REVIEW POTPOURRI: The Kids from Spain

by Peter Cates

The Kids from Spain

Los Chavales de Espana (The Kids from Spain)- International Favorites; RCA Victor LPM-3119, ten-inch LP, recorded 1953.

Los Chavales de Espana

Los Chavales was a performing group of 11 very gifted men from Barcelona, Spain, each of whom sang and played four or five instruments. Originally formed in 1940, they spent their first five years performing in Spain and Portugal until the end of World War II. Later successful bookings in pre-Castro Cuba, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela would lead to extended engagements in 1952 at New York City’s Waldorf Astoria, Washington D.C., Chicago, St. Louis and Dallas, and appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Their fluency in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Russian, Gypsy and other musical dialects, along with their staged dance routines, were skillfully executed with precision.

The eight musical selections on this ten-inch LP are vibrant examples of 1940s – ‘50s Hispanic night club music of a more graceful quality than those of the more rambunctious groups led by Desi Arnaz and Perez Prado from the same era and include such titles My Darling; You Are Meant for Me; and Whispering Serenade.

YouTube has examples of their work.

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A quote from the first page of Stephen King’s 2001 Dreamcatcher– “To say that Beaver’s marriage didn’t work would be like saying that the launch of the Challenger space shuttle went a little bit wrong.”

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James Cagney

James Cagney

Legendary actor James Cagney, like other Hollywood legends such as Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy and Bette Davis – who resided in Maine’s posh Cape Elizabeth for ten years – could be depended upon to deliver charismatic performances in any film with their name attached. One particularly outstanding classic was Cagney’s starring role as the psychopath gangster Cody Jarrett in 1949’s White Heat.

According to Cagney biographer John McCabe, the circumstances under which the film was made occurred when the actor struck a new deal with Warner Brothers after being away for several years – a requirement of just one film per year, the freedom to pursue other projects on the studio lot with the Cagney Productions that he owned with his brother William and a minimum of $250,000 per picture.

White Heat was an attractive script because of its commercial potential and its special challenges for Cagney. He had done gangster roles before during the 1930s with great success but he saw in Cody Jarrett’s character a truly despicable quality that intrigued him.

Cagney rose to the occasion with a performance that not only conveyed Cody’s depths of savagery but also creating sympathy for him. The gangster has a sense of humor, he is loyal to the members of his gang as they are loyal to him and he is very close to his domineering mother.

The supporting cast of British actress Margaret Wycherley as Cody’s mother, Virginia Mayo as his girlfriend, Fred Clark and Steve Cochran as two of Cody’s partners in crime, and Edmund O’Brien as an undercover detective contributed superlative work.

Cagney himself was gratified by the commercial and critical success of White Heat but refused to watch it in later years.