''Machine Gun Mama'' is a 1944 American musical comedy film directed by Harold Young. It was

PRC China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the e ...

's attempt to feature a

comedy team A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act, often highlighting differences in their characters' ...

to compete with Universal's

Abbott and Costello Abbott and Costello were an American comedy duo composed of comedians Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, whose work in radio, film, and television made them the most popular comedy team of the 1940s and 1950s, and the highest-paid entertainers in t ...

and Paramount's '' Road to ...'' movies, as well as their entry in the Good Neighbor Policy

film genre A film genre is a Genre, stylistic or thematic category for Film, motion pictures based on similarities either in the narrative , narrative elements, aesthetic approach, or the emotional response to the film. Drawing heavily from the theories ...

of the time where the United States presented both a positive image to Latin and South America as well as stimulating American tourism to the region. Harold Young had also directed the live action portions of

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

's ''

The Three Caballeros ''The Three Caballeros'' is a 1944 American live-action and animated musical propaganda anthology film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film premiered in Mexico City on December 21, 1944. It was released in the ...

''. The film had the

working title A working title is a preliminary name for a product or project. The usage is especially common in film and TV, gaming, music and publishing. It is often styled in trade publications as (wt) and is synonymous with production title and tentative ...

s ''Mexican Fiesta'' and ''Moonlight Fiesta''Machine Gun Mama
/ref> but is also known as ''Tropical Fury'' as an American TV title of the film. The title comes from a furious Nita turning a compressed air pellet firing machine gun carnival attraction on the Americans.

Plot

Two truck drivers from Brooklyn travel to Mexico to deliver an elephant named "Bunny", but they have lost the address where Bunny is to be delivered. Adopting the elephant as their own, the two stumble into a

traveling carnival A traveling carnival (American English), usually simply called a carnival, travelling funfair or travelling show (British English), is an amusement show that may be made up of List of amusement rides, amusement rides, food vendors, merchandi ...

headed by Alberto Cordoba and his daughter Nita. The carnival is destitute and menaced by loan sharks. The two Americans sell Bunny to the carnival to replace their recently departed flea circus but agree not to accept their payment until the carnival regains its fortune thanks to Bunny and Brooklyn " ballyhoo". The loan sharks attempt a variety of dirty tricks against the gringos.

Cast

* Armida as Nita Cordoba *

El Brendel Elmer Goodfellow "El" Brendel (March 25, 1890 – April 9, 1964) was an American vaudeville comedian turned movie star, best remembered for his dialect routine as a Swedish immigrant. His biggest role was as "Single-0" in the sci-fi musical ' ...

as Ollie Swenson *

Wallace Ford Wallace Ford (born Samuel Grundy Jones; 12 February 1898 – 11 June 1966) was an English–American vaudevillian, stage performer and screen actor. Usually playing wise-cracking characters, he combined a tough but friendly-faced demeanor with ...

as John O'Reilly *

Jack La Rue Jack La Rue (born Gaspare Biondolillo; May 3, 1902 – January 11, 1984) was an American film and stage actor. Early life and family Gaspare Biondolillo was the son of Sicilian immigrants Luigi Biondolillo (1874–1951) and Giuseppa Biondoli ...

as Jose *

Luis Alberni Luis Alberni (October 4, 1886 – December 23, 1962) was a Spanish-born American character actor of stage and films. Early years Alberni was born in Barcelona, Spain, on October 4, 1886. He acted in stock theater for four years in Marseille ...

as Ignacio * Ariel Heath as The Blonde *

Julian Rivero Julian Rivero (July 25, 1890 – February 24, 1976) was an American actor whose career spanned seven decades. He made his film debut in the 1923 silent melodrama, '' The Bright Shawl'', which starred Richard Barthelmess, Dorothy Gish, Will ...

as Alberto Cordoba * Eumenio Blanco as First Detective *

Anthony Warde Anthony Warde (born Benjamin Schwartz; January 1, 1909 – January 8, 1975) was an American actor who appeared in over 150 movies from 1937 to 1964. Early years Born as Benjamin Schwartz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on New Year's Day 1909 ...

as Carlos

Soundtrack

* "Mi Amor" (written by

Sam Neuman Sam Neuman is an American writer for films and television shows as well as a songwriter. He was also an attorney-at-law. Partial filmography *''Hitler (1962 film), Hitler'' (1962) *''Buffalo Bill in Tomahawk Territory'' (1952) *''The Hoodlum ...

and Michael Breen) * "Moonlight Fiesta" (written by Sam Neuman and Michael Breen)

Notes

External links

* * 1944 films 1940s Spanish-language films American black-and-white films 1944 musical comedy films 1944 romantic comedy films Films set in Mexico American adventure comedy films Producers Releasing Corporation films Films directed by Harold Young (director) 1940s romantic musical films American romantic musical films American musical comedy films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films English-language musical comedy films English-language romantic comedy films English-language romantic musical films Good Neighbor policy {{romantic-musical-film-stub