Week-End in Havana (1941), 6+ Color

Nan Spencer is on a boat bound for Havana which runs aground. The man sent to rescue her is engaged and she doesn't understand his disinterest. Gambler is interested, to the annoyance of his girlfriend.
1h 21min | Comedy, Musical, Romance | 17 October 1941 | Color
Director: Walter Lang
Stars: Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda, John Payne, Cesar Romero
Hermes Pan ... dances staged by

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034379/

I know I've watched this before, but I didn't rate it.

The man (JP) is not sent to rescue anyone. He's there to get everyone to sign liability waivers. He's a lawyer/executive, not a search and rescue hero.

Music numbers:

• Sc 2: CM sings the titles song
• Sc 5: CM sings during hotel floor show preceded by swaying dancers who exit
• Sc 6: trio sings song as entertainment; AF sings it in English to herself wistfully on the patio, catching the attention of CR
• Sc 9: AF sings while social dancing, CR joins in, they dance better than fellow patrons.
• Sc 12: AF & JP sing romantically on a sugarcane wagon back to town
• Sc 16: CM production# with lots of ensemble dancing.

I ran this a couple of times because I knew I wasn't paying good attention. But I still couldn't catch some important plot points: why did JP & CM go to the out-of-the-way inn, to have meeting/dinner in a private room upstairs, only to be followed very shortly by AF & CR doing the exact same thing, landing in the room next door. Also, why did JP finally fall in love with AF? Appears to have happened just before they caught the sugarcane wagon.

And of course, there's the title. She's on a 2-week vacation. So it should be Fortnight in Havana. AF's a shopgirl, not a jet-setting socialite.

Only 3 more AF movies before Fallen Angel ('45), when she quits Fox in a huff after seeing how it was edited toward Linda Darnell.

The commentary track is ok, but highly skippable.

Fox, dir. Lang; 6+