Katy Jurado Movies
A leading lady of Mexican cinema, Katy Jurado also found fame in Hollywood in the 1950s as a sultry supporting actress in such films as High Noon (1952) and Broken Lance (1954). Rather than abandoning her native country, however, Jurado remained a star of Mexican film as well as an esteemed character actress north and south of the border until she retired from movies in 1998.Born into a wealthy family, Jurado spent her early childhood in luxury until the family's lands were confiscated during the revolution. Nevertheless, her domineering grandmother continued to adhere to "aristocratic ideals," including staunch disapproval of Jurado's desire to become an actress after director Emilio Fernandez discovered her at age 16. Marrying actor/writer Victor Velazquez to escape her family's control, Jurado made her movie debut in No Maturas (1943). The talented sloe-eyed beauty quickly made her mark in the Mexican movie industry, winning three Ariels (Mexico's equivalent of the Oscar), including one for Luis Buñuel's El Bruto (1952). A divorced mother of two by her twenties, Jurado worked as a radio reporter, bullfight critic, and movie columnist between acting jobs to support her family. Spotted by Budd Boetticher and John Wayne at a bullfight, Jurado was subsequently cast in her first American film while on a trip to Hollywood, Boetticher's matador drama The Bullfighter and the Lady (1951). Though her English was still limited, and she learned her lines phonetically, Jurado garnered great critical acclaim for her second Hollywood picture, High Noon (1952). As upstanding marshal Gary Cooper's fiery ex-girlfriend, Jurado unforgettably locked horns onscreen with Cooper's prim bride Grace Kelly, and won a Golden Globe award.
Refusing to be pigeonholed by signing a Hollywood studio contract, Jurado went home to Mexico between American roles, and continued to star in such Mexican fare as melodrama Nosotros Los Pobres (1957) during the 1950s. Nevertheless, she was still a frequent presence in Hollywood movies, particularly in Westerns. Jurado earned a supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance as cattle baron Spencer Tracy's Indian wife in Broken Lance (1954) -- and lived up to her sexy image when she noted on the red carpet that her underwear was the same color as her crimson Oscar gown. She also appeared in Man From Del Rio (1956), Marlon Brando's One-Eyed Jacks (1960), courtroom drama The Trial (1955), and Burt Lancaster's circus extravaganza Trapeze (1955). Jurado's life became Hollywood tabloid fodder when her relationship with her Badlanders (1958) co-star Ernest Borgnine blossomed into a brief, rocky marriage. Married in 1959, Jurado had separated and reconciled with Borgnine amid accusations of spousal abuse by 1961; after wrangling over alimony, the divorce became final in 1964. Having moved to the U.S. to be with Borgnine, Jurado acted less often during the 1960s, including roles in the glossy Barabbas (1961), the Spanish film Un Hombre Solo (1964), the TV Western series Death Valley Days (1964), and the Elvis Presley flick Stay Away, Joe (1968). After attempting suicide in 1968, Jurado moved back home to Mexico for good.
Although she worked occasionally in American films shot in Mexico, including co-starring with John Huston in The Bridge in the Jungle (1970) and a supporting role Sam Peckinpah's Western elegy Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973), Jurado focused on Mexican movies, including El Elegido (1977) and Arturo Ripstein's La Seducción (1980), aging gracefully into a prominent character actress. After appearing alongside her former mentor Fernandez in Huston's somber drama Under the Volcano (1984), Jurado began to work behind the scenes in the Mexican industry, promoting her home state of Morelos to filmmakers. Even as she started garnering career laurels from the Santa Fe Western Festival in 1981 and the Mexican Film Promotion Trust in 1992, Jurado remained active, albeit infrequently, onscreen. After winning a special Ariel for lifetime achievement in 1997, Jurado made her last film, playing the leader of a religious cult in Ripstein's Buñuel-ian satire El Evangelico de Las Maravillas (1998). Still the pride of the Mexican film industry, Jurado passed away in 2002. She was survived by her daughter; her son was killed in a car accident in 1981. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
- 1966
In this courtroom drama, a Mexican American judge must preside over the case of the town ne'er-do-well, who is accused of killing his wife. The film is set during the 1920s in the Southwest. The murderer is convicted and sentenced to hang, but on execution day, he has a fight and kills the hangman. At the same time, another man confesses. While this gets the first man freed for the first killing, he must now stand trial for the hangman's death. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- George Maharis, Laura Devon, (more)
- 1971
