LA FIESTA DE SANTA BARBARA (1935) -- ThreeStooges.net

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Released December 07, 1935
Featuring Ted Healy (Solo)

MGM
18.6 min. (Short Subject)

MGM actors attend the annual Fiesta celebration in Santa Barbara, CA. Filmed in Technicolor.

Ted Healy clowns with one of his "replacement" stooges, Jimmy Brewster.

Using location footage from Santa Barbara, but some of the stars' segments were actually filmed on the MGM backlot.

Avg. Rating:

[6.50/10]

Cast List

Pete Smith
Narrator

Chester Conklin
Himself

Shirley Ross
Herself

Ida Lupino
Herself

Edmund Lowe
Himself

Andy Devine
Himself

Buster Keaton
Himself

Jimmy Brewster
Himself

Ted Healy
Himself

Leo Carrillo
Himself

Harpo Marx
Himself

Gary Cooper
Himself

Robert Taylor
Himself

Jim Thorpe
Himself

Eddie Durant and His Rhumba Orchestra
Themselves

Mary Carlisle
Herself

Joe Morrison
Himself

Binnie Barnes
Herself

Mary Jane Gumm
Herself

Judy Garland
Herself

Virginia Gumm
Herself

Irvin S. Cobb
Himself

Warner Baxter
Himself

Toby Wing
Herself

Gilbert Roland
Himself

Ralph Forbes
Himself

Cecilia Parker
Herself

Rosalind Keith
Herself

Maria Gambarelli
Herself

Adrienne Ames
Herself

Steffi Duna
Herself

Paul Porcasi
Himself

The Spanish Troubadors
Themselves

The Fanchonettes
Themselves

Kirby and DeGage
Themselves

Dude Ranch Wranglers
Themselves

Production Crew

Louis Lewyn
Producer

Pete Smith
Producer

Ray Rennahan
Director of Photography

Natalie Kalmus
Technicolor Color Director

Stooge Businesses (0)

Stooge Goofs (0)

Stooge Mayhem (Avg. 0.00)

Re: LA FIESTA SANTA BARBARA
Posted 2003-02-20 11:42:00 by metaldams
Edited 2006-03-27 10:31:57 by shemps#1

An interesting 1935 MGM technicolor short. Healy is good in the small role he has, and I actually find I prefer him better when he's not with the Stooges. I find that Healy works best in small doses instead of leading roles. Harpo Marx has a very brief cameo and this is a rare instance of seeing him in color, and the highlight is an excellent performance by the great Buster Keaton. The great silent clown can actually surprise us here with a very funny bullfighting act, complete with Spanish accent. Despite coming off some weak MGM features at the time, Buster shows us that he can still make us laugh when given decent material. The short overall is just OK, as it drags on a little too long and is very episodic in nature, but it is worth seeing for certain parts. Also noteworthy for being the first billed on-screen appearance of Judy Garland.

Reviewer's Rating:

(6)

Re: LA FIESTA SANTA BARBARA
Posted 2003-04-20 05:31:00 by Bruckman

Interesting early Technicolor short--the perfected Technicolor, not the 2-strip variety used for NERTSERY RHYMES. No plot, merely a variety show of various singers and comedians allegedly attending the annual Fiesta at Santa Barbara, CA. I say "allegedly" because except for a brief bit of footage, most of this film was shot either at the MGM studios (you can see the exteriors of the big soundstages in one outdoor dance scene) or at the home of Lou Lewyn, the short's producer. Lewyn, not coincidentally, was married to Marian Mack, Buster Keaton's leading lady in THE GENERAL, and it was Marian who managed to corral (literally) Keaton into appearing in his first film for MGM since the termination of his contract by Louis B. Mayer in early 1933. Keaton's routine w/a pantomime bull and toreador Andy Devine is the film's real standout, but the Healy appearance (with 2 stooges) is a highlight too. The rest of the film is a melange of cameos (Gary Cooper, Robert Taylor, Harpo Marx, all in brief closeups) and more extended routines by has-beens or up-and-coming stars (Leo Carillo and Chris-Pin Martin do a Cisco Kid-derived bit, Judy Garland and her 2 sisters sing about marijuana, Irvin S. Cobb tells a joke). But if there's another film which has Chester Conklin and Ida Lupino in the same scene, I don't know it. Narrated by Pete Smith who had his own long-running series of MGM shorts, in his inimitable polysyllabic wise-guy manner. For anyone interested in 30s Hollywood history, this is a fascinating short outweighing its entertainment value--MGM obviously made this as a test film to determine the range and spectrum of Technicolor, with all the elaborate silk costumes of blended pastels.

Reviewer's Rating:

(8)

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