Maria Elena Marques Movies
- 1965
In this comedy, a spaced-out fellow marries a woman. The absent minded fellow has completely forgotten about the wife he already has. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1959
An entertaining, clever, amusing, and exciting variety show, Europa di Notte features a witty narration and the talents of performers from a wide range of fields. Among the most known to American audiences are Domenico Modugno and The Platters but judging by the quality of the acts, every other performer deserves equal recognition. Carmen Sevilla does an impressive dance routine, and magicians like Channing Pollock and others provide plenty of entrancing illusions. Then there are the guys from the Parisian Crazy Horse Saloon, who take almost all of it off but clothe the entire act in enough humor to pass muster with most audiences. Other dancers and singers, including the Ukrainian Chorus make this armchair tour of European nitery worthwhile. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Domenico Modugno, The Platters, (more)
- 1959
One of several biographical films that dramatize the life of Mexican hero and revolutionary Pancho Villa, this version by director Ismael Rodriguez is a standard recounting of the Mexican peasant's exploits from a favorable light. Villa (Pedro Armendariz) was born in 1878 to sharecroppers on a ranch in northern Mexico. When he was sixteen, he had to escape the ranch for his life because he shot the owner, Sr. Lopez-Negrete in the foot for an act of aggression against his family. After several captures and escapes, Villa (who by then had changed his name from Doroteo Arango) eventually heads into the life of an outlaw. Even when he attempts to go straight, he is caught out by the lawmen looking for him and heads back into the mountains. By 1909, he had joined the Mexican Revolutionary forces and was in charge of the Division of the North. Rising high in position for a short while, his life was always threatened. He was assassinated in 1923. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pedro Armendáriz, Carlos Lopez Moctezuma, (more)
- 1958
The Mexican horror film La Llorona begins with a very happy young woman named Margarita (Luz Mara Aguilar) who is planning her wedding to the love of her life. Her uncle (Carlos Lopez Moctezuma) refuses to give his blessing to the union. She goes through with the marriage and soon gives birth to a son named Jorgito. When he gets older, Jorgito learns that the family suffers from a curse that causes woman to kill their children. In order to keep the curse from perpetuating itself, Jorgito begins plotting the murder of Margarita. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Tom Thumb (Cesareo Quezadas) convinces an ogre (Jose Elias Moreno) and his family to refrain from eating children and encourages them to bathe regularly in this children's fairy tale from 1958. Tom gets help from the ever-present fairy princess (Maria Elena Marques) whenever his troubles loom too large. The ogre is changed into a vegetarian gentlemen and his seven dingy daughters become ladies with the help of the fairy's magic wand. A new version poorly dubbed in English was released in 1967. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Elena Marques, José Moreno, (more)
A Mexican millionaire tests the loyalty of his new bride in this romantic drama starring Jaime Fernandez and Maria Elena Marques. Shortly after taking the beautiful Dorotea as his bride, wealthy Alberto begins to wonder whether her love is pure or motivated by money. After parachuting out of his airplane mere moments before it crashes into the mountains of Chihuahua, Carlos hides out at the remote ranch of his loyal brother Carlos. Believing that Alberto has died, Dorotea's relatives in Mexico City assume that Carlos will receive a sizable inheritance. Now, in order to test the depths of Dorotea's love, Alberto asks Carlos to travel to Mexico City and meet her family. But Dorotea is furious that Alberto would have gone hunting without her, and left for Acapulco. Realizing that her absence may be the one thing keeping them from a life of luxury, Dorotea's family must scramble to find a convincing substitute for their daughter before Carlos arrives in town and Alberto's greatest fears are confirmed. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
The Mexican comedy Reportaje follows the wacky adventures that ensue when a man offers a large reward to the journalist that can uncover the best news story that occurs during New Year's Eve. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1953
Ambush at Tomahawk Gap is a characteristically brutal program western from Columbia's Wallace MacDonald unit. John Hodiak, John Derek, David Brian and Ray Teal play ex-convicts who ride into a Godforsaken western town. They're on the lookout for the loot that they buried from their last big "job." Before we are treated to the requisite "thieves fall out" scene, Tomahawk Gap is besieged by Apaches. The survivor of the carnage is allowed the usual ride into the sunset with Indian maiden Mary Eleana Marques. Featured in the supporting cast of Ambush at Tomahawk Gap are such old reliable sagebrush standbys as Trevor Bardette, John Doucette and Percy Helton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Hodiak, John Derek, (more)
