For me this movie is a fine example of the exotic "Old West" or "Old Mexico" of the '30s-'40s east coast imagination.
It has an ambiance similar to a Roy Rogers movie where the gangsters drive cars and fly airplanes, but Roy on Trigger is able to ride over the hill and cut them off. Business suits mix with cowboy outfits and Mexican girls in traditional dresses.
To correct some of the other reviewers, the fictitious San Pablo of the movie is actually Santa Fe--the La Fonda Hotel is a historic landmark near the main square of Santa Fe. Cowboys and Indians and lots of Americans in the on screen Fiesta are not that out-of-character after all because it is not actually in Mexico.
That said, the movie has an enigmatic, exotic, mysterious feel which is sustained throughout. The fact that you don't know much about the characters contributes to the enigma.
I liked all the actors, especially Thomas Gomez, and feel that the film has many glimpses of Mexican-Americans depicted more as actual people and less as comic-book caricatures than in other movies from the same period.
It has an ambiance similar to a Roy Rogers movie where the gangsters drive cars and fly airplanes, but Roy on Trigger is able to ride over the hill and cut them off. Business suits mix with cowboy outfits and Mexican girls in traditional dresses.
To correct some of the other reviewers, the fictitious San Pablo of the movie is actually Santa Fe--the La Fonda Hotel is a historic landmark near the main square of Santa Fe. Cowboys and Indians and lots of Americans in the on screen Fiesta are not that out-of-character after all because it is not actually in Mexico.
That said, the movie has an enigmatic, exotic, mysterious feel which is sustained throughout. The fact that you don't know much about the characters contributes to the enigma.
I liked all the actors, especially Thomas Gomez, and feel that the film has many glimpses of Mexican-Americans depicted more as actual people and less as comic-book caricatures than in other movies from the same period.