The Mambo Kings
The Mambo Kings is a 1992 musical drama film based on the 1989 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos. The film was directed and produced by Arne Glimcher, and stars Armand Assante, Antonio Banderas, Cathy Moriarty and Maruschka Detmers. Set in the early 1950s, the story follows Cesar (Assante) and Nestor Castillo (Banderas), brothers and aspiring musicians who find success and stardom after fleeing from Havana, Cuba to New York City to escape danger. The film marks Glimcher's directing debut, and features Banderas in his first English-language role.
The Mambo Kings
- Arnon Milchan
- Arne Glimcher
- Le Studio Canal+
- Regency Enterprises
- Alcor Films
- Northwest Productions[1]
- February 7, 1992 (MIFF)
- February 28, 1992 (United States)
104 minutes
United States
France[1]
English
$15.5 million[2]
$6.7 million[3]
Glimcher acquired the film rights one year before the novel was published and hired Cynthia Cidre to write the script. The film was rejected by several studios, and after an unsuccessful pre-production at Universal Pictures, the project moved to Warner Bros. The production was allocated a budget of $15.5 million jointly financed by Warner Bros., Le Studio Canal+ and Regency Enterprises. The film was shot on location in Los Angeles, California, with principal photography beginning in March 1991, and concluding after 50 days.
The Mambo Kings premiered at the Miami International Film Festival on February 7, 1992. It opened in limited release on February 28, 1992 and grossed $6.7 million during its North American theatrical run. Critical reaction was mostly positive, with reviewers praising Glimcher's direction, the story, music and visuals. The film received Oscar, Golden Globe Award and Grammy nominations for its original song "Beautiful Maria of My Soul".
Plot[edit]
In the early 1950s, Cuban brothers and musicians Cesar and Nestor Castillo flee from Havana, Cuba after getting into a violent dispute with the mobster owners of a club where they performed. Eventually ending up in New York City, the brothers work at menial jobs while attempting to revive their musical careers. At a nightclub where Cesar briefly crashes the act of mambo star Tito Puente, they make new friends and connections, as well as meeting cigarette girl Lanna Lake, who falls quickly into a love affair with Cesar.
Nestor, in the meantime, remains oblivious to other women while continually composing his ode to his lost Cuban love, Maria. He writes version after version of the same ballad, "Beautiful Maria of My Soul", until by chance one day he encounters Delores, a shy but attentive young woman who wishes to become a schoolteacher. When she becomes pregnant, they decide to get married.
Fate intervenes one night at a club, where the Castillo brothers have a part-time job. Nestor's love ballad captures the interest of one of the customers, who turns out to be the Cuban bandleader and American television star Desi Arnaz. After a pleasant evening in Nestor and Delores's home, Arnaz invites the struggling Castillos to sing and act on an episode of his sitcom series, I Love Lucy.
Fame does not last, however. Nestor is not as ambitious as his brother and desires nothing more than to own his own small club. He is in love with Delores, but lacks the passion he felt for his beloved Maria back home. Cesar suppresses his true feelings, believing that a woman like Delores would actually be perfect for him. He reveals to Nestor that Maria left him for a Cuban mobster in exchange for cancelling a contract hit against Nestor. One snowy night, the Castillo brothers' car veers off the road and into a tree. Cesar, in the back seat of the vehicle, is barely hurt, but Nestor, who was driving the vehicle, is killed. To honor his brother's memory, a devastated Cesar opens his own small club. Delores pays him a visit and asks him to sing "Beautiful Maria of My Soul".
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
Arne Glimcher, an art dealer based in New York City and a fan of mambo music, learned that his longtime friend Oscar Hijuelos was writing a novel relating to the latter subject. After reading a manuscript of Hijuelos's novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, Glimcher purchased the film rights in 1988, one year before the book was published.[4][5][6] He also appointed himself as director, believing that he was the only person capable of successfully adapting the book to film.[7] Glimcher later hired Cuban-born screenwriter Cynthia Cidre to write the film adaptation.[4] Cidre spent eighteen months working on the screenplay, and after 24 drafts, she had stripped the story down to cover only half of Hijuelos's 407-page book.[4] While the book spans several decades, events in the film take place from 1952 to 1955.[1][6]
Various studios rejected the film, resulting in Glimcher paying the crew's salaries with his own money. When the project moved to Universal Pictures, Glimcher tried to convince the studio's president Tom Pollock to financially back it with a low budget. Before production could begin, Pollock insisted that footage from the television series I Love Lucy be a key part of the film.[2] Following Lucille Ball's death in 1989, Glimcher contacted her children Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz, Jr., requesting the rights to use footage from the television series, but was denied by the two siblings.[1] Shortly after, Universal dropped the film due to budget disputes.[2] In 1990, Glimcher wrote a letter to Arnaz, Jr., asking that he reconsider, and the two men reached an agreement.[1] The project was picked up by Warner Bros. after Glimcher met with the studio's president Terry Semel. Semel then introduced Glimcher to producer Arnon Milchan, whose production company Regency Enterprises agreed to co-finance the film with Warner Bros. and France's Le Studio Canal+,[1][2] with the German-based studio Alcor Films enlisted as a co-producer.[8]
Stage play[edit]
The Mambo Kings inspired a musical stage play of the same name in 2005. It was produced by Daryl Roth and Jordan Roth, with lyrics by Arne Glimcher and music by Carlos Franzetti.[39] The Mambo Kings premiered at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco, California, opening on May 31, 2005.[39] The stage version featured Esai Morales and Jaime Camil as Cesar and Nestor Castillo, with supporting performers including Christiane Noll, David Alan Grier, Cote de Pablo, Albita and Justina Machado. The production cancelled plans to open on Broadway theatre after a critically panned tryout engagement in San Francisco.[40]