#015: In Gay Madrid

 IN GAY MADRID

Release Date

May 17, 1930

History

Ramon Novarro previously starred in the musical Devil-May-Care, which was filmed in September and released in December of 1929; as discussed in that post, it was a challenge to see if audiences would be convinced he could carry the weight of doing his first comedy, musical, and talking picture. Before he was given a chance to see if the film would be a success, he was thrown into filming In Gay Madrid, which began production in November 1929, a month before Devil-May-Care would even be released! In Gay Madrid wouldn't released for another five months after filming had wrapped. While Devil-May-Care was a box office success, In Gay Madrid was not. It received a lukewarm review from the New York Times, which complimented its characters, but criticized the sound technology and the way that characters were shouting their lines-- this would have been more forgiven had the film been released a little earlier in the year or even in 1929, but because sound had advanced by the time this film was released, it seemed dated. Additionally, the New York Times criticized how the film was supposed to take place in a Spanish college, but that the characters were following the culture of an American college in their slang and behavior. 

Review

Novarro stars as Ricardo, a playboy college student who comes from a wealthy and socialite family. Ricardo is painting the town red and getting his name in the papers far too much for his behavior. His latest escapade has been his romance with opera singer Goytia, who he has an affair with even though she has a jealous beau. The resulting riot is the final straw for Ricardo's father, who sends him to Santiago to finish his college studies. 

Ricardo's father is best friends with the father of Ernesto, one of Ricardo's housemates. When Ricardo makes a social call on the family, he meets Ernesto's sister, Carmina, and is smitten with her. Unfortunately, Carmina is engaged to Octavio, a housemate of Ricardo's who is not happy with Ricardo's reputation in Madrid or his current antics. As Ricardo tries to steal Carmina from Octavio with his charm, he must learn that his playboy ways won't be as accepted in Santiago as they were in Madrid. 

Ramon Novarro was perfect as Ricardo. He has a beautiful tenor singing voice, as discussed earlier on this blog. Although line delivery is still slow and loud in some portions (as stated before, this may have been directed because of the new technology of sound), Novarro is quite charming and encapsulates the role. Ricardo is a playful character and reminded me a lot of the Dudley Moore character in Arthur. He is immature in many ways, but kind hearted. Friendship means a lot to Ricardo. For example, when Ricardo comes to Carmina's home for the first time, he is very late and is expected for dinner. The family, who are very stuffy (Carmina is playing the harp studiously while they wait) all discuss his reputation. Ricardo strolls in with Ernesto and fecklessly says he has other plans and can't stay for dinner. He still manages to charm Carmina's father and aunt and try to flirt with Carmina. Carmina is hesitant and turns away his advances, while her aunt, who likes Ricardo, pretends to have her back turned and keeps peering over at them, in an amusing scene. 

Carmina's fiancee, Octavio, wants Ricardo out of the picture, and is the first to rat Ricardo out to Carmina's family, stating that the reason Ricardo can't stay for dinner is so he can go to a wine shop with the boys from his house. Ricardo seems to have little to no shame or guilt about his lie being told though. Ricardo's childishness continues as he copes with being rejected by Carmina by making fun of her to his roommates at the wine shop, before being caught by Ernesto. We see a more likeable side of Ricardo here, as he is remorseful and admits to Ernesto that the reason is he has taken a liking to her and his vanity was hurt.

You can't help but smile at Ricardo's antics throughout the film. He helps a roommate who has no singing talent pretend to serenade a woman he loves at a costume party, by actually singing with a guitar behind him as the roommate pretends to play and sing in front. When Ricardo sees Carmina on the balcony, he forgets about the charade and appears from behind and continues to sing to Carmina-- a very funny moment in the film. I have always had a soft spot for characters laughing along with a joke in a film, and seeing Carmina laugh along to this made me laugh harder. 

Ricardo's character is relatable to men today while representing the average college male nearly a century ago. As Carmina and Ricardo flirt at the party and go into the garden, they are caught by Octavio, and the two have a very passive aggressive jabbing session that two college guys would still today be caught doing over the hand of a girl (a mirroring example of this would be when Jess and Logan first meet on Gilmore Girls and both go to dinner with Rory). Ricardo makes up with her in a very cute scene as he serenades her once again outside her bedroom, hides on her balcony, and when she comes out to find him, appears from behind. However, in true Ricardo fashion, the woman from the beginning of the film, Goytia, appears, as Ricardo had invited her to come visit before he officially courted Carmina at their party....just as Ricardo's father comes to visit. The scene that follows, where Ricardo is desperately hiding Goytia in his closet while talking to his father, could have been done so over the top in 1929, but here, Novarro's performance is funny yet subdued. I was really impressed with that fine balance he was able to maintain.