- 1951
Clark Gable is the largely nonheroic hero of the sprawling western Across the Wide Missouri. A cunning trapper who lives purely by his wits, Gable avoids being scalped by the Blackfoot Indians by marrying Maria Elena Marques, the chief's daughter. This marriage of convenience also allows Gable to trap to his heart's content in Blackfoot territory. After bearing a child, Marques is killed by a warring tribe; the opportunistic Gable at first considers abandoning the child, but at long last does right by the boy. Adolphe Menjou steals the show as an eternally inebriated French trapper, while Ricardo Montalban and J. Carroll Naish are convincing (and noncondescending) in their Native American characterizations. Evidently, Across the Wide Missouri tested poorly when it was first previewed: the final release version runs a surprisingly brief 78 minutes, with narrator Howard Keel (who otherwise does not appear) filling in the continuity gaps. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Ricardo Montalban, (more)
- 1949
La Negra Angustia is a sweeping recreation of the Mexican Revolution. Popular film star Maria Elena Marques stars as Angustia (whose name, significantly, translates to "Anguish"). In the course of the film, Angustia becomes a figurehead, a rallying point for the revolutionaries. The authentic "feel" of the film is enhanced by the evocative musical score, featuring vocals by Gracisca Amador. On the strength of La Negra Angustia (not to mention the earlier The Pearl), Maria Elena Marques was brought to Hollywood, where she was costarred with Clark Gable in Across the Wide Missouri. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1948
Gabriel Figueroa's evocative photography makes the Mexican-American co-production The Pearl seem a more significant piece of filmmaking than it really is. Based on John Steinbeck's short novel, The Pearl is the tragic fable of a simple Mexican fisherman (Pedro Armendariz) who finds a valuable pearl and begins fantasizing about untold wealth and luxury for himself and family. His more sensible wife (Maria Elena Marques) is uncertain as to whether the pearl is an omen of good luck, but soon she, too, falls under its spell. The couple's naivete leads to their being exploited and brutalized by sharpsters and thieves. Before the fisherman angrily hurls the pearl back into the sea, the gem brings about nothing but death and despair. Co-scripted by Steinbeck, director Emil Fernandez, and Jack Wagner, The Pearl was filmed on location in Mexico, using the facilities of the RKO-owned Churubusco Studios. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pedro Armendáriz, Maria Elena Marques, (more)
- 1945
Mexican singing star Jorge Negrete essays the title role in El Rebelde. When his father is murdered, young Negrete vows revenge against society. Intending to get even with the wealthy rancher responsible for his father's death, Negrete poses as the music teacher of the rancher's pretty daughter Maria Elena Marques. Falling in love with the girl, our hero decides to mend his ways, but is still obliged to kidnap the heroine before her father will consent to their marriage. There's a strong possibility that no one intended El Rebelde to be taken seriously. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jorge Negrete, Fred Pinero, (more)
- 1943
The combined talents of star Maria Felix and director Fernando De Fuentes resulted in the can't-miss romantic drama Dona Barbara. Felix is cast as the title character, a rich landowner who has accumulated her fortune through the kindness of strangers-handsome, amorous strangers to whom she has sold her affections. Renouncing true love in favor of material gains, Dona Barbara ultimate falls desperately in love with neighboring rancher Santos Luardos (Julian Soler). Her euphoria evaporates when she learns that Santos is interested only in her young daughter Marisela (Maria Marques). Completed in 1943, Donna Barbara earned several industry awards in Mexico, and not a few similar honors elsewhere. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Felix, Julian Soler, (more)
- 1942
Director Fernando De Fuentes adapted the screenplay of Asi se Quiere en Jalisco (Love in Jalisco) from his own stage play. Maria Elene Marques stars as Lupe, who is strongarmed by her family into marrying wealthy ranchowner Don Luis (Carlos Moctezuma). Instead, she offers to work off her family's debts by taking a job as Don Luis' housemaid. Despite the lecherous advances of her employer, Lupe remains faithful to her true love, poor-but-honest Juan Ramon (Jorge Negrete). Though more lighthearted than ealrier De Fuentes efforts, this film is faithful to the director's long-standing theory that Mexico would be better off if the wealthy landowners would mind their own business. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Elena Marques, Antonio R. Frausto, (more)