13-year-old Robert Mueller (Mark Gruner) is obsessed with guns and has a morbid fascination with death. He is also deeply resentful over the fact that his widowed mother Elaine (Diane Baker) has married Paul Hamilton (Ed Nelson). Despite all this, Elaine could never believe that her darling boy was in any way responsible for a recent campaign of terror waged against Paul, even when an unsolved homicide enters the picture. But Paul knows full well that he is next on little Robert's hit list--a fact that Robert does not even bother to keep a secret. Adapted from a novel by Fielden Farrington, the made-for-TV A Little Game made its ABC bow on October 30, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1969
In his TV-movie debut, Stewart Granger plays a philandering photographer whose wealthy wife, Lois Nettleton, catches him in an adulterous situation. Not wishing to give up his cushy life style, Granger rigs a fatal automobile accident for Nettleton before she begins divorce proceedings. She survives the crash, but suffers a loss of memory. Granger must now figure out how to eliminate her before her amnesia passes and she can finger him as her would-be killer. Filmed in Mexico, Any Second Now is highly recommended to anyone who hasn't seen the story before in its many previous incarnations. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Adapted from a novel by W.R. Burnett (which hadn't yet been published when the film was released), Arrowhead is a tough, uncompromising western dealing with the delicate issue of White-Indian relations. Charlton Heston is at his most truculent as Indian agent Ed Bannon, who though raised by Apaches has a very low opinion of the tribe's trustworthiness. Bannon's warnings about Indian treachery would seem to be borne out by a series of bloody raids upon the cavalry, but the officers in charge refuse to believe him. It turns out that the man behind the Apache attacks is Toriano (Jack Palance), the chief's college-educated son, who has rejected the ways of the White Man and intends to reclaim his birthright. The film boils down to a mano y mano battle between Bannon and Toriano, personal enemies from way back. Hardly politically correct, Arrowhead is worth seeing if only for the multitextured performance by Jack Palance. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, Jack Palance, (more)
This 1962 Biblical epic was adapted by Christopher Fry from the novel by Pär Lagerkvist. Anthony Quinn stars as Barabbas, the thief who was pardoned in place of Jesus. For the rest of his life, the guilt-ridden criminal tries to justify his existence and to determine his place in the scheme of things. Along the way he encounters the self-righteous pomposity of Pontius Pilate (Arthur Kennedy), the stoning of Sara (Katy Jurado), the gladiatorial sadism of Torvald (Jack Palance), and the burning of Rome. The film's unbilled Christ is played by Roy Magnano, the brother of Quinn's second-billed costar Silvia Mangano. Watch for the genuine solar eclipse during the Crucifixion sequence, an effect that director Richard Fleischer spent several days preparing for. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anthony Quinn, Silvana Mangano, (more)
- 1977
An Italian-American neighborhood is in the clutches of a swaggering Mafia don. By holding the residents in a grip of terror, the don manages to extort a great deal of money -- and undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) is helpless to do anything about it, thanks to the refusal of the locals to speak up. This episode affords ample acting opportunities for the versatile Ross Martin and the tempestuous Katy Jurado. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Blake, Edward Grover, (more)
In this Western with curiously Shakespearean undertones, Matt Devereaux (Spencer Tracy) is a ranch owner who has tried to raise his sons to carry on the fierce, hard-working spirit that helped make him a success. However, as a consequence, he never learned to show them affection and treats his boys little better than the hired help. Joe (Robert Wagner), is Matt's son by Native American wife Señora (Katy Jurado). Because of Joe's mixed ethnicity, he is treated prejudicially by his three half-brothers, Ben (Richard Widmark), Mike (Hugh O'Brian), and Danny (Earl Holliman) -- all Caucasian sons of Matt's first wife. Joe loves his father and would do nearly anything for him, but his siblings resent Matt's emotional distance. When Matt discovers a nearby copper mine is polluting a stream where he waters his cattle, he becomes furious and leads a raid on the mine that causes the law to visit the ranch; the police have a warrant to arrest whoever was responsible for the attack. To spare his father the agony and humiliation of a stay behind bars, Joe claims responsibility and spends several years in prison. When he's released, he discovers that Ben and his other brothers rebelled against their father with such extremity that the old man suffered a fatal stroke. While Señora tries to persuade Joe not to seek revenge, Ben is more than willing to fight his brother for taking his father's side. Screenwriter Philip Yordan won an Academy Award for his work on Broken Lance, while Katy Jurado received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her performance as Señora. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner, (more)
