Tthe schnozola, Jimmy Durante, rubs noses with Chiquita the Chihuahua (above) in On an Island with You (1948), a tepid Esther Williams vehicle set in the South Seas.

Bandleader Xavier Cugat was in real life a big promoter (and puppy mill breeder sad to say) of chihuahuas, and plays himself in this role. True to his live act, he leads his orchestra with chihuahua in hand, Chiquita in a hula skirt (below).

Cugat has a duet with Betty Reilly singing a Nacio Herb Brown and Edward Heyman rumba composition "The Dog Song," which runs in part: "Don't be afraid of my little chihuahua/ He's only a little wah wah wah/ He never will fight and he never bite/ If you give him tequila and agua..."

The Classic Hollywood Album has several pages of
Xavier Cugat and His Chihuahuas