La Valentina (1966)

When asked if María Félix was hard to work with, Piporro replied, "No, not at all. Moreover, I now proudly say that destiny has permitted me to star opposite that great diva of Mexican cinema, since it filled an unprecedented page of my career."

Anuario thought that Rogelio A. González's directorial comeback following his "prolonged retirement" (only three years, 1962-1964) was not a "too ambitious" return. The main filming location for La Valentina was the rural, impoverished town of Tlayacapan, Morelos. The interior scenes involving the rooms and parlors of the extravagant Zúñiga hacienda, the local cantina, don Quintín's pharmacy, and Benítez's barracks and hideouts were shot at the sound stages of Estudios San Ángel in southern Mexico City. Unlike Estudios Churubusco, which used the RCA sound system, Estudios San Ángel used the G.B. Kalee sound system. This system was used in La Valentina.

The plot of La Valentina was written by a coalition between José María Fernández Unsáin (an Argentine screenwriter), Gregorio Walerstein (the producer), and Eulalio González (the star). The screenplay, or "cinedrama" as credited in the film, was single-handedly written by the aforementioned Fernández Unsáin with the exception of some improvisations by Félix and González, the film's stars. On the set of La Valentina in 1965, María Félix told The Free Lance-Star: "I don't want to make pictures which people are not going to understand. I don't see any point to it. I want people to be entertained." This statement, perhaps, explains the whole concept of La Valentina. It's not a film made for foreigners, film festivals, or critics; it's a film made for the public.

La Valentina had its premiere on February 10, 1966 at the México and Mariscala theaters in Mexico City. It screened in those theaters for seven weeks (nearly two months, February and March). The only flim that rivaled La Valentina for major box-office attraction in 1966 was, perhaps, Miguel Zacarías' Los cuatro Juanes, a star-studded Mexican Revolution drama featuring cinematography by Gabriel Figueroa. Its only setback, however, seemed to be its monochrome presentation. Los cuatro Juanes scored a theatrical permanence of only four weeks.

At the time of its release, La Valentina was not particularly favored among film critics. One critic, writing for Política, described the film as "tragically stupid and revealing of the hallucinating level of our commercial cinema." This notion was reflected in the official list of nominations for the 5th Diosa de Plata Awards. La Valentina was only nominated in the Best Actress in a Minor Role category for Graciela Lara's small but strong performance as Lupita. She lost, however, to Rosa Elena Durgel for El ángel exterminador. Arturo Ripstein's Tiempo de morir won the Diosa de Plata Award for Best National Film, among others.