wedding Archives - Casa Bouquet

Film Festival: Latin Flavor

In You Were Never Lovelier (1942), Rita Hayworth plays a Buenos Aires princess in the style of “Taming of the Shrew.” Margarita Cansino was a dark-haired beauty who first was noticed as her father Eduardo’s ballroom dance partner. In her late teens she made a few movie appearances (Charlie Chan in Egypt). Then she dyed her hair red and became a star. We know Ms. Cansino better as Rita Hayworth, who helped bring a real Latin flavor to the movies.

You Were Never Lovelier focuses on how the four Acuña sisters get to the altar with the men they love. The girls live a privileged and generally happy existence in Buenos Aires with their mother and strict father, Eduardo Acuña (Adolphe Menjou). Papa Acuña owns the nicest hotel in town and wants only the best for his daughters. He has laid down an inflexible rule for his hijas (daughters): the girls must marry in order of age, from eldest to youngest.

“It’s my invariable rule to distrust women’s taste in clothes. –That’s why he asked me to come by. …– Now you know as well as I do that women dress for one another and not for men. Delfina’s mom decked her out in fluff when I married her and she’s been decked out in fluff ever since. Does your son like fluff?” –Eduardo and María Castro

A beautiful wedding

Papa’s rule works fine with his eldest daughter. She falls in love with an acceptable groom whom she marries in a beautiful ceremony in the Acuña home. The bride wears white satin with a coronet to hold her veil. Her sisters, as bridesmaids, are a vision in chiffon and satin gowns with dropped waists and a bow at the bust, capped off by sweetheart picture hats. Each carries an armful of calla lilies. The two youngest sisters see these wedding festivities as the beginning of their chance at happiness. They both have nuptial candidates lined up, but in order for them to get married, the Number Two sister, María (Rita Hayworth) has to march down the aisle first.

“Oh but you have to be! Papa made it very clear that we can’t get married until after you do. –He says it’s our family tradition that the girls have to be disposed of, one, two, three, four. –And you’ll be the oldest now! –Oh Papa’ll get over that silly tradition. –No he won’t. Papa never gets over anything!” –Cecy, Lita, and María

A potential marriage candidate for María materializes at the wedding. Robert Davis (Fred Astaire) is an entertainer visiting from New York. He’s in Buenos Aires to indulge his love of gambling at the racetrack. Because he has run out of funds, he tries to line up a gig at Hotel Acuña. Xavier Cugat is the headline act there and “Cugie” promises Bob he’ll do all he can to bring him to Acuña’s attention. Cugat and his orchestra play at the wedding (don’t miss Lina Romay singing!) and bring Bob along to sing “Dearly Beloved.” Don Eduardo pays no attention to the song, then to further the injury, Bob meets María on the terrace and they take an immediate dislike to each other. Not realizing who she is, Bob gets in a conversation and strongly criticizes her father. No job for Bob.

“On second thought, I guess old “El Groucho” can wait. Don’t these overdone weddings bore you to death? They kill me. I always say, if two people want to get married, let ’em! They don’t have to go through a shindig like this. It’s murder!” –Bob

Fooling María

Don Eduardo would very much like for María to marry. He thinks that she has high romantic standards. He calls in María’s godmother for assistance in cooking up a plan. Acuña decides to play an imaginary secret admirer. He sends a note and flowers to her, but the gifts don’t excite her. A study of love letter reference books helps him attempt to write more passionate notes. María finally begins to respond to the daily missives and orchids. Her two sisters are ecstatic, thinking that their time may be at hand.

“María’s as old-fashioned as a hoop skirt. –Ridiculous, I know my own daughter. –You think you know your own daughter. –I know there’s something wrong with her. She hasn’t fallen in love since she was 15 when she got starry eyed about that silly man on a white horse. –Lochinvar? –Yes you’d think she would have outgrown a tin hero by know. She’s probably waiting around for a myth to come to life!” –María Castro and Eduardo

Back to Acuña’s office Bob goes to ask for a job again. Through a mixup, he gets sent to the Acuña mansion to deliver that day’s love message and flowers. Unbeknownst to him, he becomes María’s Lochinvar, the knight-in-shining-armor of her dreams. After his delivery duties, Bob goes back to the Hotel Acuña with Cugat’s band to force an audition. He does a spectacular conga-tap, which Don Eduardo despises. Still no job for Bob.

