The Mexican Spitfire Series: Overall (1939-43)

The Mexican Spitfire series must have felt like a breath of fresh air on its release. During this time, Latin people were all the rage in Hollywood, despite still facing many challenges in everyday life. Even on the screen, you'd see a few Latin Lovers who were actually from Austria (we still love you, Ricardo Cortez!). But they managed to make themselves heard, and this series is a great milestone in portraying an interracial marriage on the big screen, positively and up-front.

The series got off to a strong start with The Girl from Mexico, seemingly about the character of Dennis. But at the halfway point, Carmelita begins overtaking him as the lead, and shares a great chemistry with his Uncle Matt. This is where the creators must have had an epiphany. Who cares about this Dennis fellow? We've got a great new act here!

The first follow-up, Mexican Spitfire, changed everything by adding the character of Lord Epping. A foppish and often tipsy aristocrat, he provided a dual role for Leon Errol. This is all well and good, for one film, and it's funny to see Uncle Matt having to disguise himself as the Lord. So in a way we get three performances for the price of one!

Unfortunately this signalled the tone for the rest of the series. Just because the producers had a new double act, doesn't mean they needed to use it every single time. But they did! Lord Epping is a constant in all 7 sequels, as is Matt's disguising. If there was a new character every other film for Errol to play, that'd be neat, and you could do the same for Velez, and let both your leads cut loose. But it gets old real fast when we keep getting the same plot reused again and again, with no difference.

The worst side effect beyond the repetition though is that Carmelita soon goes the way of Dennis, becoming a supporting player in her own movies! This does vary from entry to entry, but often you'll sit down to watch a Mexican Spitfire movie, and the titular spitfire won't appear till 10 minutes in, or the plot will revolve entirely around Lord Epping and Uncle Matt.

I've seen a few sources label this as a 7 film series, saying that A Girl from Mexico somehow doesn't count, but that is the silliest thing imaginable! Of *course* it's an official entry! This isn't like Ma and Pa Kettle, where they were only supporting players in their first movie, nor is Mexican Spitfire a remake. It's simply the first to bear that more famous name. To say it's the first official entry would be like only considering Rambo: First Blood Part 2 the first Rambo film because it's when his name got in the title.

My favourite entries The Girl From Mexico, Mexican Spitfire, Elephant, and Sees a Ghost. Those each have the maximum in comedy, and the minimum of awkwardness, for the most part. My least favourite is Baby, followed by Blessed Event, and At Sea, with Out West sitting reasonably comfortably in the middle.

The series was cut short by the tragic death of Lupe Velez, but one wonders how many more entries would have been made anyway. 8 is certainly a respectable number. It could have kept going, but if all they were going to do were the same old schtick, then it's for the best that we only got 8.

The characters are the heart of the Mexican Spitfire series. Carmelita is a strong protagonist. Sweet and bubbly, yet equally hot-tempered.

After the first two entries the series forgets entirely about Carmelita's interests and talents, until the last couple reignite her passion in dance. We never see her make any friends either. It's quite sad really. The only friend she has in this strange country is the old duffer she lives with.

A big element to the series is the relationship of Carmelita and Dennis. This leads to one of the series' other big problems. For any romance to work, we have to believe the leads as a couple, and we do with Dennis and Carmelita. They are nothing alike, but opposites do attract, and they have a caring relationship...Except when it's not. The conflict that drives many of the films is Carmelita trying to leave Dennis (either from suspecting him of infidelity, hating his obsession with business, etc). Fine a couple of times, but it's repeated again and again, in increasingly trivial ways.

The end result is that they have a very unstable marriage. It feels like this: "I don't care what you say Aunt Della, Carmelita and I are in love, and we'll be together forever!"-"DENNIS, where are my pannycakes, I leave you!". It makes you wonder if they would be better off apart if she finds any excuse to leave him. Luckily the series does eventually start doing this less, even if it never goes away.

Dennis starts out as an alright guy, but as he's quickly sidelined, he becomes more and more bland. Oftentimes he'll just vanish halfway through, and we won't see him again till the very end. Something I wondered for the whole series is why Carmelita and Dennis have no baby, despite several years of marriage. This question is eventually answered in the last film's ending.

Something that frustrates me is about ad men portrayals in the media. They live and breathe contracts, a single failure could spell doom for their company, and they're always on the cusp of a major $50,000 deal that would set them up for life, and yet they never satisfied. If one deal would set you up for life, then why the rush? Do that one deal, then you can relax! Or instead casually spend your whole career doing little deals that add up, unless you wanna retire at 30.

