Today’s Video: “My Family/Mi Familia”

We end our look this week at Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and its “RACE AND HOLLYWOOD: LATINO IMAGES IN FILM” series” with 1995’s “My Family/Mi Familia”.

“My Family/Mi Familia” was co-written and directed by Gregory Nava whose primary claim to fame was 1983’s immigration tale “El Norte”. “My Family/Mi Familia” tells the saga of a Mexican-American family over three generations and stars a treasure trove of Latino actors including Edward James Olmos, Jimmy Smits, Esai Morales, and Jennifer Lopez.

According to TCM’s synopsis of “My Family/Mi Familia”:

Jimmy Smits, who plays troubled son Jimmy, loved making My Family. “From the beginning, My Family was a movie I knew I had to make,” said Smits in 1995. “My Family is one of the very few films with an entirely Latino cast and Latino director, and all of us working on it felt it would be a real breakthrough.” His attraction to the story had to do with its epic quality. “I like the span of the piece in terms of going from the early times of when California was part of Mexico and really seeing the family go through the 50s and the 80s,” he said. “This is a multi-generational piece. In that respect the piece to me is like a jewel.”

Here’s a clip from the film where Esai Morales pretends to be the Pied Piper of mambo:

• Monday – “Blackboard Jungle” (1955)
• Tuesday – “Greenwich Village” (1944)
• Wednesday - “Walk Proud” (1979)
  

Online Sources- Turner Classic Movies, YouTube, Wikipedia, The Latin Americanist

Today’s Video: “Walk Proud”

We continue our look at Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and its “RACE AND HOLLYWOOD: LATINO IMAGES IN FILM” series” with the 1979 film “Walk Proud.”

The movie portrays Chicano youth gangs in SoCal though what catches the eye is Robby Benson as Emilio Mendez. The film isn’t bad but seeing him in darkened makeup and with a faux Latino accent is a little unsettling. (Loved him in “Ice Castles”, however!)

According to TCM’s synopsis of “Walk Proud”:

Critics of Walk Proud have pointed to its Latin-American themes as essentially window dressing on just another vehicle for Benson, done up with fake tan and dark contacts for the role... There was no small amount of perception amongst the Latin-American community that Walk Proud was more of the same, only with a quinceneara sequence. Benson also wrote and sang the number that plays over the closing credits.

While the project gave opportunities to several of the industry's stalwart Latin-American character players like (Henry) Darrow, (Pepe) Serna, (Domingo) Ambriz and (Trinidad) Silva, the latter's casting did more harm then help to the film's credibility. Serna was 35 at the time of the film's release, Ambriz 31, and Silva 29; as a result, it came as if these high school hardcases got held back a grade one time too many.

Below is the very beginning of Walk Proud; check out TCM next Tuesday at 10pm if you want to see the whole movie.

Online Sources- Turner Classic Movies, YouTube, Wikipedia

Today’s Video: The unique Carmen Miranda

Yesterday we mentioned that Turner Classic Movies will feature films on Tuesdays and Thursdays highlighting the cinematic depiction of Latinos.

Tonight’s slate of classic films (including “The Lawless” and “The Young Savages”) will focus on social problems. This Thursday’s theme is on music and will include movies like “West Side Story” and “La Bamba.” Today’s video will look at a portion of 1944’s “Greenwich Village”- a film that starred the one-of-a-kind Carmen Miranda.

Born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha, the Portuguese-born Brazilian actress was best-known for starring in films during the 1940s and 1950s. Usually seen donning a hat topped with tropical fruit and wearing a flowery dress, Miranda became the symbol of South America in the eyes of U.S. moviegoers. And it wasn’t just because she could sing well:

Miranda arrived in the United States in 1939 with her band, the Bando da Lua, and achieved stardom in the early 1940s. She was encouraged by the United States government in her American career as part of President Roosevelt’s Good Neighbor Policy, designed to strengthen links with Latin America and Europe; it was believed that in delivering content like hers, the policy would be better received by the American public. She was the country's highest-paid entertainer for several years in the 1940s, and in 1945, was the highest-paid woman in the United States, earning more than $200,000 that year, according to IRS records.

The following clip is vintage Miranda; kitschy and dated yet absolutely catchy!

Online Sources- Turner Classic Movies, YouTube, Wikipedia

Today’s Video: “Blackboard Jungle”

On Tuesday and Thursday nights all this month, Turner Classic Movies has shined its spotlight on the cinematic depiction of Latinos. Films on themes such as miscegenation (“Giant”) and life along the border (“Border Incident”) have been featured though a can’t-miss slate of movies will be shown over the next two weeks.

In honor of this special festival, this week’s video theme will briefly look at some of the films to be shown as part of the “RACE AND HOLLYWOOD: LATINO IMAGES IN FILM” series.

Tuesday night will focus on social problems and include flicks like 1955’s “Blackboard Jungle”. Starring Glenn Ford, Sidney Poitier, and Vic Morrow, the film is a moralistic tale of a teacher (played by Ford) trying to tame the students of an urban high school. These students (including several Latinos) are depicted as the quintessential 1950s-era juvenile delinquents though he finds a cloud with a silver lining in Poitier’s character.

Here’s the original trailer to “Blackboard Jungle”. Note the use of “Rock Around the Clock" as the film’s theme in an era when rock music was viewed by some adults as crude and uncivilized.

Online Sources- Turner Classic Movies, YouTube