Pancho Córdova Movies
- 1987
This Spanish-spoken gem features the antics of two pals (Pancho Cordova and Leonarilda Ochoa) who decide to purchase a car together. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1978
La Coquito is not a misspelling, it is a Spanish coining which combines masculine and feminine genders in a way which suggests scandal. La Coquito is the stage name a Cuban-born cabaret-singer (played by Ilyana Ross), who rises to prominence singing in low-down dives in Cuba and goes on to become a celebrity in pre-revolutionary Madrid as a cupletista. Her music is very sexually suggestive, and her earthy allure wins her the favors of many men, including one old man who buys a theater to showcase her art. This movie, illumining the life of a performer in a long-forgotten musical genre, is based on a novel by Joaquin Belda, which may be based on the real-life experiences of the cupletista "La Chelito." ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amparo Rivelles, Fernando Allende, (more)
- 1975
Based on a true story, Home of Our Own is about a Roman Catholic priest in Mexico who builds an orphanage for abandoned boys ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
Actor and filmmaker Alfonso Arau stars in the period musical comedy about the last great days of burlesque in Mexico. In the early '50s, Jesus Quijano (Pancho Córdova) is the manager of a struggling burlesque theater in a decaying part of Mexico City, where his star comedian, Tiliches (Alfonso Arau), shares the stage with a variety of musical performers, variety acts, and exotic dancers, among them bitter rivals Mimi Manila (Gina Morett) and Eva Candela (Lyn May). When Quijano attempts to fabricate a phony public outrage over the theater's salacious stage show, the plan backfires after Reginaldo (Ernesto Gómez Cruz), an engineer with the city planning department, uses the "outcry" as an excuse to include the theater in a demolition program so the city can put in a new housing project. Quijano and Tiliches quickly put together an all-star benefit show in a bid to rescue the theater from the wrecking ball, but it may be too late to save the Tivoli. Famed Latin bandleader Pérez Prado appears as himself in the benefit show sequence. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1974
In rural Mexico, during the silent-film era, people who could read were delegated to narrate the films' story cards. In this film, Lucas Lucatero not only performed that chore, but traveled around with a charismatic peddler, Anacieto Morones (Emilio Fernandes) who at some point began to pass himself off as a miracle worker. The film begins as a group of women land on Lucas' doorstep requesting his help in having the now-deceased wonder-worker considered for sainthood by the Roman Catholic church. Flashbacks tell Anacieto's true story, which is as far from pious notions of sainthood as is possible, for his miraculous accomplishments were mostly of a sexual nature. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Maria Elena Velasco stars in this Mexican comedy concerning an ancient talisman, and the troubles that can arise when life's little accidents spiral out of control. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Mexican comedienne La India Maria stars in this political comedy in which a woman who has no political experience to speak of is inexplicably elected to the office of mayor. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- María Elena Velasco, Adalberto "Resortes" Martinez, (more)
A selfless nun who has dedicated her existence to better the lives of orphaned children sets out on a series of zany adventures in a classic Mexican comedy starring screen icon Maria Elena Velasco. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
The humor in this Mexican social comedy has more to do with the aptly depicted characters shown than with the story. When Enfermio (Manolo Faregas) takes his family on an outing, he encounters every possible calamity. A group of unconnected lotharios almost romance his wife and his daughter away from him, he encounters a military man who is a little too ready to draw his gun at the slightest provocation, and his mother manages to eat herself to death. This last event leads to a macabre drive through town, as he takes his family, including the propped-up corpse of his mother, back home. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Manolo Fábregas, Lucha Villa, (more)
- 1969
In this French/Italian co-production set in Mexico in 1746, Alastray (Anthony Quinn), a gunman on the run from the law, happens upon a Franciscan priest, Father Joseph (Sam Jaffe), while in flight. Father Joseph shows mercy on the fugitive and allows Alastray to stay with him, but when the locals find out that Joseph is harboring criminals, he's run out of town; Alastray travels with him, disguised as a monk. While approaching what appears to be a deserted village, Father Joseph is killed by a sniper, and Alastray heads into town. He is met by Teclo (Charles Bronson), a half-breed who calls the village home. It seems that a band of savage Yaqui Indians have been terrorizing the town and have a special hatred for men of faith; they intend to continue laying waste to the village until the residents beg for mercy and renounce Christianity. The Village leaders want to make Alastray their new spiritual leader, and despite his great reluctance, he agrees, mostly as a means of maintaining his cover. But when Alastray tries to organize the building of a much needed dam, as well as obtaining a stash of weapons so that the citizens may defend themselves, the Yaquis return in force, leading to a decisive confrontation. Guns for San Sebastian also features Anjanette Comer and Silvia Pinal. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Quinn, Anjanette Comer, (more)
The comedy Esta Noche No tells the tale of a man married to two different women. He goes to great lengths to keep each family in the dark about the other, but all his careful planning unravels one day. When the two women discover what has been going on, they plot their own unique form of revenge. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1964
In this ironic drama set in a Mexican peasant village, the parish priest admonishes and chastises his congregation for not being generous, but then later catches a desperate father stealing a pearl from a statue so he can pay for the medicine his sick boy needs. After being caught, the fellow loses the pearl, which is later found in a pile of pig manure. Fortunately, the man's neighbors rally to his aide and he is freed. Later his wife finds the pearl and surreptitiously returns it to the statue causing the other locals to believe a miracle has occurred. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1964
Raul (Igancio Lopez Tarso) is a white man who enjoys the simple way of life practiced by the Indians of Mexico. He does his best to try and help the tribe, but he becomes a victim of greedy land grabbers who covet the tribal property. Jaime Fernandez and Aurora Clavel play the Indians. The feature, written and directed by Luis Alcoriza, appeared at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ignacio Tarso, Jaime Fernandez, (more)
The Spanish language film Los Bravos de California concerns a criminal who kidnaps the governor who ordered the criminal's execution. After escaping the gallows with his hostage, the criminal thinks he is free and clear. However, the new governor responds to the situation in an unexpected way. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
The great screen surrealist Luis Buñuel co-wrote and directed this dark, bitterly witty satire. A group of people in formal dress arrives at an elegantly appointed home for a dinner party. However, once dinner is over and the guests retire to the drawing room, they discover that the servants have gone away, and for some reason they cannot leave. There is no explanation why -- there are no locked doors or barred windows preventing them from going home -- but the guests are convinced that they're stranded. Left to their own devices, they slowly but gradually degenerate into genteel savagery, taking an axe to a water pipe for drinking water, killing and eating a sheep that was to be part of the post-dinner entertainment, hiding the bodies of dead guests in the closet, dabbling in witchcraft, and burning the furniture. Buñuel's dry, quixotic wit is abundantly displayed in this film. Leading the cast was Silvia Pinal, the renowned actress who starred in several of Buñuel's Mexican films (she was married to noted producer Gustavo Alatriste, who produced several films with Buñuel). Other than the short subject Simon of the Desert, El Angel Exterminador proved to be Buñuel's last film made in his adopted homeland. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Silvia Pinal, Jacqueline Andere, (more)
Mexican comic "El Clavillazo," otherwise known as Antonio Espino stars in this film by José Morales-Díaz, yet another comedy in which Clavillazo plays himself, not unusual for many comedians. The title could be understood as referring to the U.S. since anything "north" in Mexican parlance has that connotation -- and the story is a parody of a Western. Clavillazo takes on the role of a sharp-shooting outlaw in the vein of a Jesse James or similar legends from the wild West. The script is too weak to sustain the talents of the cast, which counts famous singer Javier Solis among its number. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- El Clavillazo, Javier Solis, (more)