Uncle Matt is a browbeaten husband, and a big child at heart. The polar opposite to Della, he's the friendliest in the household to its new Latin member, and the pair soon become inseparable as they embark on new zany adventures.

Lord Epping meanwhile is an absurdly British aristocrat. Almost always drunk, confused, and possessing a terrible memory and a stubborn demeanour. His life is often made difficult whenever Matt decides to impersonate him, but things manage to go right in the end, and Dennis still keeps him as a client, despite bad luck on the way.

Aunt Della starts out as a harpy, and is often plotting with Dennis's old partner Elizabeth to break up his new marriage. After a few movies she stops being directly hostile, but is always complaining. I know 1940s films were never that big on continuity, and I'm not asking for much, but it would've been nice to gradually see Aunt Della's dislike of Carmelita thaw, and become a grudging respect. Think of the story opportunities that could deliver! Maybe they'd even become friends, and she might have to impersonate someone too. Better than repeating the same idea for the 8th time in a row.

The continuity is decent overall, though there are a few little hiccups here and there. One is Carmelita's maiden name, which changes at one point. Then At Sea has the couple on a second honeymoon because the last one was interrupted by business...which never happened. A particularly glaring issue though is whenever Carmelita suggests Uncle Matt done his Lord Epping disguise, 'like the last time'. Time? Singular? Matt always acts like he's only ever done this once, rather than 7 times in a row.

The cast are both a high and low point. Lupe Velez is a wonderful performer, both physically and comically. She's got an expressive face perfect for comedy. Where she shines most is in her nationality. Her Latina nature is often at the forefront, and she has hilarious outbursts in her mother tongue. I wonder if there was a Spanish speaking minder on set for these scenes, to make sure Velez didn't say anything scandalous.

Leon Errol is a fun personality as Uncle Matt, though his performance as Lord Epping can be hit or miss, as it encapsulates everything the Americans think the British are. He does disappear seamlessly into the role, however, which is always laudable. It's just a shame this success came at the expense of the rest of the cast. I do wonder what Leon Errol thought of it. Did he feel bad for his costars? Or did he think 'Billy-o!'.

As for the low point, it's regarding the same two actors. As great as they are, they can get a bit much sometimes, whether through their own fault, or the direction. Some viewers find Velez grating, and Errol's British aristocrat act annoying and tiresome. There are times when the same is true for me, but for the most part I enjoyed them.

While you wouldn't know it from hearing, Leon Errol was a true blue Aussie! He made his start in Vaudeville, moving to America in his youth and quickly making a name for himself, with over 100 credits to his name. Unfortunately, those flamin' Hollywood galahs never let him use his real accent. Typical American industry, hiring 'foreign' actors, but only on the expectation that they would blend in.

The rest of the regulars do well. The three actors to play Dennis are all fine, and fairly interchangeable. Elizabeth Risdon is good as the stuffy and close-minded Della, while Lydia Bilbrook is good as Lady Epping. She's not perfect, with some spots feeling a bit overplayed, but for the most part I liked her mature and resigned attitude compared with the Lord.

Something odd about the series is its complete lack of music, outside the credits. I never actually noticed while watching. The movies are animated and lively enough to survive having no score, but I was always reminded painfully with the ending theme of each movie. When you haven't heard any music for 70 minutes, it suddenly becomes abundantly clear when it plays again that you've been in silence.

While films may take forever to get made nowadays, things were different back then, and it's always surprising to see that all 8 Spitfire films were released in only 5 years! A couple came out in the very same year. Something to be admired, for sure, and I do wish modern Hollywood would scale things back.

While Mexican Spitfire may have been gone since the 1940s, it hasn't been forgotten. Not among classic film fans (regardless of whether they're fans of Leon Errol's double act), and not among the general populace either. While your average person might not know the series by name, they're definitely aware of its impact, and modern media still bears its influence.

The biggest and best example is sitcom Modern Family, which picked up the baton proudly. Not only does the show have its own Mexican (well, Colombian) spitfire, but she's actually married to an older man! Perhaps the showrunners always felt the same as I, and decided the Latina and older American pair should be a couple. All in all, it does a great job of carrying on the series' legacy.

Mexican Spitfire is a series brimming with potential, but it was squandered by constantly focusing on the wrong things, again and again. Doomed by a lack of variety, some entries are worse than others, but all but the worst have a few redeeming qualities. Overall it's definitely worth watching a few. They're great comedies, and is reflective of a time when America had more respect for its neighbour to the South, and were able to get along and have a laugh together...