Will they or won’t they?

María visits Acuña’s office to give him the good news that she is in love with Bob. Papa has a hysterical fit! He calms down enough to call Bob in to make a deal – Bob can play the secret admirer long enough to convince María he is a bad bet.

Bob is the main course at that night’s family dinner. While Bob is trying to convince María of his bad qualities, she sings “I’m Old-Fashioned” and captivates him. She is amazing in a dress of black lace and illusion with a low waist, cap sleeves, and diamond clips at her hip bones (the designer Irene outdid herself on this one!).

“But you’re streamlined, you’re today. Sister, I was raised amongst the grasshoppers. I am strictly from corn!” –Bob

Bob and María dance together and magic is made. As far as Bob is concerned, all bets with Acuña are now off. He would gladly be María’s champion, despite Acuña’s low opinion of him.

Music

Johnny Mercer and Jerome Kern provide the lively music for You Were Never Lovelier Latin romance. Song and dance numbers in the film include:

Shorty George – Fred Astaire sings this as a tribute to Harlem. Rita Hayworth joins him in a spirited jitterbug-tap.
Ding Dong Dell – This song is a tribute to weddings.
You Were Never Lovelier – Fred’s romantic wooing of Rita.

[Did you see when Charo was on Dancing with the Stars? She was married to Cugat and sang with the band.]

You Were Never Lovelier is a light, fanciful, romantic showcase for the Latin beauty and allure of Rita Hayworth. Almost every frame of film she appears in could be used as a GI pin-up. Fred Astaire doesn’t stand a chance of remaining aloof from her charms very long. It’s worth the time to watch the romance develop, their fabulous dancing together, and see how the couple escapes the schemes of her controlling Papa.

Resource Links for You Were Never Lovelier

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035583/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
- You Were Never Lovelier(1942) from IMDb
https://thehairpin.com/scandals-of-classic-hollywood-rita-hayworth-tragic-princess-ce599d6eec3#.s2qrpdvqj
- Rita Hayworth, Tragic Princess from The Hairpin
http://www.reelclassics.com/Actors/Astaire/astaire-bio.htm
- Fred Astaire biography from Reel Classics
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/129882%7C7620/Adolphe-Menjou/biography.html
- Adolphe Menjou from Turner Classic Movies
https://www.otrcat.com/p/xavier-cugat
- Xavier Cugat from Old Time Radio Catalog
http://www.timeout.com/buenos-aires/features/50/20-great-things-to-do-in-buenos-aires
- Time Out Buenos Aires
http://www.scaruffi.com/history/latin.html
- Latin American popular music from Piero Scaruffi

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This is an update of a review that appeared originally in RETRO magazine, Nancy Eaton, editor.

Holiday in Mexico

Springtime in the Rockies

Too Many Girls

Film Festival: Weddings, Hollywood Style

Father of the Bride (1950) opens with a scene of complete chaos: bottles, confetti, and trash all over a home. Stanley Banks (Spencer Tracy), the father of the bride, speaks to us about his opinion of marriage and weddings.

“Someday in the far future I may be able to remember it with tender indulgence, but not now.” –Stanley Banks

The Banks family owns their own nice house. They have a boy in college, a daughter, and a younger brother, Ben, Kay (Elizabeth Taylor), and Tommy. There is also a wife and a maid.

Dinner at the Banks home is very nice, with silver candlesticks and a flower arrangement. Stanley is trying to figure out what is going on with Kay. It turns out she is ready to get married. He is going to be the father of the bride.

“From the way she talked about this Buckley you’d think he was Moses and Einstein and Gallup all rolled into one. I tried to remember which one he was, there’d been so many boys who’d beat a path to our door.” – Stanley

While Stanley worries about Buckley, his wife Ellie (Joan Bennett) immediately jumps into worrying about the wedding. Stanley feels doomed after he advises Kay to wear a heavier coat, she ignores him, then changes coats when Buckley (Don Taylor) advises it.

