Week-End in Havana (1941)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Walter Lang

Writers:

Karl Tunberg (screenplay) and
Darrell Ware (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 October 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Musical

Tagline:

The Gayest...Fastest...FOUR STAR MUSICAL OF 1941!

Plot:

A ship company employee, Jay Williams, is sent to Florida where one of the company cruise ships is stuck on a reef off of the coast...

Plot Keywords:

Cruise Ship | Hotel | Vacation | Businessman | Jealousy

Cast

Alice Faye	...	Miss Nan Spencer
Carmen Miranda	...	Rosita Rivas
John Payne	...	Jay Williams
Cesar Romero	...	Monte Blanca
Cobina Wright	...	Terry McCracken (as Cobina Wright Jr.)
George Barbier	...	Mr. Walter McCracken
Sheldon Leonard	...	Boris
Leonid Kinskey	...	Rafael - bellhop
Chris-Pin Martin	...	Wagon driver
Billy Gilbert	...	Arbolado
Hal K. Dawson	...	Mr. Marks
William B. Davidson	...	Capt. Moss (as William Davidson)
Maurice Cass	...	Tailor
Leona Roberts	...	Passenger signing waiver
Harry Hayden	...	Passenger signing waiver

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (PCA #7484)

Filming Locations:

Cuba

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Alice Faye was pregnant during the filming of this movie.

Quotes:

Jay Williams: You Cubans are supposed to be experts at romance.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Shelley Duvall/Joan Armatrading (#2.22)" (1977)

Soundtrack:

A Week-End in Havana

Was Havana really like this?...routine Fox musical, weak script...

Fox makes ample use of their stock company players--ALICE FAYE, JOHN PAYNE, CARMEN MIRANDA, CESAR ROMERO, as well as a bevy of dependable supporting actors to make sure that their technicolor investment in WEEKEND IN HAVANA pays off. Unfortunately, it's a routine assignment for all concerned. The script is light, even for a Fox musical.

Faye had better musicals at the studio and is saddled with playing a rather pushy department store clerk who expects to get the royal treatment in Havana after her cruise is interrupted by a shipwreck. Naturally, a handsome corporate man (Payne) is assigned to take care of her "vacation" in Havana, and therein lies the nub of the plot. Everything that follows is quite predictable, including misunderstood romantic complications, but the end result is nevertheless entertaining.

Both Alice and Carmen Miranda have opportunities to demonstrate their prowess with a song and John Payne makes an attractive partner for Faye. Cesar Romero plays a Latin charmer with his usual confident air. It's all very pretty in Fox's typically garish technicolor but fails to stay in the memory as some of Faye's other films do since there's nothing especially memorable about either the plot or the music.