''Pepe'' is a 1960 American musical comedy film starring Cantinflas in the title role, directed by George Sidney. The film contained a multitude of cameo appearances, attempting to replicate the success of Cantinflas' American debut '' Around the World in 80 Days''. The film received generally unfavorable reviews from critics and failed to match the box-office success of his previous American film. The movie was issued on VHS tape in 1998; to date, a DVD and a Blu-ray have been released in Spain, but none in the United States.

Plot

Pepe is a hired hand, employed on a ranch. A boozing Hollywood director, Mr. Holt, buys a white stallion that belongs to Pepe's boss. Pepe, determined to get the horse back (as he considers it his family), decides to go to Hollywood. There he meets film stars, including

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, vaudevillian, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced song ...

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

, Zsa Zsa Gabór,

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

Maurice Chevalier Maurice Auguste Chevalier (; 12 September 1888 – 1 January 1972) was a French singer, actor and entertainer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including " Livin' In The Sunlight", " Valentine", "Louise", " Mimi", and "Thank Hea ...

and

Jack Lemmon John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leadin ...

in drag as Daphne from ''

Some Like It Hot ''Some Like It Hot'' is a 1959 American crime comedy film directed, produced and co-written by Billy Wilder. It stars Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, with George Raft, Pat O'Brien, Joe E. Brown, Joan Shawlee, Grace Lee Whitney and N ...

''. He is also surprised by things that were new in the U.S. at the time, such as automatic doors. When he finally reaches the man who bought the horse, he is led to believe there is no hope of getting it back. However Mr. Holt offers him a job when he realizes that Pepe brings new life to the stallion. With his luck changing, Pepe wins big money in Las Vegas, enough that Mr. Holt lets him be the producer of his next movie. Most of the movie centers around his meeting Suzie Murphy, an actress on hard times who hates the world. Just like with the stallion, Pepe brings out the best in Suzie and helps her become a big star in a movie made by Mr. Holt. The last scene shows both him and the stallion back at the ranch with several

foal A foal is an equine up to one year old; this term is used mainly for horses, but can be used for donkeys. More specific terms are colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, and are used until the horse is three or four. When the foal i ...

Cast

* Cantinflas as Pepe * Dan Dailey as Ted Holt * Shirley Jones as Suzie Murphy * Carlos Montalbán as Rodríguez (auctioneer) *

Vicki Trickett Vicki Trickett (September 2, 1938 – August 30, 2021) was an American actress best known for several film roles in the early 1960s. She is probably best known for her role as Diane Quigley in the film ''The Three Stooges Meet Hercules'' (1962).C ...

as Lupita * Matt Mattox as Dancer *

Hank Henry Hank Henry (July 9, 1906 – March 31, 1981) was an American comedian, known for his stage work on the Las Vegas Strip for decades. He was also a film and television actor. Henry got his start in American burlesque and was the comic to straightm ...

as Manager *

Suzanne Lloyd Suzanne Lloyd is a Canadian film and television actress who was born in Toronto. Early years and career Lloyd attended Pasadena City College, Pasadena Junior College. In addition to her film work, she was a frequent guest star on both British ...

as Carmen * Carlos Rivas as Carlos * Michael Callan as Dancer * William Demarest as Movie Studio Gateman

Cameos

* Joey Bishop as himself * Billie Burke *

as himself, performing a number * Charles Coburn as himself * Richard Conte as himself *

as himself * Tony Curtis * Bobby Darin as himself, performing a number * Ann B. Davis as her TV character Schultzy * Sammy Davis Jr. as himself, performing a number in Las Vegas *

as man at casino * Zsa Zsa Gabór * Judy Garland (voice only) * Greer Garson as herself * Hedda Hopper * Ernie Kovacs as border official * Peter Lawford as himself * Janet Leigh *

as himself, wearing his outfit from ''Some Like It Hot'' *

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...

* Jay North as his TV character Dennis the Menace * Kim Novak as herself *

André Previn André George Previn (; born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved ...