Stanley can’t sleep. He thinks that he and Ellie don’t know anything about Buckley and whether he will be a good husband.

“I thought you know we might have a little talk. I thought I’d talk to him about what he’s earning, you know that sort of thing. –Oh you’re kidding. I didn’t believe they really did that. I thought all that was just a gag. –Well you know after all when a man’s only daughter is wanting to get married …–Okay if you want to go through all that old-fashioned rigamarole, it’s okay with me.” –Stanley and Kay

Stanley and Buckley have a meeting. This is one of the best scenes in the movie. It’s a very uncomfortable discussion about finances. Stanley does all the talking and doesn’t manage to find out much of anything about Buckley’s business.

Stanley and Ellie go to meet with Buckley’s parents. Stanley worries that the Dunstans won’t drink. It turns out the Dunstans were worrying about the same thing!

Stanley and Ellie give a party at their home to announce the engagement. Stanley makes a huge batch of martinis, but when the guests arrive they all make individual drink orders, trapping him in the kitchen. The orders come flying in: Old fashioneds, Tom Collins, bourbon and soda, and so on. Stanley never makes it out to give his speech.

When the family sits down to plan the wedding, they have a huge argument. Kay says she can do the whole thing herself, no one else has to lift a finger. Stanley really wants a small family wedding at home.

“If her friends want to go out and bankrupt themselves, that’s their business, not mine. But we’ve always lived very simply, within our means. Now here, what are we going to do, put on a big show, a big flashy show that we can’t afford!” –Stanley

Stanley really can’t believe the bills for bride’s trousseau, orchestra, flowers, the church and more. He tries to put down rules about holding down expenses, but it just keeps getting away from them all. He even tries to bring up eloping. He offers Kay $1500 (about $16000 in today’s dollars)!

The caterer Ellie finds is a very pretentious Mr. Massoula (Leo G. Carroll.)

“We didn’t intend having that kind of reception. –What did you have in mind, madam? –Well, we thought we’d have some assorted sandwiches, different kinds, you know? And some ice cream and little cakes. –Of course, you can have just what you wish, madam, but that’s what we usually serve for children’s parties.” – Ellie and Mr. Massoula

Another great scene is when Stanley tries on his 20-year-old cutaway suit and has to contort himself to get in it.

A custom you see in these older films is the wedding present display. The bride’s family dining room is taken over with all the wedding gifts so that visitors can come and look. I think the last time I went to a gift viewing was about 20 years ago! An infamous gift for Kay is a statue of Venus with a clock in her stomach.

“With love from Aunt Hattie. –Oh, Aunt Hattie. –Kay was expecting a nice fat check. –When I think of all the guff I’ve taken from that old … –What are we going to do with it? –Would you really like me to tell you? –You could always drop it.” –Ellie and Stanley

Interesting that even in 1950, Kay is being very casual about her parents’ stake in her engagement. She tells them at dinner that she is going to marry without the boy meeting with her father. The parents have to decide about contacting his parents and having “the talk” with Buckley. We have 3 daughters and even in the 21^stcentury, I still want the prospective husbands to have “the talk” with us, even if it’s not about finances. The movie has the old-fashioned notion of “can this boy take care of her?”. And Kay is very much under the sway of the opinions of her fiancé.

“Every time I think about it, I break into a cold sweat! Suppose my knees got shaking just as I got started? Suppose they shook until finally they let me down entirely? You had to drag me down the aisle like a sack of meal? –Well, we could always take a short snort just before the show begins.” –Kay and Stanley

What do we learn from a 1950 wedding? The brides’ magazines today still have a list for the bride’s family and the groom’s family. The men might not get new clothes made, they rent them. We might not worry about engraved silver flatware. But we still have engagement parties, rehearsal, wedding, and reception, gifts for the bridesmaids. And we still have to decide about catering, music, and the cake.

Art direction is by Cedric Gibbons and costumes by Helen Rose. The homes are beautiful with flower arrangements, silver, and lace. The ladies are beautifully dressed with matching hats and coats, handbags, and shoes. Spencer Tracy is amazing as the gruff but loving dad. And Elizabeth Taylor is just luminous. Her acting is really good, just the right touch of slightly petulant, just barely done with being a teenager.