Tito Junco, Sr. Movies

The beloved Mexican comedian Cantinflas stars in this satiric comedy which pokes fun at the power struggles of international politics. Lopitos (Cantinflas) is a humble but loyal citizen of the nation of Los Cocos, who holds down a job in the country's embassy, helping to process and distribute visas. Through a series of comical errors, Lopitos is named the ambassador of Los Cocos to a powerful international tribunal, where the nations of the world have either lined up behind the "Green" nations, led by the capitalist leader of Dolaronia (Jack Kelly), or the "Red" countries, whose figurehead is the prime minister of socialist Pepeslavia (Tito Rush). With the votes divided evenly between the Red and Green factions, it becomes clear that Lopitos' vote will sway the balance of political power around the world -- which makes simple Lopitos a very popular and powerful man. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This threadbare Mexican production (the sequel to The Bloody Vampire) involves 16th-century bloodsucker Count Frankenhausen (Carlos Agosti), whose true identity is known only by an intrepid vampire-hunting doctor. Unfortunately, our hero is unable to convince the residents of the surrounding town that their Count is one of the undead. When his theory is finally proven correct and Frankenhausen gets a stake through the heart, legions of once-slain vampires surprisingly rise from their graves and descend upon the hapless villagers. Though the original production appears fairly atmospheric and features some legitimate chills, it is rendered utterly ridiculous (much like its predecessor) by the atrocious dubbing of the English-language version. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Director Benito Alazraki does the best he can with this low-budget, stereotyped, cops-and-criminals story set in Algiers. Love interests run high as the requisite policeman (Tito Junco) pines after the woman of his dreams and the likeable bandit (Yerye Beirute) finds solace with several different women. Sonia Furio has some standard (though rushed in production) dance scenes, as the criminals in the story are hunted down and inevitably meet their deserved fate. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

When a retiring military leader is forced to choose his successor, his selection clashes with popular opinion and finds a conflicted general weighing his loyalty to his country against his desire for power in this drama from director Julio Bracho. Though the departing leader has clearly chosen current Minister of Interior General Jiminez to assume power upon his departure, the public makes their desire clear to have Minister of War General Aguirre as their leader, throwing an unexpected wrench in the transition. Despite removing himself from contention in hopes of diffusing the situation, General Aguirre is dogged by his loyal supporters to stay in the running. To go against government policy and assume power would mean breaking his loyalty to the country he has served for so many years, but the lure of great power may be too much to resist. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Maverick Mexican filmmaker Emilio Fernandez completed Nosotros Dos (We Two) in 1954. Thanks to the legal and political volatility of the director, however, the film was not released until 1957. Rosanna Podesta (on the verge of her Helen of Troy debacle) stars as a young woman trapped in the middle of a long-standing blood feud. She falls in love with Tito Junco, son of the family with which her parents are at odds. Their struggle to find happiness despite the hatred all around them forms the basis of the familiar but well-wrought plotline. Perhaps Rosanna Podesta was a bit too ladylike for the proceedings, but her fans didn't mind. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Recharging his creative batteries with a "commercial" venture, director Luis Bunuel came up with the stylish if undistinguished La Mort en ce Jardin (Death in This Garden). Set in a steaming jungle, the film concerns a disparate group of refugees from a despotic military regime. Among these worthies is "good time girl" Djin (Simone Signoret), ageing miner Castin (Charles Vanel) and deaf-mute Marie (Michele Girardon). The deeper the protagonists venture into the jungle, the more Bunuel's patented surrealism begins to surface. Only two of the escapees survive the ordeal, and they aren't necessary the two whom the viewers are rooting for. Some prints of La Mort en ce Jardin bear the title Gina. hel) F Lorsque L'Enfant Paris (When the Child Appears) was adapted from the hit play by Andre Roussin. The story revolves around the efforts of a well-meaning, highly moralistic minister, who wants the government to clamp down on illegitimacy. Complications ensue when the minister's own wife become pregnant--and all evidence indicates that the child is not his. Adding to the protagonist's headaches, his daughter, on the eve of her wedding to a wealthy young man, announces that she, too, may well be in the family way. Not to be left out, the minister's son declares that he thinks he's impregnated his father's secretary! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

La Rebelion de Los Colgados (The Rebellion of the Hanged) is dominated by the presence of Mexican film favorite Pedro Armendariz. The actor is cast as a peasant who works in a mahogany camp in the Mexican jungles with his family. Disgusted with the miserable living conditions imposed upon himself and his co-workers, the peasant finally spearheads a revolt against the sadistic bosses. Some of the scenes of brutality and torture are almost impossible to watch, and as such were trimmed when the film was released to the U.S. by United Artists. The film was based on a novel by Berwick Traven, of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A comparatively conventional Luis Bunuel effort, the Mexican Woman Without Love is based on a short story by Guy de Maupassant. Rosario Granados plays a young wife, Rosario Montero. Ignored by her wealthy art dealer husband, Don Carlos (Julio Villarreal) -- who is many years her senior -- Rosario enters into an affair with an engineer, Julio Mistral (Tito Junco), by whom she becomes pregnant. Immediately after Rosario conceives, Don Carlos grows seriously ill, and Rosario is thus forced to abandon the affair and take care of him; she passes off her newborn as her husband's child. Two decades pass; Julio dies, leaving his fortune to Don Carlos. This stirs up all kinds of trouble, including suspicions among the now-grown Montero children of their mother's onetime infidelity, and consequent feelings of filial bitterness and hostility. The strains are too great for everyone to bear and the family slowly unravels. The anti-clerical strain in Woman without Love is not as pronounced as the anti-establishment theme, but it's there for those familiar with Bunuel's "code words" and imagery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide