I wanted to but couldn't!

Absolutely Brilliant!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

In the late 30s and early 40s, the Hal Roach Studio switched from making comedy shorts to longer-length B-movies. Most were about an hour long, though I have no idea why "Fiesta" is only 45. Regardless, it's a strange Hollywood version of life in the Mexican countryside--one that is very sanitized and full of happy peasants and singing.When the film begins, the big boss-man of the town announces a fiesta because his daughter, Cholita (Ann Ayars) is returning. However, everyone is a bit surprised when she shows up with a fiancé-- especially since poor Jose thought she was his. Soon this fiancé proves to be a real drip so Jose decides to play a trick on him and pretends to be a bandit. Can he possibly win back Cholita or is the woman destined to be married to a haughty jerk?This is a musical with a rather thin plot. The opening number is very nice but I had no idea what they were singing about as it was in Spanish. The second number, however, was awful, as the woman singing lead had a voice high pitched enough to cause dogs to bark and glass to explode! Apart from this, the rest of the songs are okay and the film a mildly entertaining affair if you have very low standards and expectations. Kind of like silly fluff, really.

Remember when W.C. Fields, introducing twins, claimed that one was the world's largest midget, and the other was the world's shortest giant? Well, this film could be called either the cinema's longest short, or the cinema's shortest feature, take your pick. And it's actually pretty good. It's all about a young girl who returns from Mexico City with her new fiancé, only to have her old boyfriend, who has been waiting for her to return, try to scare the pompous man off. Yes, it all happens in less than 50 minutes, and includes several fun musical numbers including the silly but entertaining "What do you do with a jumping bean?", as well as several numbers in Spanish.Throw in some colorful costumes and houses that look like the Munchkinland set from "The Wizard of Oz" and add on some nice color photography (which resembles the MGM Travel Talks series), and you have a pleasant little musical feature. The cast is pretty adequate, but the choreography by LeRoy Prinz is most memorable. Anne Ayres is about as realistic as a Mexican girl as Charleton Heston was as a Mexican man in "A Touch of Evil". The stereotypes of the pleasant peasants, people of such good nature that they have to force themselves to lie in order to go to confession, and then go back to confession to confess that they lied about lying, is rather silly. Some of the comical moments seem a bit forced, but what else can you expect in a Hal Roach comedy? Simply enjoy the music and the color.

Obviously at 45 minutes it was only going to be a bottom feature for double bills and also served to introduce Anne Ayars to film audiences. At 22 she looked a lot older, which is probably why she didn't make much of a splash. She featured in "Dr. Kildare's Victory" and "Apache Trail" but only made a few films. She played Cholita, but was outshone by the dazzling Armida as Cuca. Armida was a beautiful Mexican dancer who's early credits include a sultry dance in "The Show of Shows" (1929). Another supporting player to watch was Antonio Moreno as Cholita's uncle, Don Hernandez. He had a huge career starting with bit parts in early Biograph films. His most famous role was as the stuffy boss in "It". When talkies came in he made a number of Spanish language films. He looks very dashing in "Fiesta".Cholita (Anne Ayers) returns to Mexico with her fiancé, pompous radio singer Fernando Gomez (George Givot in a performance that is little more than a caricature). He is a fortune hunter and switches his attentions to Cuca when he thinks she is rich.The Technicolor is there to showcase the vivid Mexican dances of which the film has plenty. Cuca sings and dances to a spirited song "Never Trust a Jumping Bean". Cholita sings "I'll Never Forget Fiesta" and the beautiful "La Golondrina".

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.