* Donna Reed as herself, talking to Edward G. Robinson *

Debbie Reynolds Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer, and businesswoman. Her career spanned almost 70 years. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her portra ...

as herself, dancing with Cantinflas in a dream sequence *

Edward G. Robinson Edward G. Robinson (born Emanuel Goldenberg; December 12, 1893January 26, 1973) was a Romanian-American actor of stage and screen, who was popular during the Hollywood's Golden Age. He appeared in 30 Broadway plays and more than 100 films duri ...

* Cesar Romero as a man next to a slot machine *

as himself

Production

In August 1957 George Sidney Productions announced Leonard Spigelglass was working on the screenplay of a vehicle for Cantinflas called ''Magic''. In November of that year Sidney announced the film was called ''Pepe''. The film was based on an Austrian musical revue, ''Broadway Zauber'' ("Broadway Magic"), whose debut in Vienna in 1935 was reviewed by Variety. In April 1959 contracts were signed with Columbia to produce and release the film. George Sidney was to direct and co produce, under his own banner, along with Jacques Gelman, head of Posa International films. George Sidney later recalled "there were problems dealing with the logistics of making a picture in two countries with a writer's strike going on at the same time. It was difficult trying to schedule around this person and that person and getting all of the people together. Shooting in Mexico with two sets of crew down there posed problems. I was moving back and forth and any time I was in one place I needed to be in another place." Sidney says that because of the writers strike, Durante and Cantinflas had to ad lib their scene together. "It turned out to be pretty funny," said Sidney. "The studio thought we had hired writers on the black market." It was Judy Garland’s first film work since '' A Star is Born'' was released in 1954. She was slated to make an onscreen appearance. However she was still recovering from illness and the producers decided to limit it to a song.

Reception

Bosley Crowther of '' The New York Times'' was not impressed. "The rare and wonderful talents of Mexican comedian Cantinflas, who was nicely introduced to the general public as the valet in ''Around the World in 80 Days'', are pitifully spent and dissipated amid a great mass of Hollywooden dross in the oversized, over-peopled ''Pepe'', which opened at the Criterion last night." ''Variety'' said it had a "wealth of entertainment" as well as "dull spots".

Soundtrack album

The soundtrack was issued in 1960 by Colpix Records in the U.S. (CP 507) and

Pye International Records Pye International Records was a record label founded in 1958, as a subsidiary of Pye Records. The company distributed many American labels in the UK, including Chess, Kama Sutra, Buddah, Colpix and King. (There was also an American label of the ...

in the UK (NPL 28015). The tracks were: Side One # " Pepe" sung by Shirley Jones # "

Mimi Mimi or MIMI may refer to: People * Mimi (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Constantin Mimi (1868–1935), Bessarabian politician and winemaker * Mimi (footballer, born 1996), Bissau Guinean footballer * Mohanad Ali (born 2 ...

" / September Song sung by

# " Hooray for Hollywood" sung by Sammy Davis Jr. # "The Rumble" (

) – orchestral version Side Two # "That's How It Went, All Right" ( Dory Langdon Previn / André Previn) sung by Bobby Darin # "The Faraway Part of Town" (Dory Langdon Previn / André Previn) sung by Judy Garland # "Suzy's Theme" (

Johnny Green John Waldo Green (October 10, 1908 – May 15, 1989) was an American songwriter, composer, musical arranger, conductor and pianist. He was given the nickname "Beulah" by colleague Conrad Salinger. His most famous song was one of his earli ...

) – orchestral version # " Pennies from Heaven" / Let's Fall in Love / South of the Border sung by

# "Lovely Day" ( Agustín Lara / Dory Langdon Previn) sung by Shirley Jones

Awards and nominations

, ''Pepe'' holds the record for the film with the most Academy Award nominations without being nominated in the Picture, Director, Acting, or Screenplay categories.

Comic book adaption

Dell Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...

Four Color #1194 (April 1961)

References

External links

* * * {{George Sidney 1960 films 1960 musical comedy films American musical comedy films Columbia Pictures films Films directed by George Sidney Films scored by Johnny Green Films set in Los Angeles Films adapted into comics 1960s English-language films 1960s American films