- 1957
Dragoon Wells Massacre is a topnotch western from the Allied Artists factory. Barry Sullivan stars as wanted killer Link Ferris, who at the beginning of the film is arrested by marshal Bill Haney (Trevor Bardette). Dennis O'Keefe co-stars as Cavalry officer Matt Riordan, assigned to escort Ferris to prison through hostile Indian country. It comes to pass that hero and villain -- and their respective entourages -- are forced to rely upon each other to survive an Apache attack (led by western-flick veteran John War Eagle) at Dragoon Wells. Mona Freeman and Katy Jurado offer interesting performances within their stock heroine requirements, while Sebastian Cabot is sublimely cast as a shifty trader. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Barry Sullivan, Dennis O'Keefe, (more)
A Bunuel melodrama about a man conned into harassing tenants that his boss wants evicted. Other complications along the line are his seduction by the boss's mistress and his falling in love with a girl whose father he has accidentally murdered. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pedro Armendáriz, Katy Jurado, (more)
- 1977
In this anti-religious Mexican movie, based on a play by Carlos Solorzano, the actors who, every year, re-enact the Passion Play during Holy Week in Ixtapapalapa are shown to be deformed and stupid. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Katy Jurado, Manuel Ojeda, (more)
Mexican director Arturo Ripstein helmed this Mexican-Argentine-Spanish religious drama with Buñuelian overtones. Based on true events that took place in Mexico during the '70s, the film is updated to the present. Mama Dorita (Katy Jurado) leads the New Jerusalem cult with film-buff Papa Basilio (Francisco Rabal). Basilio's worship of movies explains the cult's costumes, imitative of Hollywood Biblical epics. When Dorita dies, she chooses teen Tomasa (Edwarda Gurrola) to give birth to the New Messiah. Unable to handle this sudden power, Tomasa instead proclaims herself to be the Whore of Babylon, forcing male cultists to have sex with her. Shown in the Certain Regard section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Francisco Rabal, Katy Jurado, (more)
- 1978
Set in the early 1900s, this film charts the rule of a Latin American dictator as he moves from being a charming despot to a tyrannical ruler before he is finally ousted, only to die in obscurity in Paris. Early in his regime, the resources and agricultural products his country sells command high prices, and he is a reasonably confident, even gentle, ruler who likes to take long vacations with his daughter in Paris. After World War I, with falling prices and a number of coup attempts behind him, his rule becomes quite cruel. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nelson Villagra, Katy Jurado, (more)
- 1981
Faye Dunaway portrays the Argentinian title character in this four-hour TV biopic. The story traces Evita's rise to power from humble origins; she establishes herself as a radio and film actress, then meets and marries powerful politico Juan Peron (played by James Farentino, a last minute replacement for Robert Mitchum). Peron's iron-fisted rule of Argentina allows Evita to become a political power in her own right. At first she is widely beloved as a "woman of the people", but gradually many of her followers are disillusioned by her use -- and misuse -- of her authority and her influence over Peron. After Evita dies, she is all but canonized by the Faithful, and it becomes more difficult than ever to separate fact from legend. Evita Peron was clearly produced to capitalize on the Broadway musical hit Evita, though the script takes great pains not to copy its theatrical inspiration. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
This Western classic stars Gary Cooper as Hadleyville marshal Will Kane, about to retire from office and go on his honeymoon with his new Quaker bride, Amy (Grace Kelly). But his happiness is short-lived when he is informed that the Miller gang, whose leader (Ian McDonald) Will had arrested, is due on the 12:00 train. Pacifist Amy urges Will to leave town and forget about the Millers, but this isn't his style; protecting Hadleyburg has always been his duty, and it remains so now. But when he asks for deputies to fend off the Millers, virtually nobody will stand by him. Chief Deputy Harvey Pell (Lloyd Bridges) covets Will's job and ex-mistress (Katy Jurado); his mentor, former lawman Martin Howe (Lon Chaney Jr.) is now arthritic and unable to wield a gun. Even Amy, who doesn't want to be around for her husband's apparently certain demise, deserts him. Meanwhile, the