Carnival in Costa Rica
Encyclopedia
Carnival in Costa Rica is an American musical film directed by Gregory Ratoff
and written by Samuel Hoffenstein
, John Larkin
, and Elizabeth Reinhardt. It was released in Technicolor
by Twentieth Century Fox. Dick Haymes
, Vera-Ellen
, Cesar Romero
, and Celeste Holm
starred as two pairs of lovers who try to thwart an arranged marriage at Carnival
time in Costa Rica
.
ride and begin to fall in love.
Back at his hotel, Jeff meets his old friend Pepe, who tells him about the predicament he is in without mentioning Luisa's name. The next morning, at breakfast, Jeff comes to serenade an elated Luisa and sends her flowers, asking her to meet him at his hotel by noon. As they walk to lunch, Luisa sees both Pepe and his parents approaching from different directions and makes her escape by jumping on a carnival float on which Celeste is appearing as "The Spirit of the Melon." Later, still feigning illness, Pepe takes Luisa dancing, and they meet Jeff escorting Celeste. Jeff pretends he doesn't know Luisa, and when Celeste discovers that Luisa is Pepe's intended, she tells her she can have him. Both sets of parents are also at the club and are introduced to Celeste and Jeff. Jeff reveals to Luisa's American-born mother that he, too, is from Kansas. After Celeste realizes that Luisa's father thinks she is still enamoured of Pepe, she pushes Pepe to tell him the truth. Later that night, Jeff drives Luisa home, and she invites him to a New Year's Eve party. Father Rafael, who has come to visit the family, sees the couple embrace, and when Luisa goes indoors for a coat, Jeff tells the priest that he is in love with her. Doubting their sudden love, the priest tells Jeff about the conservative courtship traditions of Costa Rica.
The next day, Jeff begins to have doubts about the validity of his relationship with Luisa due to the differences in their backgrounds. At the New Year's Eve party Pepe and Luisa are thrown together, and he tells her that Jeff is leaving and is waiting in the lobby to say goodbye. After the couple part, Luisa disappears. Her concerned father phones Pepe's father, and they agree to meet at the hotel. There the fathers learn that Pepe has checked in with his new bride. Both fathers assume Pepe and Luisa have eloped and are stunned to discover that Pepe has actually married Celeste. Pepe tells them that Jeff and Luisa are in love and that she may have left with Jeff. The fathers find out that Jeff is still in town and is at Luisa's house. When they arrive there, they find Mrs. Molina calmly knitting. She tells them that she has given her and her husband's consent for the boy from Kansas to marry the girl from Costa Rica.
Gregory Ratoff
Gregory Ratoff was a Russian-born American film director, actor and producer. His most famous role as an actor was as producer Max Fabian who feuds with star Margo Channing in All About Eve ....
and written by Samuel Hoffenstein
Samuel Hoffenstein
Samuel "Sam" Hoffenstein was a screenwriter and a musical composer. Born in Russia, he immigrated to the United States and began a career in New York City as a newspaper writer and in the entertainment business. In 1931 he moved to Los Angeles where he lived for the rest of his life where he wrote...
, John Larkin
John Larkin
John Larkin may refer to:*John Larkin , Belfast-born legal scholar*John Paul Larkin , American jazz musician known as Scatman John...
, and Elizabeth Reinhardt. It was released in Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
by Twentieth Century Fox. Dick Haymes
Dick Haymes
Richard Benjamin "Dick" Haymes was an Argentine actor and one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, who was an actor, television host, and songwriter....
, Vera-Ellen
Vera-Ellen
Vera-Ellen was an American actress and dancer, principally celebrated for her filmed dance partnerships with Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Danny Kaye and Donald O'Connor.-Early life:...
, Cesar Romero
Cesar Romero
Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...
, and Celeste Holm
Celeste Holm
Celeste Holm is an American stage, film, and television actress, known for her Academy Award-winning performance in Gentleman's Agreement , as well as for her Oscar-nominated performances in Come to the Stable and All About Eve...
starred as two pairs of lovers who try to thwart an arranged marriage at Carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
time in Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
.
Plot
Luisa, daughter of Rico and Elsa Molina, returns to Costa Rica from school in the United States to find that her parents have arranged for her to marry Pepe Castro, a family acquaintance whom she has never met. Pepe has also recently returned from the States, bringing with him his girl friend, Celeste, who plans to work in Costa Rica and become acquainted with Pepe's parents. When Pepe confesses he has not yet told his father about her, Celeste becomes suspicious, prompting him to tell her about the situation with Luisa. The Castros come to visit the Molinas for the formal introduction of the couple, but Pepe arrives wearing dark glasses and faking a bad cold. Once alone with Luisa, Pepe insists that he is sickly and later, at the Gran Hotel Estrada, Jeff Stephens, an American coffee buyer, learns that his evening flight has been canceled and to pass the time, takes a stroll around the plaza. During a kind of traditional flirtation promenade, Jeff meets Luisa and whisks her off to the El Sestéo nightclub, where she spots a very healthy looking Pepe dancing with Celeste. Luisa runs out of the club followed by Jeff. As it is fiesta time, they go on a Ferris wheelFerris wheel
A Ferris wheel is a nonbuilding structure consisting of a rotating upright wheel with passenger cars attached to the rim in such a way that as the wheel turns, the cars are kept upright, usually by gravity.Some of the largest and most modern Ferris wheels have cars mounted on...
ride and begin to fall in love.
