Mexicali Rose
Directed by Erle C. Kenton
Written by Norman Houston and Gladys Lehman
1929/US
Columbia Pictures
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/YouTube
”No gold-digging for me; I take diamonds! We may be off the gold standard someday.” – Mae West
Barbara Stanwyck is the best thing about this early talkie potboiler and that’s not saying much.
Happy Manning (Sam Hardy) runs a saloon/gambling hall on the Mexican side of the border. He is generous and beloved by his customers. He dotes on his ward, who is a big U.S. high school football star.
He is married to the much younger Mexicali Rose (Stanwyck). Rose is a huge flirt and Happy finds out about an affair she had while he was away on business. He throws her out with enough money to get, and stay, on the other side of the border. Unfortunately, that leaves her within striking range of his ward.
Stanwyck is good at being a bad girl. She doesn’t exactly have the chance to shine in this low-budget 60-minute B movie though.
Collection of fun clips
