I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Shot on just the one set crowded with sombreros and flamenco dresses, this tinny studio-bound Hal Roach streamliner is very much a throwback to the early Technicolor musicals 'La Cucuracha' (1934) and 'Dancing Pirate' (1936), and further back still to the concluding Technicolor portion of the 1929 'Rio Rita'.Despite singing a song with the preposterous title "Never Trust a Jumping Bean", of the two femmes the tiny Armida far outshines top-billed opera star Anne Ayars (who looks considerably older than Armida despite being seven years younger). And Armida has two ranches! There's very little plot to speak of, although a brief comic interlude when a character falls into a tub of flour and is taken to be a ghost reminds us that this is a Hal Roach production.

Fiesta with a running time of only 43 minutes seems to fall in a never never land of film classification. Not long enough to be a feature film and too long for a short subject. It's strictly an academic question because I doubt this film would have qualified for any awards.It barely has a plot in it and what little it does concerns young Anne Ayars bringing home radio star George Givot for guardian/uncle Antonio Moreno's approval. Givot is certainly not the hero his publicity makes him out to be and Jorge Negrette spend what little time between songs and dances proving it so and winning Ayars.If you watch Fiesta you're not watching it for any story, but to enjoy the musical numbers. Latin American music was at the time making one of its periodic bursts of popularity at the time Fiesta was made and the film is an attempt to cash in on that as well.The numbers are nice, but you can hear and see the same thing watching Desi Arnaz do an occasional number on I Love Lucy.

This film probably would be of very, very little interest, were it not shot in colour. At least you can enjoy the magical reds and blues that have never been seen again since Technicolor process was replaced with cheaper and inferior ones. Amazingly enough, even as we are people from the 21st century, and are soon to celebrate Technicolor's one hundredth birthday (it began in 1917 with The Gulf Between, first two-strip Technicolor feature which has not survived), we still manage to be raptured by colour in these early films - especially if these only run for 45 minutes. The film features almost no plot, but at least a dozen songs - not bad ones - and the opportunity to see Anne Ayres, who a few years later became the leading lyrical soprano in the Metropolitain and returned to the screen only in 1951, when he was cast as Antonia in Tales of Hoffmann. Incidentally, she was the only woman in that film who actually lip-synced to her own voice. Her acting style is very sober and unassuming, so you might want to check out her other screen appearances.

The funniest thing about this colorful teeny weeny delicious pinyata of a musical is that it is 45 minutes... and it is quite funny anyway.. The best thing about it is the incredible color...Technicolor...and eye-popping art direction. It is exquisite to watch. The story? ...remember this is a 45 minute movie now.... someone turns up at the fiesta with some radio bozo and the village decides to get rid of him so she can marry someone who loves her. This takes 44 minutes. Inbetween opening and closing doors there is what seems like 55 songs and an incredible amount of parading and twirling about in the village square...which is the one big set...with rooms and doors and verandas from each side. In fact it looks exactly like the wonderful style of 20s cinemas designed by John Eberson called Atmospherics which looked like a Spanish courtyard complete with steps and balconies and a twinkling cobalt blue sky with stars overhead. Made independently in 1940, FIESTA is a charming situation comedy for rural audiences in delicious color and with authentic looking costumes of an infinitely beautiful variety. I would easily say this film is one of the most beautiful early color films yet seen... if you have seen MGM's $3 million dollar YOLANDA AND THE THIEF made in 1945 or THE PIRATE in 1948, or other as expensive big studio lush fantasy films, this small budget pic is easily as spectacular in its modest way. I have never seen the colour 30s pix LA CUCURACHA or THE DANCING PIRATE but I would suggest this lovely dance musical belongs in that bracket of tech productions. I would certainly say it was made for country and suburban audiences. What it lacks in running time it makes up for in lavish screen detail. It's not about much, but who cares? it is absolutely gorgeous to see and funny to boot. Kids would love it. 45 minutes!