Julio Alejandro Movies

As violence and chaos sweeps across the Mexican landscape no one is safe from the destruction that threatens to wipe out everything in its path in a nail-biting thriller directed by Vicente Fernandez and starring Patricia Aspillaga. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The simmering relationship between a racist singer named Laura (Libertad Lamarque) and her longtime black friend Angustias (Eusebia Cosme) erupts into a violent boil when Laura's daughter falls in love with Angustias' son in a drama directed by Abel Salazar and inspired by the classic Douglas Sirk melodrama Imitation of Life. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The unbeatable combination of both Dolores del Rio and Libertad Lamarque co-starring in this three-hanky melodrama about the self-sacrificing love of a mother makes this otherwise unexceptional film a people's favorite. Lamarque plays the mistress of a married man and del Rio has the role of his wife. After the husband dies in an auto accident, the mistress survives the crash and later gives birth to their son. The grieving widow agrees to adopt the boy as her own -- on the condition that the mistress bow out of the picture completely. She agrees and so it is settled, until many years later when the repenting birth mother wants to get to know her now-grown offspring. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Alfredo B. Crevenna directs this amusing Mexican comedy-drama, sprinkled with a few risqué situations but not as spicy as the book on which it is based. Popular actor Francisco Rabal plays the wealthy, elite friend of a woman (Terre Velasquez) who is caught in a serious dilemma. Her family has fallen on hard times and she needs to help them, however she can. She decides to marry her monied friend, and once the wedding is behind her, the challenges of moving in the upper echelons of society and somehow making the most of the marriage give rise to humor, and eventual happiness for all concerned. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The life of a powerful actress is examined in this tragedy. The film begins with her demise during a plane crash. Later, the men who loved her try to figure out why she was always so unhappy. Her story is told in flashback. It begins in a small town where she was a dress shop model. She used the money from that job to pay for her acting lessons. Later she is seen meeting the director of a theater group. This encounter eventually gets her involved with a Mexican film studio. As she becomes increasingly popular, she has a series of men in her life. Though she has become rich, powerful, and sought after, the woman still feels a great void in her life. To begin a new life, she takes a plane to Europe. Unfortunately the plane crashes and her life tragically ends. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Mexican filmmaker Alfredo B. Crevenna directed this sci-fi thriller loosely based on the classic H.G. Wells novel. Augusto Benedico stars as Luis, a scientist who gives his new invisibility formula to his jailed brother, Carlos (Arturo de Cordova). Carlos escapes and is reunited with his beloved Beatriz (Ana Luisa Peluffo), but the invisibility potion turns him into an insane megalomaniac who plans to rule the world. The invisible madman murders Luis and begins committing acts of sabotage until Beatriz tricks him into a standoff with police. This overwrought version of the tale makes an interesting contrast with James Whale's 1933 version of the same story, which seems positively subdued by comparison. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

The English-language title of this Mexican social drama is Boy's Town; the mood and texture of the film was obviously influenced by the 1938 Hollywood production of the same name. Arturo de Cordova stars as the real-life Padre Farias, who overcomes great obstacles to establish a Latin-American "boy's town" for wayward and neglected youth. The kids chosen to portray the Padre's charges are refreshingly natural and unaffected; also worthy of praise is the film's excellent location cinematography, courtesy of director Gilberto Martinez Solares' brother Augustin. As a bonus, the storyline's religious angle never overwhelms its entertainment value (and vice versa). La Ciudad de Los Ninos premiered at the 1957 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This Mexican melodrama was released above the border as After the Storm. The principal characters are a pair of twin lighthouse keepers. They try their best to live together with their wives under the same roof, but the delicate balance is shattered when one of the brothers falls in love with his sister-in-law. When one twin is lost during a storm, the other assumes his identity, with the expected romantic complications. If Despues de la Termenta sounds familiar, it is because the screenplay was inspired by the 1946 Bette Davis vehicle A Stolen Life. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Director Luis Buñuel constructs this 1954 motion picture on the foundation of Emily Bronte's Gothic novel set in England. However, Buñuel substitutes a Mexican setting for the English one and Spanish names for the novel's central characters. He also alters the plot to heighten tension and maximize the effect of imagery. In the Bronte novel, Mr. Earnshaw rescues a foundling named Heathcliff from the streets and raises the boy at his estate on the moors, Wuthering Heights, along with his daughter, Catherine, and son, Hindley. Over the years, Hindley mistreats Heathcliff, regarding him as a rival for his father's affection. After Mr. Earnshaw dies and Hindley inherits the estate, he humiliates Heathcliff by making him a common stable boy. Catherine, meanwhile, falls passionately in love with Heathcliff, but looks down upon him because he lacks social standing. One day, after overhearing her speak of him disparagingly, Heathcliff abandons Wuthering Heights, then makes a success of himself in the world. After returning three years later, he finds Catherine married to an elegant gentleman, Edgar Linton. Heathcliff vows revenge. First, through clever scheming, he acquires liens on Wuthering Heights and drives Hindley to his grave. To spite Catherine and Linton, Heathcliff marries Isabella Linton, Edgar's sister, and treats her cruelly while gaining control of her property. The turn of events destroys Catherine, who is pregnant, and she dies after giving birth to a daughter. In the Buñuel film, Heathcliff becomes Alejandro (Jorge Mistral), Catherine becomes Catalina (Irasema Dilian), Hindley becomes Ricardo (Luis Aceves Castaneda), and Isabella becomes Isabel (Lilia Prado). Early on, the film generally follows the plot of Wuthering Heights although the setting is a hacienda in Mexico. However, the plot begins to shift when Alejandro discovers that the pregnant Catalina is gravely ill. Full of regret for his past action toward her, he relents and tells her he loves her, and she expresses her love for him. Then she gives birth and dies. After she is laid to rest, he is so grief-stricken that he exhumes her just to hold her one more time. ~ Mike Cummings, Rovi