Back at his hotel, Jeff meets his old friend Pepe, who tells him about the predicament he is in without mentioning Luisa's name. The next morning, at breakfast, Jeff comes to serenade an elated Luisa and sends her flowers, asking her to meet him at his hotel by noon. As they walk to lunch, Luisa sees both Pepe and his parents approaching from different directions and makes her escape by jumping on a carnival float on which Celeste is appearing as "The Spirit of the Melon." Later, still feigning illness, Pepe takes Luisa dancing, and they meet Jeff escorting Celeste. Jeff pretends he doesn't know Luisa, and when Celeste discovers that Luisa is Pepe's intended, she tells her she can have him. Both sets of parents are also at the club and are introduced to Celeste and Jeff. Jeff reveals to Luisa's American-born mother that he, too, is from Kansas. After Celeste realizes that Luisa's father thinks she is still enamoured of Pepe, she pushes Pepe to tell him the truth. Later that night, Jeff drives Luisa home, and she invites him to a New Year's Eve party. Father Rafael, who has come to visit the family, sees the couple embrace, and when Luisa goes indoors for a coat, Jeff tells the priest that he is in love with her. Doubting their sudden love, the priest tells Jeff about the conservative courtship traditions of Costa Rica.
The next day, Jeff begins to have doubts about the validity of his relationship with Luisa due to the differences in their backgrounds. At the New Year's Eve party Pepe and Luisa are thrown together, and he tells her that Jeff is leaving and is waiting in the lobby to say goodbye. After the couple part, Luisa disappears. Her concerned father phones Pepe's father, and they agree to meet at the hotel. There the fathers learn that Pepe has checked in with his new bride. Both fathers assume Pepe and Luisa have eloped and are stunned to discover that Pepe has actually married Celeste. Pepe tells them that Jeff and Luisa are in love and that she may have left with Jeff. The fathers find out that Jeff is still in town and is at Luisa's house. When they arrive there, they find Mrs. Molina calmly knitting. She tells them that she has given her and her husband's consent for the boy from Kansas to marry the girl from Costa Rica.
Cast
- Dick HaymesDick HaymesRichard Benjamin "Dick" Haymes was an Argentine actor and one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, who was an actor, television host, and songwriter....
as Jeff Stephens - Vera-EllenVera-EllenVera-Ellen was an American actress and dancer, principally celebrated for her filmed dance partnerships with Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Danny Kaye and Donald O'Connor.-Early life:...
as Luisa Molina - Cesar RomeroCesar RomeroCesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...
as Pepe Castro - Celeste HolmCeleste HolmCeleste Holm is an American stage, film, and television actress, known for her Academy Award-winning performance in Gentleman's Agreement , as well as for her Oscar-nominated performances in Come to the Stable and All About Eve...
as Celeste - Anne RevereAnne RevereAnne Revere was an American stage, film, and television actress.-Early life:Born in New York City, Revere was a direct descendant of American Revolution hero Paul Revere. Her father, Clinton, was a stockbroker, and she was raised on the Upper West Side and in Westfield, New Jersey...
as Elsa Molina - J. Carroll Naish as Rico Molina
- Pedro de CordobaPedro de CordobaPedro de Cordoba , was an American actor.Pedro de Cordoba, who appeared in his first film, a 1915 version of Carmen, was actually a classically trained theatre actor who confessed he did not enjoy appearing in silent films nearly as much as he liked working on stage...
as Mr. Castro - Barbara Whiting as Maria Molina
- Nestor PaivaNestor PaivaNestor Paiva was an American actor of Portuguese descent who portrayed the innkeeper on Walt Disney's live-action television series Zorro by ABC and its feature film The Sign of Zorro which was shot in Burbank's Walt Disney Studios.-Career:Nestor appeared in motion pictures and television shows...
as Padre Raphael - Fritz FeldFritz FeldFritz Feld was a film character actor actor who appeared in over 140 films, both silent and sound. His trademark was to slap his mouth with the palm of his hand to create a pop sound.-Biography:...
as Hotel Clerk - Tommy IvoTommy IvoTommy Ivo , also known as "TV Tommy", is an actor and drag racer, who was active in the 1960s racing community. In the late 1950s, Ivo raced a twin Nailhead Buick engined dragster which was the first Gasoline Powered dragster to break the nine-second barrier. The car held the Drag News Standard...
as Juan Molina - Mimi AgugliaMimi AgugliaMimi Aguglia was an Italian actress. She was born on stage in Catania, Sicily while her mother, Giuseppina Aguglia, was playing Desdemona in William Shakespeare's Othello....
as Mrs. Castro