The Mambo Kings

Maria! You are unworthy of my brother.

Who do you think you are? Tell me.

What are you doing here?

A nice girl like you to become a slut?

How could you trade a real man for a beast?

- Leave right now! - No, Louis!

Calm down, Maria, so we don't have any problems.

You are unworthy of Nestor so don't you come close to him ever again!

Louis and I got married last night, Cesar.

You are the biggest whore of all! Shame on you!

- Louis, no, please! - A souvenir to show your brother.

No, God, no!

Nooo!

Cesar.

Oh, God! Look what I've done to you.

Cesar.

Maria, how could you do this to Nestor?

Please, Cesar, listen to me.

If I had not married Louis, we would have killed Nestor.

Don't you even tell him what happened.

You must take him and leave for America.

Me and my little brother here...

...we're going to New York now. We're going to make an orchestra.

Biggest songwriter in Cuba sitting right there, Nestor Castillo.

We're going to call it "Kings of the Mambo"...

...something like that.

You know, we could use a pretty girl like you to pose for the album cover.

If you'd be interested.

We're gonna set New York on fire, baby.

That's for you, lady.

Thanks.

- So are you famous? - All over Cuba.

Hey, brother, listen to this.

"The Dr Vanderbilt Practical Secret of Success".

- Success. - Success.

- Success. - Success.

The hell with it.

"Whether you're rich or poor...

...Chinaman, Indian or from the planet Mars...

...this book can change your life".

Something tells me...

...I'm gonna be sorry I ever got him that book.

His English ain't so good.

I think Cuban accents are sexy.

You think so?

Let's go! Come on!

Forget Maria, kid!

Because the best-looking girls in New York...

...are waiting for you right now!

Move over, come on!

Get your paper here!

Schweitzer wins Nobel Peace Prize!

Pablo?

Cesar!

Give me a big hug!

Put him down.

Sure, New York is just waiting for you!

I've been waiting for you, baby!

Blanca, look at that.

Mama embroidered that.

Come on, get the hell out of here.

Come on, eh?

- What happened? - Nothing. I cut myself shaving.

- You were lucky you were not killed. - Will you stop? Please?

Hey, Cesar, what happened?

The man who owned the club where we played...

...wanted to own us too.

They got into a fight.

And that's why we came.

- To make a new career. - Make a new career.

Nobody owns Cesar and Nestor Castillo.

You write the music, I worry about the business...

...and we're all gonna get rich, happy and famous in America.

Would you get out of here with this stupid thing? Stupid kid.

- Where should we make our debut? - Now, wait a minute...

Come on, what's the most classy joint in town?

We just got here.

The shrimp that sleeps gets carried away by a cocktail. Let's not be stupid.

You haven't changed.

Just off the boat, and you think you'll land a gig downtown.

Ten thousand Latin guys in Jersey...

...playing rent parties and he's gonna play the Palladium?

Is that where a gentleman like Desi Arnaz would play?

The one and only! Blanca and me were there...

...dance a little bit every weekend. - That's it. That's it.

- Let's go! - What?

Please, you think I came to New York to sit with my feet in hot water?

We're going to the Palladium. Get up. Come on.

Nando, let's go!

Oh, how beautiful!

Hi, Russ. I love these... Oh.

Who's the big millionaire over here?

Fernando Perez and his wife, Ismelda.

Biggest manager in the business.

He can take you to the top of el mundo mambo...

...but he'll own your soul.

That's Carlo Ricci next to him.

He owns half the clubs in town.

I love it.

Who is that?

Miguel Montoya, best arranger in the city.

With him, is his mother, Evalina. She owns Club Babalu in Harlem.

- Babalu. - I heard they got shot at once.

But their Yoruba spirits turned their bullets back.

Santeros.

- Who's the kid next to her? - Their godson, Frankie Suarez.

Hello.

Two of everything in this country, huh?

My kind of place.

Come on, there's one for you and one for me. Come on!

Creep!

Hey! Get away from her!

I got this. I got this covered. Please. Thank you.

I got it! I got it.

I got this covered. Now, please.

You know, you are a knockout, baby.

I'm just gonna sit here and buy everything you got to sell.

Thanks, hon, but I think they'll wreck that nice baritone voice of yours.

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God!

If she cooks like she walks, brother, I am gonna lick her plate!

Stay away from her!

Hey, Tito!

Tito! Remember me?

Let me play!

- Tito! - Come on, come on.

- Thank you. - Go ahead, come on, come on.

- Yeah, yeah! - Thank you.

Look at that!

He's my brother! He's my brother!

- My cousin. - His cousin! He's my brother!

Where did everybody go?

Come on, guys, inside! Let's go. Come on!

It was his fate.

- Son of a bitch had it coming. - Son of a bitch ruined my number.

Maybe our chances of a job here with Tito Puente.

- That's a shame. - T's going on tour tomorrow, anyway.

Go down to the union and join up.

Everybody can join the union, man.

You need a tunesmith to play more than a rent party in this town.

I'm Frankie Suarez.

- You play an instrument? - Los bongos.

If you play like you dance, let's get together.

Remember, tomorrow is work. We gotta be up with the birdies.

You didn't get much sleep on the bus.

There's enough time to sleep when I'm dead.

- Good night. - Cesar Castillo.

I am so enchanted to have met you, I can't tell you.

Lanna Lake.

Honey, you're the cat's meow on-stage!

I know that. Thank you.

You know, my brother and I are making our own orchestra.

We could use a pretty girl like you to pose for the album cover.

Modeling is my chosen profession, honey.

Anyway, all this modeling ever got me was a Miss Teenage America Pageant...

...and a spread in Seventeen magazine.

A spread, huh?

In Seventeen magazine.

- I was tickled pink. - Pink.

Then I left Sandusky and I moved right to New York.

But, honey...

...what the judges liked, the magazine didn't.

I was just a little too broad in the beam.

Lucky for us, I'm not a magazine.

I played a few choruses, but I never made the Rockettes.

I couldn't take all the creeps making passes at me in the clubs.

So when I landed this job with the bouncers to protect me...

...I thanked my lucky stars.

In Cuba, a girl like you would need an army to protect you.

You shouldn't complain so much.

I bet you say that to all the girls.

You're my first American beauty.

Really?

And I'm the Statue of Liberty.

You know, you're so beautiful, Lanna.

You're not so bad yourself.

Statue of Liberty, huh?

That's beautiful. Say that again.

Te quiero, baby.

And I "te quiero" you too, baby.

I love this country.

"Beloved Maria...

I thought you believed in me.

In our love.

I was wrong.

Since you married Luis...

...there is nothing left for me in Cuba.

And so I've gone to America with Cesar.

A new country.

New life.

Without you.

But someday you'll hear my song:

"Beautiful Maria of My Soul"...

...and then, you will know that you are my destiny...

...as I am yours".

Don't worry. It's gonna happen for us here, kid.

I can feel it.

In the name of the Mambo and the Rumba and the Cha-cha-cha.

Would you get to work?

You crazy?