Arturo de Cordova Movies

Celos charts the rocky relationship between an engaged couple after the husband-to-be discovers a picture of her with an old boyfriend. He becomes consumed with jealousy and attempts to find out as many details as possible about her life before he knew her. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Esos Hombres (These Men) offers a few new and novel twists on a familiar story. The hero (if he can be called that) is Fernando, played by Arturo de Cordova. Breezing through law school with the considerable financial aid of his sweetheart Juana (Marina Tamayo), Fernando summarily dumps the girl when Azucena (Adriana Lamar) comes along. Equally smitten by the fickle protagonist, Azucena turns her back on her wealthy family and moves in with Fernando. Her reward for this devotion is betrayal when Fernando elects to marry another, wealthier girl. Amazingly, the louse continues to get away with this sort thing right up to the end -- and then... ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

La Noche de Los Mayas was adapted by director Chano Urueta from the novel by Antonio Mediz Bollo). Filmed on location amidst the jungles of Yucatan and the ancient Mayan ruins of Mexico, the film tells the story of a contemporary white man (Luis Aldas), who stumbles upon a tribe of people living exactly in the manner of their Mayan ancestors. Before the interloper's astonished eyes, a fascinating romantic drama plays itself out, as huntsman Uz (Arturo de Cordoba) falls in love with Lol (Estele Inda) with the mystical intervention of "apprentice witch" Zeb (Isabela Corona). The star-crossed lovers are held responsible for the drought that weighs heavy upon the land, but in the final analysis it is the hapless Zeb who is burned at the stake. Even so, a tragic denoument also awaits Uz and Lol, not unlike the "death before dishonor" finale of 1932's Bird of Paradise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls is a romantic drama set against the turbulent tapestry of the Spanish Civil War. Gary Cooper plays Robert Jordan, an idealistic American fighting with a Spanish guerilla band. He is assigned to blow up a crucial bridge in order to halt the enemy's progress. He falls in love with Maria (Ingrid Bergman), a young peasant girl who's joined the fight after being ill-used by enemy troops. Pablo (Akim Tamiroff), the eternally drunken leader of the guerillas, resents Jordan's attentions toward Maria, and he refuses to help Jordan in his sabotage work. Pablo's wife Pilar (Oscar-winner Katina Paxinou) takes over command of the guerillas and helps Jordan by arranging horses for the band's departure after their job is done. The man supplying the horses (Joseph Calleia) is killed, and Jordan is left to finish his task minus a means to escape. For Whom the Bell Tolls was a long, faithful adaptation of the Hemingway novel, with excellent performances, torrid love scenes, and first-rate Technicolor photography. Available for many years only in the 130-minute reissue version, it was restored to nearly its full original length of 168 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexander Dumas' oft-filmed novel of adventure, intrigue, revenge and justice, was given a class-A treatment in this 3-hour Mexican production. Arturo de Cordova stars as Edmond Dantes, who, betrayed by a sinister conspiracy, is unjustly imprisoned in the Chateau D'If. After a long and laborious escape, Dantes returns to his hometown under the guise of the Count of Monte Cristo, intending to avenge himself against his enemies. Though largely successful in ruining those who wronged him, Dantes' resolve is eventually softened by his longtime sweetheart Mercedes, here renamed Haide and played by musical star Mapy Cortes. Most English-language prints of El Conde de Monte Cristo were severely edited, though a two-part version was prepared for selected showings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Technicolor musical Masquerade in Mexico is Mitchell Leisen's remake of his own Midnight. Stranded in Mexico City without a dime, glamorous Angel O'Reilly (Dorothy Lamour) is rescued by wealthy Thomas Grant (Patric Knowles). But Grant's motivations are anything but altrustic. In order to get his wife Helen's (Ann Dvorak) mind off handsome bullfighter Manolo Segovia (Arturo de Cordova), Grant passes Angel off as a Contessa at a weekend party, reasoning that Segovia will switch his attentions to our heroine. Screenwriter Karl Tunberg has added a jewel-theft angle to the original Edwin Justis Mayer/Franz Spencer story, which improves things not at all. Masquerade in Mexico is admittedly a handsomer production than Midnight, but the remake lacks the sparkle of the original film's stars Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, John Barrymore, Francis Lederer, Mary Astor et. al. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John Steinbeck cowrote this sometimes hilarious, sometimes heart-wrenching study of small-town hypocrisy. Shiftless Benny (who is never seen) has been tossed out of his Southern California town by the "proper" citizens. Drafted into the army, Benny is killed in action--and now that he's a hero, his old home town gears up for a Congressional Medal of Honor ceremony. Suddenly the same upright townsfolk who'd previously scorned Benny and his impoverished father (J. Carroll Naish) bend over backward to prove how much they "loved" the boy. Only Dorothy Lamour, playing Benny's former sweetheart, sees through the sham, though she's honor bound to celebrate Benny's heroism. A Medal for Benny bestows top billing upon Lamour, but the film's true star is J. Carroll Naish as Benny's volatile Italian papa--a performance which won Naish an Academy Award nomination. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Several of Paramount Pictures brightest stars make cameo appearances in this comedy set in "Duffy's Tavern," a favorite watering hole from old time radio shows. The trouble begins when the neighborhood bar is in danger of closing. The trouble begins when the proprietor, Archie, discovers that one of his regulars, Michael O'Malley, owner of a record company is going broke. This means that many veterans will soon be unemployed and therefore, unable to pay their tab at the tavern. Archie immediately begins recruiting famous stars to donate their services and help. They do, the record company is saved and so is the tavern. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

New Orleans is Republic Pictures' spin on such "musical origin" films as Birth of the Blues and Dixie. Covering nearly four decades, the story is a fanciful recreation of the "birth" of American jazz music. Arturo de Cordova plays Nick Duquesne, owner of a posh gambling house in turn-of-the-century New Orleans (yes, that's an uncredited Shelley Winters as Duquesne's secretary!) When the "good" people of the town forced Duquesne to pack up and leave, he relocates in Chicago, where he discovers that his customers are turned on by hot jazz. Hiring bandleader Louis Armstrong to entertain his patrons, Duquesne no longer has to rely on gambling to make a living. Romance enters the picture in the form of Miralee Smith (Dorothy Patrick), a straightlaced student of classical music who learns to kick up her heels and shed her inhibitions at the sound of jazz. New Orleans is the only mainstream Hollywood feature good enough to cast Billie Holliday in a major role: true, she's playing a maid, but a maid with the most exquisitve singing voice this side of Heaven. The film's highlight is the Holliday/Armstrong duet "Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans", surely one of the great moments of movie-musical history. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Algo Flota Sobre el Agua translates as the somewhat less exotic-sounding Something Floats on the Water. Arturo de Cordova stars in this easygoing drama about a fishing community located off the Gulf of Mexico. There's no real plot to speak of, simply a series of realistic, affectionately detailed vignettes. Critics were unanimous in praising the film, but almost as unanimous in questioning the casting of 17-year-old Elsa Aguirre in a crucial adult role. No one, however, found any fault with the rugged, evocative cinematography of Augustin Martinez Solares. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide