Although it was sold as a musical, this is a very borderline entry. It has no songs except for a couple of perfunctory Mexican numbers, sung in Spanish by a chorus. The one real piece of music is Copland's "El Salon Mexico" which is presented in both an extracted and condensed version by Montalban/Iturbi at the piano. And Esther Williams' fans will be likewise disappointed by her very brief dip into the water. In fact, for the most part, what we have here is a rather boring twins' impersonation plot, complete with endlessly tedious dialog from John Carroll. For some unknown reason, Carroll gives his vocal chords a rest in this entry and sings not so much as a single note! While Carroll clutters up the scenery as a straight lover for Miss Williams, Akim Tamiroff contributes a lot of hammy and totally witless comic relief. The actual star of the film, judged by who has the largest role, is Fortunio Bonanova -- and never was he more ham-fisted and boring! He doesn't sing either. Mary Astor has a thankless, long-suffering wife/mother role. It must be admitted that the director -- Thorpe himself? -- makes the most of his Mexican locations, although obvious stock footage, stunt doubles and process screen effects are still employed -- especially in the bullfighting sequences.

I've just seen "Fiesta" for the first time. I was especially intrigued by Montalban's piano playing, wondering if he was really playing. If he was, he was outstanding. But what really had me wondering was: in the scenes in the bullring, someone was really 'lidiando' (leading) the bull...who was it? I've seen many bullfights in Mexico around the time that this movie was filmed, and those were excellent 'faenas' (the actual movements with the cape while leading the bull) being executed, not fake. Whoever the real matador was, he deserved to be credited. Also, in one scene there was a group of singers who were dressed in clothing typical of 'estudiantinas' (university students whose specialty is singing in a particular Spanish style)...I wondered which group was performing and couldn't find them in the credits.

John Carroll has always been one of my favorite actors, but Hollywood just didn't seem to notice his appeal. He was a very good looking and talented actor. I saw many of his movies and really enjoyed seeing him on the screen.

Nobody has too much fun at this fiesa -- supposedly MGM's ads proclaimed "See-Esther in Fiesta" apparently confusing a party with a nap-- which is a closer description of this improbably Mexican diversion. Esther battles bulls to redeem her brother's name (Montalban) after he flees the ring the pursue a career as a composer. The music he wrote is actually Copland's "El Salon de Mexico" -- a piece whose hokey, bloated exoticism meshes perfectly with this movie. Nice color photography, and the producers, as usual, found an opportunity for Williams to get wet.