Reviews

In my 72 years of age, which happens to be the same time since this picture was released(1943), I thought I had seen all of this Master of suspense movies, but I was delighted to discover this one. What I love about this film, is how he plays with all different kind of emotions. The beginning of the film is kind of creepy. The following scenes, hint of what type of Person Uncle Charlie is. How he travels in the train to Santa Rosa, and gets off the train, it is a basic indication of this. The movie has moments to laugh, to be serious and meditate about what the actors say, and shows true emotions of the different members and friends of the family. Even when many of us would suspect the outcome of this plot, the real suspense is to know how this would happen. One of the last scenes where Little Charlie and her brother and sister go out to say good bye to their Uncle, is very obvious that something unexpected will happen, but again, the mystery is: What will happen? Great Movie. I agree with Hitchcock that this is his best one.

Long before the Europeans set foot on America, several Indian cultures flourished, specially in the center of Mexico and down to South America. These groups had astounding knowledges that up till today it is still a mystery as to how they acquired them. This very interesting and very well produced film that used no professional actors, is a very good portrait of what happens when we try to view things prejudiced by our own point of view. This is typically a clash of 2 cultures, the European modernity trying to judge what The "Chamula" Indians in the Southeast part of Mexico had been doing for centuries. It is a clash between pagan and religious beliefs, between desire and pride, between poverty and riches, between faith and reality, between tradition and modernity. It is very interesting to follow the plot of the 4 different stories being narrated. This is a movie that should not be missed by Latin Americans or any one else that wants to understand how the natives lived on this part of the world long before we were "discovered" by the Europeans.

I had seen this movie announced on my cable a couple of times before. The title itself meant nothing to me. Earlier today while browsing through the movie channels I caught the beginning of it. I still had my doubts about seeing it, specially since in a different channel there was a movie about a Gambler in Vegas. I love Vegas, I've been there at least 60 times in my lifetime, so anything related to it, I love. I did go back and forth between the 2 channels a couple of times, but at the end something fascinated me about these siamese twins and their beautiful girlfriend, Penny so I stayed with this one. I could not have made a better decision. I live in Mexico, and was watching the movie with Spanish subtitles. The movie title was translated to Spanish as "Strange fascination". As the story develops, you can go through many different emotions. Love, compassion, sadness, happiness and any other you can think of. You are carried in a strange fascination throughout the development of the plot. The Prostitute, Penny, is simply adorable. They couldn't have chosen a better person to portray this role. I have seen 3 fascinating movies in my life, THE LEGEND OF 1900, SOMEWHERE IN TIME, and this one. This along with the other 2 is the type of movie that you can see several times without ever loosing interest in it. I highly recommend it to all people with sensitivity.

I have seen this movie many times. Today without even knowing I turned on my television and the movie was just starting. I cannot think of a more fascinating movie than this. The music is beautiful, the story makes you wander into time and into the Pianist's mind. A whole world turns around him as the center of his universe. He does not need to go out and look around for an identity. Why should he go out into the real life when the world comes to him? I cannot think of a better actor to portray this character. The sad look in his eyes gives credibility to what he does. The "girl" Melanie Thierry is as beautiful as they come. Her peacefully wild looks make her an unforgettable player in this movie. Regardless of the technical deficiencies, the plot itself is so strong, that you cannot but get inside the story and follow it throughout the duration of the film. I recommend this picture as a must see for anyone that is sensible to life itself

Back in the middle of the past century when this movie was filmed(1952), producers started a trend with pictures that were meant to convey a social message to the people, specially the lower brackets who were in the majority of cases, illiterate. These circumstances made them of course, live in a very poor environment. When you put together being poor and ignorant, many of the women of the times fell into the hands of "cinturitas"(gigolos) that exploited them and ruined their life making them work as prostitutes or in the best of cases as maids in order that they give their money earned to their "protectors". This movie is made with the stories of two different cases, in which the common denominator is precisely poverty and illiteracy. The movie in itself is nothing really extraordinary, but it allows the viewer to understand how these persons lived in the 1950's Mexico.

This 1952 movie brings us a very dramatic view of the middle of the past century in Mexico. Urban movies were now more common, as versus the rural productions that had brought some kind of success to the local cinematography. The themes developing in night clubs were now the favorites of the producers. What can be more dramatic than the lives of the "cabareteras"(girls hired by the clubs to promote the well being of their customers)? Of course there is always something sad and understandable about these ladies, a story of poverty or of family problems, that make them choose that life. And to make the story more interesting, there is always a good fellow that couldn't care less about their past, and intends to make them go back to what the times morals were. This is a picture about all this, this is a movie about a poor but good person trying to forge a future with one of these girls. The movie itself is not really bad, even when the ending is pretty much very expected and lacking in imagination.

I had nothing to do a couple of hours ago, so I watched this movie in a cable channel that shows old movies. I couldn't believe how ridiculous a movie maker can get in coming up with such a picture. What is intended to be dramatic, is funny, and what is intended to be funny doesn't make any body smile. It is one of those co-productions between Mexico and Venezuela that some "smart" Producer, taking advantage of some wealthy patron made, in order to present several"unknowns" as movie actors. The situations portrayed in it are totally unreal, specially when this happens to people above average.I cannot say more about this movie, except it is really a very idiotic one that does no good to the Cinematography Industry of either of the two Countries.

One thing that we can say for sure, about movies from the middle of the 20th century, is the fact that sex and violence was never the central theme of these. The stories may seem a bit outdated by today's standards, but nevertheless these is the way humanity lived and what they believed in those days. This story is a typical one that more than likely could have happened in those days, specially in Mexico, which was still a very innocent society, not yet fully influenced by outside sources, which had just started to change their behavior basically towards the end of WWII. The story is very intense, the acting is pretty good too. I have no idea whether this movie had any nominations, but it is very worthwhile to watch. Human misery is always something that impacts all audiences, and brings forth our humanity.

