Protraph
Lack of good storyline.
ActuallyGlimmer
The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
Portia Hilton
Blistering performances.
mark.waltz
It's just such a shame that all this talent goes to waste in one of the worst all-star films ever made. Cantiflas had made a huge splash just a few years before in Hollywood with the film version of "Around the World in 80 Days", and American audiences took the innocent Mexican comic to their hearts. But his follow-up English speaking film was a disaster, and has practically disappeared.The story focuses on his desperate attempts to get to Hollywood to find his mule which was taken from him by mistake in Mexico. Along the way, he encounters a ton of Hollywood stars who, as themselves, aid him in his search. Then, there's Shirley Jones as a juvenile delinquent he hooks up with. Obviously, she was determined to get away from the sweet parts she played in "Oklahoma!", "Carousel" and "April Love" by playing tougher characters, and while she scored with an Oscar for "Elmer Gantry", in this case, she ended up with a real "Pepe Le Peu". Dan Dailey, a former movie star playing a current fictional movie star, ends up with Cantiflas's best friend, but unfortunately, there's nobody there to sweep up after the invisible stench the film leaves behind.A few of the cameos are amusing (elderly Billie Burke shooting Charles Coburn with a slingshot; Jack Lemmon confusing Cantiflas by dressing up as his "Some Like It Hot" drag character), but most of them are silly and seem self-gratifying. Edward G. Robinson provides the heart for the film's cameos as himself, showing great sympathy to Cantiflas who deserves it for putting up with this lame script that could have been wrapped up in 90 minutes rather than its more than three hours. For some reason, this ended up with a ton of technical Oscar nominations, as well as one for the not bad "Far Away Part of Town" which Judy Garland is heard singing on a radio program. Books on Hollywood's biggest disasters usually list this, and I can't think of any other award that it deserved as much.
captain-bill
I really want to write something good about this movie. I can't, though. I only saw it once, and once was more than enough. I was a teenager in Denver, Colorado, when "Pepe" previewed for the first time before an audience. A passel of studio bigwigs showed up at the Centre Theatre that evening, including, I believe, producer and director George Sidney. Cantinflas was a no-show; maybe he knew something.Did you ever attend a movie where the audience greets it with...dead silence? Not the kind of silence for something cerebral, such as "2001: A Space Odyssey", but the kind of silence that lets you know you are watching a very slow, very long train wreck. And there were roughly 1,200 really silent people that night fifty years ago.So why did I stick it out through the whole thing? Easy. The cameos. I would start looking for the exit when Edward G. Robinson would appear. Wow! This picture's got to get better now. Wrong. Ditto for Ernie Kovacs, and so on.Since I viewed the preview print, I believe I saw the full 195 minute version. So what did the studio cut for general release? The only thing I clearly remember departing was a long, misbegotten animated sequence.In retrospect I feel sorry for George Sidney, director of "The Harvey Girls", the 1948 "Three Musketeers", and "Kiss Me Kate". But the industry had changed a lot by 1960. He did his best to keep up, but "Pepe" has to be a nadir.Some believe "Pepe" to be excellent family fare. If I compelled a child to watch the whole thing, even the cut general release version, I could probably be arrested for child abuse. You have been warned!
josem1999
It's really hard to rate this movie. On the one hand, it's a true time capsule of 1960..every mega star is here..including practically the whole rat pack. On the other hand , this is a an extremely corny movie about a man and his donkey.What is really painful to watch is what the movie does to the Cantinflas persona. In his Mexican movies, he is street smart but with a sentimental side. Sort of a Mexican Little Tramp. In his Mexican movies this persona became more and more sentimental and less street smart as years went by. But nothing can prepare you for this movie. In it, the Cantinflas persona becomes a virtual moron. He is such an ignorant fool it is almost painful to watch.I remember seeing this movie with my grandmother and mother at the old Radio City theater in Santurce. I was a boy expecting a Cantinflas movie and was surprised to see a movie like this. Still I have fond memories and I feel that the movie deserves a DVD release. In fact this movie doesn't even show up on AMC or TCM. And its a shame because this movie is an interesting way to go back to 1960.
JD-50
Edward G. Robinson, Dan Daily, & Cantinflas (as Pepe) were very convincing in their major rolls in this movie. The guest star list was enormous and included just about everyone who was hot in Hollywood. My favorite was Bobby Darin during his zenith. This movie is like a time capsule from 1960 and would make a great addition to a collection of family entertainment videos.