From previous reviewers, I read some complaints that this is essentially a repetition of the screenplay of the previous film(Mexican Spitfire) of this series of 8 comedies, starring the striking Lupe Velez(the Mexican Spitfire) and veteran stage and film actor Leon Errol. Superficially, this may seem true. But, I agree with reviewer JohnHowardReid that this is the most entertaining of this film series, at least of the 4 I have seen. In fact, it's one of the funniest film farces I've ever seen! Some reviewers declare that the first of the series : "The Girl from Mexico" is the best of the series. Certainly, that film most features Lupe, as the supposed lead character in the series, if that's what you want. But, with the introduction, in "Mexican Spitfire", of Leon Errol playing 3 characters: the very eccentric Lord Epping, as well as Uncle Lindsay, and Uncle's duplication of Epping, as well as a forth character: Epping's valet, in the present film, Errol became the de facto lead actor in generating comedy, with Lupe essentially being his sidekick.........In addition to the return of the main characters from the first 2 films, 2 new significant characters are introduced. These are : Skinner(Eddie Dunn), as a rival to Dennis Lindsay(Lupe's Husband) for securing the lucrative contract from Lord Epping for advertising his Scottish whiskey in the USA. Also, Lady Epping arrives from England some time after her husband arrives, and has a part in the hilarious shenanigans in the last part of the film. .............As in the first 2 films, Lupe and Errol, in any of his guises, usually team up to foil the others. Lupe, despite being 31, usually comes across as a hyperemotional teenager, laughing, hugging and with her occasional verbose temper tantrums. She was even more infamous for her emotional outbursts and shenanigans offscreen. Yet, she was very popular with movie fans, 4000 of whom filed by her open casket, when she ended her life at age 36.........Errol spent all of the era of silent films on Broadway, as an actor and director, especially for Ziegfeld's follies. As soon as talky films began, he abandoned Broadway for Hollywood, and appeared in many films in the '30s and 40s, probably mostly in minor roles, as I haven't noticed him in any films outside of this series. Unfortunately, I don't know if he invented his Lord Epping character before he got into this film series...............As in "the Mexican Spitfire", Lupe starts things off by going far away to apply for a divorce: this time to Reno. She was mad at husband Dennis(Donald Woods) because he was late to their first anniversary party. She wasn't sure if she would actually go through with this, or just scare him. It turned out that she did hire a lawyer to type up divorce papers. And, when Dennis later arrived to check up on things, the lawyer served him the papers. Yet, several times, Lupe claimed she didn't really file for divorce, and in the ending, they are holding hands as they disappear into their bedroom. Confusing! .............Eventually, the whole gang from NYC, as well as Lord Epping and his wife, arrive in the same hotel in Reno, for various reasons, and participate in the hilarious last portion of the film. See the film for details. (The film series is available on DVD, at Amazon, for instance). You'll have to keep close attention to figure out whether you are looking at the 'real' Lord Epping or Uncle's imitation! Enjoy!
Review of Mexican Spitfire Out West
