Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event (1943)

Final movie in the Mexican Spitfire series. The plot's about Dennis thinking Carmelita is pregnant but it's really some nonsense with an ocelot. Oh don't worry, somehow the filmmakers find a way to make it all about Uncle Matt and Lord Epping again. In my other reviews for these Spitfire movies, I've noted my problems with the series as a whole so I won't go into detail on that again here. Suffice it to say the series is very repetitive and focuses more on a supporting actor than the supposed star. That does not change in this final entry nor does the series go out in a fresh and original way. More "someone getting the wrong impression" hijinks and an especially tired old routine with Leon Errol, the true star of the series, playing dual roles. They do find a way to work baby kidnapping into a comedy plot, so points for that. And hey, there's Ward Cleaver himself - Hugh Beaumont! All in all, like most entries in this series, it's a watchable movie on its own but seen after even one other Spitfire movie you're likely to be bored. Sadly, Lupe Velez would take her own life the year after this was released. Whatever issues I have with the series and her sometimes grating performance, it was groundbreaking at the time to have a film series with a Mexican actress as the lead (even if she was consistently upstaged by co-star Errol). If you really want to try out the series, I suggest starting at the beginning because the first couple of movies were the best.

While actress Lupe Velez's life would not end up on a happy note, the series and character for which she is best remembered would tie things up, hopefully happy. It was the end of Carmelita but not for Lord Epping who, with Leon Errol repeating the part, ended up as a short film several years later.The film here starts off with confusion for Dennis Lindsay, now in the Merchant Marines, and on leave to finalize some business with Lord Epping. Errol is in more scenes here as both Uncle Matt and Lord Epping, although they are never in the same frame at the same time, only with a double as Uncle Matt while the camera is focused on Lord Epping. A telegram arrives for Dennis to notify him from Carmelita that they have just had a "little blessed event". Believing that Carmelita just had a baby, they rush to the Arizona resort where she's staying, unaware that the "blessed event" is a tiger kitten, not a human baby.Of course, this gets one of Dennis's business rivals scheming to get Lord Epping to sign a contract, and this is where Uncle Matt must disguise himself as the British nobleman one more time. Every time this happens though, Carmelita reminds him of "the time you put on the goat face". The time? He did it several times in each of the 8 movies in the series, utilizing his rubber-legged comical ability over and over again. When Carmelita colors an Indian wig blonde, she refers to the "dyed" hair as "dead", one of the best malapropisms in the film.This isn't as funny as previous entries, but of course, it is a bit more touching knowing that Velez would never play this part again, and there's a very funny scene towards the end where Errol, as Lord Epping, not Matthew in disguise as the business rival thought, is dunked in a well as part of punishment for the supposed kidnapping of the local sheriff's new baby. Then, Carmelita comes in to make her announcement, which proves that's all's well that ends well. Of course, Uncle Matt gets his own revenge here against the business rival, the storyline which seems straight out of something you'd see on "Bewitched".

These Mexican Spitfire films are something else. Almost always the same plot and antics, but so lively that they breeze by. This series is the epitome of frantic farce. Leon Errol bounds from Uncle Matt, the sensible American, to Lord Epping, the befuddled Englishman, and brings things to a froth by consistently having Uncle Matt do impersonations of Epping. Much sputtering confusion, innuendos, door-slamming, and racing around ensues. But Errol is so effortlessly charming and game that it all goes down smoothly, no matter how high-pitched the antics get. And Errol is matched with the Spitfire herself, Lupe Velez. Sadly, this is her last Hollywood film. Her famous suicide followed at the end of the following year. It was thought she was washed up in Hollywood, but it's doubtful such a firecracker personality could have stayed unlit for long. She might have exploded on television in the fifties, if anything. But she left behind a lot of personality on screen for viewers to marvel at. She and Errol are unsung as one of the finest comedy teams in Hollywood history. The Mexican Spitfire films are worthless without their timing, talent, and inter-action. 'Blessed Event' concerns the confusion over Carmelita (Lupe) having a baby and how its existence, or non-existence, influences Lord Epping's signature on a contract for Carmelita's husband. Hugh Beaumont is competing for Epping's signature and he's well aware that the whole baby thing is a crock. But Epping goes to Arizona to find out, with Beaumont following. Inevitably, it's up to Uncle Matt to do his Epping impersonation again to save the day. Beaumont is okay, but the other cast members are wallpaper. Errol and Velez are a vortex of energy, leaving nothing to anyone else. There is one minor note: Alan Carney and Wally Brown have separate bit parts (Carney as bartender, Brown as desk clerk) but soon after in the same year would start their comedy team antics as RKO's answer to Abbott & Costello.

The last of the series, and not the best, but kudos to Lupe Velez, who was unique and never better than in this series. Leon Errol's rather nondescript film career was capped by his brilliant comic creation of Lord Epping. What an unlikely pair...but they are terrific together.