Last Updated: March 15, 1998
Written by: Ted Nesi

Here is a listing of all the feature films featuring Desi Arnaz in front of the camera.  This does not include films where Desi was behind the camera (although the only one of that kind I know of is Forever, Darling).  Each movie has as much of the following information as possible: title, release date/year, movie studio, director, Desi's role, also starring, writers, music credoits, producer(s) and any notes.  If you have any information you think I could use here, please send it to me.  Enjoy!

Father Takes a Wife (1941; RKO)
    Director: Jack Hively
    Desi Plays: Carlos
    Also Starring: Gloria Swanson and Adolphe Menjou
    Writers: Dorothy and Herbert Fields
    Music by: Roy Webb
    Producer: Lee S. Marcus
    Summary: A Latin opera singer (Arnaz), taken in by a newly married actress (Swanson), must help set her
                      faltering marriage back on course.

The Navy Comes Through (1942; RKO)
    Director: A. Edward Sutherland
    Desi Plays: Tarriba
    Also Starring: Jackie Cooper and George Murphy
    Writers: Borden Chase (wrote the novel)
    Producer: Islini Auster
    Summary: A band of merchant marines try to stop Hitler and keep the shipping lines clear for Allied vessels.
    Notes: This film was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Effects, Special Effects category

Four Jacks and a Jill (1942; RKO)
    Director: Jack Hively
    Desi Plays: Steve
    Also Starring: Ray Bolger and Anne Shirley
    Writers: Monte Brice, John Twist and W. Carey Wonderly
    Producer: John Twist
    Summary: When the lead singer leaves a singing group, they must find replacements, and they do, in the persons of
                      Nina (Shirley) and a blustery cab driver (Arnaz).
    Notes: This was a remake of the 1936 RKO musical That Girl from Paris which featured Lucille Ball in a supporting role

Bataan (June 3, 1943; MGM)
    Director: Tay Garnett
    Desi Plays: Felix Ramirez
    Also Starring: Robert Taylor and George Murphy
    Writer: Robert Hardy Andrews
    Music by: Bronislau Kaper
    Producer: Irving Starr
    Summary: A group of American troops try in vain to fight off the Japanese invading Bataan, led by Sgt. Bill Dane (Taylor).
    Notes: George Murphy would later become Desilu's Vice President of Public Relations

Desi Arnaz and His Orchestra (1946; Warner Bros.; Short Subject)
    Director: Jack Scholl
    Desi Plays: Himself
    Also Starring: Amanda Lane and Searles
    Producer: Gordon Hollingshead
    Notes: This short subject says that Desi came from Mexcio, instead of his native Cuba

Cuban Pete (1946; Universal)
    Also Known As: Down Cuba Way
    Desi Plays: Himself
    Also Starring: Ethel Smith and Ellen Corby
    Writers: Bernard Feins, Robert Presnell Sr. and M. Coates Webster
    Music by: Milton Rosen
    Producers: Will Cowan and Howard Welsch
    Summary: A radio show won't be sponsored unless a Cuban musician (Arnaz) is enticed to come from Havana to appear.
    Notes: This extremely short film is only an hour long!

Jitterumba (April 1, 1947; Universal; Short Subject)
    Director: Will Cowan
    Desi Plays: Himself
    Also Starring: Judy Clark and Dulcina
    Producer: Will Cowan

Holiday in Havana(1949; Columbia)
    Director: Jean Yarbrough
    Desi Plays: Carlos Estrada
    Also Starring: Mary Hatcher and Steven Geray
    Writers: Karen DeWolf, Morton Grant, Robert Lees and Frederic I. Rinaldo
    Music by: Paul Mertz
    Summary: A Cuban singer (Arnaz) must explain to his dancer-lover (Hatcher) what he was doing in the arms of another.
    Notes: Although it had a very low budget, this film did very good business at the box office.

The Long, Long Trailer (February 1954; MGM)
    Director: Vincente Minnelli
    Desi Plays: Nicholas Collini
    Also Starring: Lucille Ball and Marjorie Main
    Writers: Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, based on a book by Clinton Twiss
    Music by: Adolph Deutsch and Richard A. Whiting
    Producer: Pandro S. Berman
    Summary: A Lucy-like woman (Ball) convinces her Ricky-like husband (Arnaz) to buy a trailer and take a vacation...uh oh.
    Notes: This was the first film featuring Lucy and Desi in fourteen years - it was also a huge hit.

Forever, Darling (February 9, 1956; MGM)
    Director: Alexander Hall
    Desi Plays: Lorenzo Xavier Vega
    Also Starring: Lucille Ball and James Mason
    Writer: Helen Deutsch
    Music by: Bronislau Kaper
    Producer: Desi Arnaz
    Summary: A woman's (Ball) marriage is breaking down until a guardian angel (Mason) provides some divine intervention.
    Notes: This would be Desi's last movie for twenty-six years.

The Escape Artist (1982; Orion, Warner Bros., Zoetrope)
    Director: Caleb Deschanel
    Desi Plays: Mayor Leon Quinones
    Also Starring: Raul Julia and Griffin O'Neal
    Writers: Melissa Mathison, Stephen Zito, based on a book by David Wagoner
    Music by: Georges Delerue
    Producers: Doug Claybourne, Buck Houghton, Francis Ford Coppola and Fred Roos
    Summary: The son of a magician (O'Neal) is determined to match his father's accomplishments, but just gets into trouble.
    Notes: This was Desi's last film; he is billed as Desiderio Arnaz