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