What's most touching about Ricardo, and most relatable, is his relationship with his father. Veteran actor Claude King, in a smaller role, steals the show with his subtle performance. At the beginning of the film, Ricardo comes home after the incident with Goytia, hungover and pretending he's been home all night in bed. His father walks in finding Ricardo under the covers and, instead of being cross, simply says "Don't you think you'd be much more comfortable without your shoes?" Ricardo, as most college boys would do when being caught for lying, decides to take it a step further and fakes a taxi accident, trying to plea that this is why he was out all night. His father knows better, and is quick to alert him in a firm but amused tone, that he knew about the fight at the club from the newspapers and that the phone has been ringing all morning.

Flash forward to when Ricardo's father visits him in Santiago after Ricardo is in a mess, and their bond becomes even more clear. Ricardo is happy to see his father when he surprises him with a visit, and yet is still afraid of him. He hates the leash his father keeps him on, but when Ricardo talks to him about his problems with Carmina, he values his opinion. I was reminded of my relationship with my father when I was in college, as I'm sure many men looking back at their college days would be-- acting big and like I could fix anything, but when in a jam, the first thing I needed to do was turn to Dad to help work things out. Ricardo's father and Carmina's father talk and do help the two make up, but only for a short time, as a vengeful Octavio rats Ricardo out again, informing both fathers, Ernesto, and Carmina that Goytia is visiting Ricardo and staying in his room. The deep relation between Ricardo and his father is clear as Ricardo is just as hurt if not more so that he disappointing his father than he ruined things with Carmina. Carmina's reaction on the other hand, is one of responsibility for the situation. "It isn't your fault, it's mine. I shouldn't have trusted my heart." After all, she's been taught that good girls follow logic over passion. 

Ricardo's redeeming qualities are unleashed when Ernesto challenges Ricardo to a duel for Carmina's honor. Ricardo does not want to hurt Ernesto, and pleads with him to call off the duel but Ernesto insists. While Ricardo shoots in the air, Ernesto shoots and wounds Ricardo. 

In Gay Madrid is a fun romantic story with charming characters, but definitely has problems one can't turn a blind eye to. For starters, only about ten minutes of the film take place in Madrid. It really should have been called In Gay Santiago. This aside, one major drawback of the film would be Dorothy Jordan as Carmina, starring again with Novarro after the two worked together in Devil-May-Care. She once again is completely miscast and seems very amateur compared to the performance of her male co-star. Carmina chews out Ricardo for dueling with Ernesto when she thinks he's not wounded, but after finding out he actually is wounded, professes her love to him. I found her acting in this scene forced and unwatchable, waiting for the credits to roll. 

The film's ending, however, was too abrupt, as after this confession, the camera fades to black, and fades back into the two of them riding away in a carriage as Ricardo's friends cheer them on. It seemed like someone at the studio abruptly made some cuts that were forced onto the director and editor. Beyond these editing issues, the film lacks creativity in its cinematography. All shots are staged medium and closeups, and the camera remains pretty stationary throughout. There's not much in regard to artistic merit in this film, which is disappointing.

The complaint of the New York Times that the film's college culture is very American even though the film takes place in Santiago is valid, but I didn't mind it. I can see it as frustrating the way that a film like The Last Days of Disco is supposed to take place in the 1970s but is very 1990s, but because of my love for 1920s college culture, I was in heaven. The songs song by Ricardo's roommates are all glee club college style numbers, and the house they live in gives the impression of a fraternity very similar to the one in So This Is College, even to the point of having a house mother who is afraid of them. The boys all horseplay together, rummaging through Ricardo's trunk of belongings before he enters the room, and then accepting him as one of them almost immediately. When Carmina dumps him, they all check in on him as good fraternity brothers would, and want to help resolve the issue between him and Ernesto. When Ernesto slaps Ricardo, they view it as breaking a cardinal rule the way one would in a fraternity, one of them even scolding him: "Do you know what you've done? Do you know what that means?!" 

Overall this was a fun film, even if it was clunky. I found myself laughing out loud during certain parts, and smiling at the tender moments. I recommend checking it out.

Home Video

This release from the Warner Archive comes from 2015. Immediately noticeable was the problematic audio transfer, specifically the beginning. The dialogue was so compressed and processed that I couldn't understand anything, especially with the heavy accents. All sibilance had been removed. The next scene between Ricardo and his butler was quieter, but the processed audio quality was still very present and it made it practically inaudible. When his father entered the room, it finally cleared up and I was able to understand the dialogue for the rest of the film; however there was an effect of heavy reverb added to the dialogue in this scene which was quite distracting-- especially for a scene with a crucial plot point and with some funny dialogue. Where the audio at the beginning was over-compressed, the audio at the end of the film had so much noise on the track that it couldn't be understood. I'm wondering where the source was for this, as the Warner Archive podcast which announced the release of this film and Devil-May-Care talked about the technical restoration of that film but didn't talk about any of the technical work done on this release.

It is clear that the image came from a print because of the printed splices and flicker, as well as the aspect ratio being 1.37:1 instead of 1.20:1. One splice of a student sulking had some obvious missing audio as well, but it was forgivable because there was chatter between the college boys and no dialogue at the moment it occurred. There are some minor moments where the image goes in and out of focus, but overall the picture is a good quality for a film shot in 1929.