cantor would happen to make films every once and a while, doing so mainly to help recover for his loses he suffered in the shock market crash. The advent of sound would allow him to use the skills he perfected on stage (mannerisms and comedy) and on radio (singing and jokes) to transfer rather well to the big screen. In the past he was offered the lead role in the Jazz Singer, but he turned down and ultimately the role went to Al Jolson making Jolson a huge star, while delaying Cantor's own rise in film. Cantor's career would span many decades as one of century's greatest entertainers of radio, stage, screen, and, in the future, television.

The film was directed by Leo McCarey, a Southern California law student turned director. His niche would be comedies, first writing gags for Our Gang shorts before moving his way up the ladder. He would be instrumental in bringing the famous comedy team Laurel and Hardy together while working on shorts before jumping to a feature film director. In the future he would work with other such legends of comedy as the Marx Bros., Mae West, Harold Lloyd, and W.C. Fields. Despite McCarey's fine contributions, to direct the large musical numbers Busby Berkley would be brought in to work his magic. Berkley was a son of entertainers and a former army field lieutenant which inspired him to create choreography for large dance numbers and create camera angles that would one day be known as the "Busby Berkley shot." This angle was usually from overhead and had many girls standing in formation, creating shapes, many times forming a sort of kaleidoscope with body parts, which is very pleasing to the eye. His work in Eddie Cantor pictures would allow his to develop his style, one day blossoming as a big musical director himself.

The Kid from Spain is an entertaining little film, despite being full of holes for those looking for something more fulfilling in a picture. I mean the film takes place in Mexico, not Spain, nor, is there any character that is suppose to be from Spain in the story. So what is with the title? Perhaps it is a generational thing. I am not sure. But I digress. The film was just piece of entertainment for the purpose of entertaining. It does give a fine look at the skill of Cantor and Berkley, both of which are treasures of entertainment. Movies are a simple joy in life and sometimes we just need to kick off our shoes, let down our hair, and for a moment not let things bother us as we are entertained by the men that make movies.