clocks tick off the minutes to High Noon -- the film is shot in "real time," so that its 85-minute length corresponds to the story's actual timeframe. Utterly alone, Kane walks into the center of town, steeling himself for his showdown with the murderous Millers. Considered a landmark of the "adult western," High Noon won four Academy Awards (including Best Actor for Cooper) and Best Song for the hit, "Do Not Forsake Me, O My Darling" sung by Tex Ritter. The screenplay was written by Carl Foreman, whose blacklisting was temporarily prevented by star Cooper, one of Hollywood's most virulent anti-Communists. John Wayne, another notable showbiz right-winger and Western hero, was so appalled at the notion that a Western marshal would beg for help in a showdown that he and director Howard Hawks "answered" High Noon with Rio Bravo (1959). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, (more)
- 1961
This uneven but interesting drama by director and writer Renato Castellani tells the tale of a brigand and the people who become involved with him. Michele Rende (Adelmo di Fraia) is both a town legend and a hot-tempered young man who is thrown in prison after being accused of a murder he did not commit. Unwilling to submit to trial, Michele escapes and heads up into the hills, from which vantage point he helps poor farmers to carry out the illegal acquisition of unused farm lands. A local boy, Nino (Francesco Seminirao) has come to worship Michele like a real hero and later, Michele falls in love with Nino's sister. It is this last relationship that eventually leads to tragedy for all concerned. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- 1962
Overcooked melodrama characterizes this tale set during the Mexican Revolution and starring some of Mexico's most famous, old-time actors (Katy Jurado, María Félix, Emilo Fernández, and Pedro Armendáriz). The story is about as far-fetched as can be imagined. Herrera (Armendáriz) and Gómez (Fernández) are on opposite sides in the Revolution, but then, there is more than one side anyway. Just before the two can fight it out, they are arrested and later released when the fighting is more or less over. But when the two men return home, one finds that his mistress, La Bandida (Félix) is involved with someone else, and the other is soon to be a widower. The saga then continues as both men go after La Bandida -- and all this happens with a great deal of brawling, singing, and carrying-on. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Maria Felix, Pedro Armendáriz, (more)
- 1980
A scheming rebel marauder uses his lover's lovely daughter as bait to entice unsuspecting soldiers into a death trap. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Katy Jurado, Gonzalo Vega, (more)
- 1985
Known variously as "Skirty Harry" and "Dirty Harriet," beautiful but tough lady police detective Katy Mahoney (Jamie Rose) patrols the mean streets of Chicago. In her dealings with dope pushers, rapists, and loan sharks, Katy would just as soon dispense with Due Process and blast every outlaw away with her trusty .357 magnum. But Internal Affairs frowns on such behavior, so Katy is forced to adopt a more civil attitude in her efforts to bring a particularly nasty cocaine kingpin, Dona Maria Theresa (Katy Jurado), to justice -- at least until there are no other options available, allowing the heroine to fire away at her heart's content. Condemned for its overabundance of violence when it originally aired April 15, 1985, on ABC, the made-for-TV Lady Blue nonetheless yielded a weekly series, which ran from September 15, 1985 to January 25, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1976
When a worker is found murdered on the construction side, the investigation swiftly turns from things criminal to the political circumstances surrounding the building itself. Widespread corruption and neglect by the builder himself are seen to have brought the situation about. Much of the movie is filmed using hand-held cameras, and the majority of the dialogue is in the difficult-to-understand and very slangy Spanish dialect of Mexico City's bricklayers. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ignacio Tarso, Jaime Fernandez, (more)
- 1956
The dramatic weight of Man From Del Rio rests securely on the broad shoulders of star Anthony Quinn. Cast as an indigent Mexican gunslinger, Quinn is asked by an old pal to clean up an outlaw-ridden western town. Knowing that his reputation is exaggerated, Quinn relies on braggadocio and bluff to keep the villains at bay. But when he is appointed town sheriff, it is "put up or shut up" time. Katy Jurado, who'd become "typed" as a western actress since High Noon, costars as Quinn's would-be lover. Man From Del Rio offers little that hasn't been seen before, but Anthony Quinn keeps things moving at a fast and exciting clip. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anthony Quinn, Katy Jurado, (more)
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