When social and economic status are more important than love, people can be led to become miserable. It was, and still is common in Mexico, that some families prefer for their heirs to marry someone that the parents think is a better choice, due to their social compatibility. Some more liberal thinkers believe that love is the force that can move mountains. This movie shows us different aspects of the human behavior: Love and hate. innocence and revenge, good and evil. The development of the story takes us through pretty much anticipated scenarios. The ending is really a very strong scene where principles play a major role in the decisions to be taken. In summary the story is good and allows you to think what if things would had been different.

One of the great problems with the Latin culture, is its lack of patriotism. Latinamerican people, with Mexico pretty much as a leader, do not have a real National pride. We like to follow other nations and never stop to think that we have much to be proud of. This movie, written and co-directed by a great author, Alvaro Galvez y Fuentes, gives us a great opportunity to feel the real meaning of patriotism. The movie itself is nothing extraordinary, but the intention of having Mexicans enter into the deep sentiment of pride in our past is very obvious. This movie shows in a very novelistic manner the story of how Mexico went from a great political disorder to an even greater one due to the many politics that existed at the time. The final scenes of the "5 de Mayo" battle give us some tragic/dramatic scenes of what supposedly happened then. Nothing great, but this movie is a must see picture for Mexicans.

This is a classical story of power versus love. How can we think otherwise in a situation like this movie portrays to us? The surroundings could only be possible in such a manner that the only way it happened is in an environment of poverty and suppression. A local bearer of power uses his weapons to obtain the favors of a woman that under fair circumstances would have never accepted him. The real story is whether the affected person will accept the fact that its "great love" will accept this. The acting of the players of this movie is a pretty decent one. It is possible to get "into" their thoughts by simply seeing them act. I feel that this picture is one that involves the viewers into the actors role. You will not lose 90+ minutes of your life watching this picture.

Shakespeare couldn't have said it better. This tragic love story has some interesting added ingredients to the original Romeo and Juliet. The movie shows us several facets of the human nature. From greed and hatred, to impotence. From pure love to desire. From submission to a macho attitude. The fatherly figure is very strong; his will has to be obeyed at all times, even if this means sacrificing your own life. The other very imposing figure, is the local Priest, whose authority and respect is very obvious. In a way, the players, acted in a very theatrical manner. You can, at times, think that you are watching a play in a theater, rather than watching a movie. A love story could not end without a tragedy, and this one is not the exception. Interesting movie to watch, specially since it was filmed back in 1942 with very limited technical resources.

Sure, Father knows best, but not in this case. This was a very traditional movie in its time(1949). The tradition was that the father was the patriarch of the family. In this particular movie the father was not necessarily a model role. He was more a ridiculous one. The story, for whatever its worth, tells us the story of a Father-Son relationship which turns to be a supposedly funny interchange of situations. I particularly did not like this movie, but it is supposed to be among the best 25 movies in Mexico's Cinematography. Whether you like it or not, it is up to you. I did not see anything in this picture to make it so highly regarded by the Mexican official sites.

What can be more captivating than a rural Teacher who tries to act according to her principles, rather than giving up to the Politicals very particular interests??? Mexico had for many years, been exploited by a gang of people that had made Mexico, their own territory. Local "caciques" (controllers of the regions)were the ones that really controlled the Country. It has been said since ever, that ignorance is the best ally that any one can have. In those times, teachers, and anyone else for that matter had to accept what the local leaders had to say about education. This movie shows what an independent person can do to change the status of the establishment. Good movie to watch.

Up till 1943, the most productive movies from Mexico were stories from the rural life of the Country. Pictures like "Alla en el rancho grande(1936)" had been a great success. But Mexico was now turning to a more "urban" society. In part due to the war, Mexico was now trying to take advantage over other competitors. Spain and Argentina which held close ties to the Axis Nations, were denied support from the USA in their productions. Mexico took advantage of this, and produced films like this one, where there was a shift to the urban problems. This is a movie about a Union leader that tries to fight the corrupt leaders of the local Government. Julio Bracho, the Director of this film, whose background was in the theater, applies his techniques in such a manner that this picture combines the best styles of both schools in order to make it a good one. This could very well be, one of the first movies of what was later known as the "Golden age of the Mexican cinematography"

I have just seen this movie for the 12-15th time and I still find something extraordinarily fascinating every time I watch it. This movie is based on a novel by Venezuela's Romulo Gallegos one of Latin America best writer. The movie is so profound, because you can see so many aspects of the human being in it. You can find hate, witchcraft, religion, love, impotency and repentance, mainly because of the ignorance of people. This movie develops in the great Venezuela Savannahs, where the law of the stronger prevailed. The dialogs, so strong and captivating, are possible due to Gallegos very strong command of the Spanish Language and the slang of the peasants of that region. As I have mentioned before for a couple of other movies, this one is best appreciated if you understand Spanish. I may see it again another dozen times, and I am sure I would still enjoy it, as I hope you may too. This movie is officially rated as the 75th in importance in the Mexican Cinematography, to which I TOTALLY DISAGREE. It should be in the top 10.

Few times has the Mexican movies industry explored this type of comedy. This particular film is surprisingly very well made, specially since its 2 main characters are played by an Actor, Arturo de Cordova, and an Actress, Amparo Rivelles, whose background is in tragic and/or very formal performances. It is a story of a married couple whose life has come to the point of a disaster, basically due to the jealousness of the wife. The Husband a taxidermist announces to their friends that she has gone to another City on vacations, but keeps in his shop an skeleton. This of course is the center plot of the movie and all black humor situations are derived from this. The movie is light and keeps the viewers entertained throughout its entire length.