Warner Baxter won the Best Actor Oscar in 1930 for the film "In Old Arizona" and he played the Cisco Kid in that movie. When seen today, Baxter's performance was a bit broad. Even more broad is his performance here in "Under the Pampas Moon" where he plays a South American gaucho who is also a bit of a rube when he goes to the big city. Why does he leave his home in the Pampas to go to the city? Well, he's smitten with a French singer and after meeting her when her plane was forced to make an emergency landing in his home town, he decides to follow her to the next performance. Unfortunately, he discovers that his beloved horse has been stolen and the guy who bought the hot horse is not about to return it...despite what he keeps telling the gaucho. What's next? Who cares, really.
For me, the performances are often a bit broad here and I wish they'd used more Hispanic actors for heightened realism. Additionally, the plot really meanders here and could have been tightened up a lot. On the plus side, and I saw few pluses, you do get to see Rita Cansino in her first movie...the woman who later was renamed 'Rita Hayworth'.
For me, the performances are often a bit broad here and I wish they'd used more Hispanic actors for heightened realism. Additionally, the plot really meanders here and could have been tightened up a lot. On the plus side, and I saw few pluses, you do get to see Rita Cansino in her first movie...the woman who later was renamed 'Rita Hayworth'.