Sunday, June 1, 2014

Los chiflados del rock and roll (1957)

In his autobiography Autobiogr...ajúa! y anecdo... taconario (2000), Piporro talked about his part in the film:
My role was very good and gained more importance when don Pedro Calderón, father of producer Memo Calderón, opined: We must let this Piporro speak more, let him loose, although he has a secondary role, it doesn't matter if the ANDA reclassifies him as a stellar character.

Vuelven los bohemios was the original title of Los chiflados del rock and roll, the sequel to Los tres bohemios. Aguilar, Lara, Vargas, Salomé, and Clara reprise their roles. Rosita Arenas sings in the film; some doubt if she actually did her own singing, but the credits seem to support the idea that she did. This film is one of Mexico's best and most hilarious comedies thanks to comic relief provided by almost the entire cast.



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.


Friday, March 11, 2011

Yo... el aventurero (1959)

Yo... el aventurero is a 1959 Mexican film starring Antonio Aguilar and Rosa de Castilla. It was directed by Jaime Salvador, who was known for directing several "Viruta y Capulina" flicks. Co-stars include Pedro Infante's brother Ángel Infante, Michoacan-born singer Amalia Mendoza, and brothers Andrés and Domingo Soler.

The film was shot in "Mexiscope" a Mexican version of Cinemascope. Fading transitions and color quality made it successful in the box-office. The story is about womanizing skirt-chaser Antonio Ardabin, who returns to his uncle's hacienda to investigate some cattle robberies. Rosa de Castilla is Gloria Cisneros, who is forced to marry Ángel Infante's character of Gregorio Carriles, the thief of Antonio's uncle's cattle.

Amalia Mendoza stars as an eponymous bar singer who is infatuated with Antonio Ardabin, since a long time ago. This starring role proved outstanding in Mendoza's melodramatic acting, although it did not boost her starring roles, in which she stopped in cinema in 1961.

Paco Michel who wrote the song "Yo... el aventurero" has a special billing as Lencho one of Ardabin's sidekicks, the others being Joaquin Garcia Vargas as Nacho and Armando Soto La Marina as Nicho.

Dolores Tincoco has the role of Gloria's nana Petra, and Roberto Meyer as the nervous Ardabin-fearing comisario of the town.

The film is similar to Tan bueno el giro como el colorado which starred Luis Aguilar, Demetrio Gonzalez, Flor Silvestre, and Rosa de Castilla who was a contract player at Producciones Rosas Priego, also appearing in Dos corazones y un cielo the same year.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Qué hombre tan sin embargo (1967)


One of Mexico's most beautiful and heartfelt films, and probably the best example of, as Ofelia Montesco once said, its cinema's great values. The film was produced by Gregorio Walerstein, for his Cima Films production company. It was shot after La Valentina, between November 25 and December 22, 1965.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

El rey del tomate (1963)



El rey del tomate is a 1963 romantic comedy film starring Lalo González 'Piporro', Luz Márquez, and Emma Roldán. The film is from Filmadora Chapultepec and was directed by Miguel M. Delgado, who directed many successful Cantinflas films.

Plot
The film is about farmer Librado Cantu Escamilla (Lalo González 'Piporro'), who decides to sell tomatoes in a Mexico City market. With the help of his 'Tia Mila' (Emma Roldán), he soon is prosperous, as many clients buy from his stand which he named 'El Tomatazo'. Librado soon meets Silvia (Luz Márquez), a spohisticated young lady from an important family. However, Silvia is looking forward to change Librado's style of clothes, manners, and etiquette. As he becomes interested to change for Silvia, his aunt Mila is worried for him, since he hasn't checked on his market stand for days. When Librado is invited to a dance party at Silvia's house, he mentions his plans of selling tomatoes for the rest of his life with Silvia, but Silvia does not agree, thinking that is was a waste to change Librado's ways. Unconsolably, Librado returns to his market stand after days of drinking heavily. To his surprise Silvia returned and is selling tomatoes at his stand, she forgives him and they cry, which he adds to the remark of
"...tomatoes, tomatoes, they look like onions but they're tomatoes!"


María Elena Velasco, also known for portraying La India María (1972-), makes a cameo appearance as the lady who flirts with Librado at the market stand. She also made a cameo appearance in El revolver sangriento (1964) as a poor farmer's wife. The film is of good quality