Story of movie Pepe Film : 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 Cantiflas' American debut Around the World in 80 Days.
| Pepe | |
|---|---|
movie poster | |
| Directed by | George Sidney |
| Produced by | George Sidney |
| Written by | Claude Binyon Dorothy Kingsley |
| Story by | Sonya Levien George Sidney Leonard Spigelgass |
| Based on | Broadway Zauber play by Leslie Bush-Fekete |
| Starring | Cantinflas Dan Dailey Shirley Jones |
| Music by | Johnny Green |
| Cinematography | Joseph MacDonald |
| Edited by | Viola Lawrence Al Clark |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 180 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $4.8 million (US/ Canada rentals) |
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, there has been no release on DVD. In 2015, the film began streaming on Netflix.
Screenplay
Pepe (Cantinflas) 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, Frank Sinatra, Zsa Zsa Gabór, Bing Crosby, Maurice Chevalier and Jack Lemmon in drag as Daphne from Some Like It Hot. 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. Hold lets him be the producer of his next movie. Most of the movie centers around his meeting Suzie Murphy (Shirley Jones), 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 foals.
- Cantinflas as Pepe
- Dan Dailey as Ted Holt
- Shirley Jones as Suzie Murphy
- Carlos Montalbán as Rodríguez (auctioneer)
- Vicki Trickett as Lupita
- Matt Mattox as Dancer
- Hank Henry as Manager
- Suzanne Lloyd as Carmen
- Carlos Rivas as Carlos
- Michael Callan as Dancer
- William Demarest as Movie Studio Gateman
Cameos
- Joey Bishop
- Billie Burke
- Maurice Chevalier
- Charles Coburn
- Richard Conte
- Bing Crosby
- Tony Curtis
- Bobby Darin
- Ann B. Davis as her TV character Schultzy
- Sammy Davis Jr.
- Jimmy Durante
- Zsa Zsa Gabór
- Judy Garland (voice only)
- Greer Garson
- Hedda Hopper
- Ernie Kovacs
- Peter Lawford
- Janet Leigh
- Jack Lemmon
- Dean Martin
- Jay North as his TV character Dennis the Menace
- Kim Novak
- André Previn
- Donna Reed
- Debbie Reynolds
- Edward G. Robinson
- Cesar Romero
- Frank Sinatra
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."
The soundtrack was issued in 1960 by Colpix Records in the U.S. (CP 507) and Pye International Records in the UK (NPL 28015). The tracks were:
Side One
Side Two
The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards:
- Best Art Direction (Ted Haworth, William Kiernan)
- Best Cinematography (Joseph MacDonald)
- Best Costume Design (Edith Head)
- Best Film Editing (Viola Lawrence, Al Clark)
- Best Original Song ("Faraway Part of Town")
- Best Scoring
- Best Sound (Charles Rice)
- Dell Four Color #1194 (April 1961)
- List of American films of 1960
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