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Pascual Garcia Pena Movies

1969  
 
In this Spanish drama, a lifelong friendship falls apart when the buddies fall in love with the same girl. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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1967  
 
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This Mexican-made western features Robert Conrad (also the director) as one of three outlaw cowboys who head south of the border after being rescued from the hangman's noose by a Mexican compadre. From their refuge in a Mexican mission, they set out looking for a fortune in buried gold. ~ Rovi

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1959  
 
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La Calavera Negra concerns a bunch of small Mexican town who must contend with a mysterious, disruptive figure known as the Black Skull. Many different people attempt to uncover the truth behind this frightening phenomenon. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

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1957  
 
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Filmed in Mexico, The Black Scorpion was the last theatrical feature to bear the imprimatur of special-effects maven Willis O'Brien. Allegedly an outgrowth of a ten-minute "test" film, the story is set in motion by a volcanic eruption which releases dozens of giant scorpions from a cave. American geologist Richard Denning and his cohorts try to drive the scorpions back into their lair, but the huge arachnids are soon at large in civilization, munching on innocent bystanders as they go their merry way. The authorities are able to destroy all but one scorpion, who unfortunately is the nastiest of the bunch. The climax takes place in a Mexico City bullring, where the scorpion does battle with a fleet of military helicopters. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Richard DenningMara Corday, (more)
 
1955  
 
Third-billed Lee Marvin dominates the proceedings in A Life in the Balance. Marvin plays a psycho killer, whose trail is dogged by inquistive young Jose Perez. Jose's father, musician Ricardo Montalban, has been accused of a series of murders. The boy is convinced (correctly, it turns out) that Marvin is the guilty party, and trails the man in hopes of bringing him to justice. No dummy he, Perez leaves a trail for the authorities to follow--a series of smashed-up police call boxes (a similar plot device was deployed for comic purposes by Harold Lloyd in Professor Beware). A Life in the Balance was filmed on location in Mexico City, with a great deal of screen time devoted to a colorful carnival. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Ricardo MontalbanAnne Bancroft, (more)
 
1955  
 
Filmed on location, Treasure of Pancho Villa stars Rory Calhoun as a mercenary at large during Mexico's civil war. Though he'll sell his services to the highest bidder, Calhoun is eventually won over to Pancho Villa's cause by patriot Gilbert Roland and former aristocrat Shelley Winters. Before this happens, however, our hero (who doesn't behave like one) wheels and deals to get his hands on a cache of gold. Without giving away the ending, it can be noted that the film borrows liberally from Treasure of Sierra Madre. While the dialogue passages in Treasure of Pancho Villa can be tiresome, the film is saved by its literally explosive action highlights. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Rory CalhounShelley Winters, (more)
 
1954  
 
In this adventure, four explorers search for a vast treasure in the Amazon jungle. One of the explorers is a woman who got involved after she traveled from California to marry her fiance whom she hasn't seen in two years. Another man tries to convince her that her fiance has become an alcoholic idealist obsessed with finding gold in the jungle. Another takes her into the jungle to find her love. En route he falls in love with her. Later they learn that her fiance has been killed by the Jivaro headhunters. The other man, who went in before them is also attacked, but the woman's guide saves his life. This film did not use stock footage. Much of it was actually filmed in the jungle to provide the backgrounds. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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Starring:
Fernando LamasRhonda Fleming, (more)
 
1953  
 
Unlike many westerns, City of Bad Men is placed within a specific historical time frame. The scene is Carson City, Nevada, in the year 1897. As the city prepares itself for the much-ballyhooed prizefight between Gentleman Jim Corbett and Bob Fitzsimmons, soldier-of-fortune Brett Stanton (Dale Robertson) rides into town with a few of his cronies. Stanton takes into consideration the enormous gate proceeds that the prizefight will yield and immediately begins formulating plans to steal the loot. He is deflected from this by his former girlfriend Linda Culligan (Jeanne Crain), whose good example sets Stanton on the right path. Corbett and Fitzsimmons are played, respectively, by ace stunt men John Day and Gil Perkins. Actual film footage exists of their legendary bout, and this brief ribbon of celluloid might make an interesting companion feature to City of Bad Men. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Jeanne CrainDale Robertson, (more)
 
1953  
 
This tuneful romantic melodrama is set in a tiny Mexican village and is comprised of three storylines. One tale concerns a pair of young lovers from rival villages who will not be able to marry until a long time feud is ended. In another tale, an heir to a large fortune falls in love with an impoverished girl. His family is dead set against the match. When he is diagnosed with a fatal tumor, the man begs the girl to marry him, but she refuses and instead arranges for him to marry another. In the third story, a matador's comely sister falls in love with a street vendor. Unfortunately, the matador hates her beloved and to break them up permanently, slyly convinces the peddler to enter the dangerous bullring. Fortunately for the sister, her brother's scheme fails spectacularly. She then marries the peddler and makes an ironic discovery. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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Starring:
Anna Maria Pier AngeliRicardo Montalban, (more)
 
1952  
 
While Shelley Winters is top-billed, Ricardo Montalban is the real star of My Man and I. Montalban plays Mexican transient farmer Chu-Chu Ramirez, determined to make something of himself and improve his lot in life. He falls in love with disillusioned alcoholic Nancy (Winters), intending to help her overcome her illness. Meanwhile, Ramirez' nasty boss Ansel Ames (Wendell Corey) is shot in an accident. Jealous over the fact that his wife (Claire Trevor) has designs on Ramirez, Ames accuses the Mexican of attempted murder. The manner in which Ames and his wife are forced to tell the truth is one of the oddest (and most compelling) sequences in all of William Wellman's work. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Shelley WintersRicardo Montalban, (more)
 
1950  
 
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The Torch was originally released in Mexico as La Malquerida. It also bore several other titles, including Duelo en las Montanas, Del Odio Nacio el Amor and The Beloved. By any name, this is the story of a fear-inspiring revolutionary general (Pedro Armendariz) who develops a passion for the daughter (Paulette Goddard) of a wealthy villager. It's hate at first sight so far as the girl is concerned, but this will soon change. Designed as a dual-market production, The Torch was produced by star Paulette Goddard and RKO's Bert Granet, and directed by volatile Mexican filmmaker Emilio Fernandez. The international supporting cast includes Gilbert Roland as a kindly priest and Walter Reed as an American doctor who also yearns for Goddard. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Paulette GoddardPedro Armendáriz, (more)
 
1949  
NR  
This breezy and unpretentious film noir from director Don Siegel starts off with fireworks. Duke Holliday (Robert Mitchum), an American army lieutenant, is on his way to Mexico by boat when he's confronted in his cabin by Blake (William Bendix), gun in hand, who plans on taking him back to the United States. Holliday gets away, pummeling Blake pretty hard in the bargain and stealing his identification, and crosses paths with Joan Graham (Jane Greer). It turns out that she's looking for the same man he is, a smooth-talking hood and grifter named Fiske (Patric Knowles), who took Holliday at gunpoint for 300,000 dollars in army payroll money and Graham for 2,000 dollars, in addition to her hand in marriage. They spend a lot of their time sizing each other up, not knowing how much to believe about the other while trying to catch up with Fiske, while Blake -- an army captain who's after Holliday for his alleged part in the robbery -- stumbles along a step or two behind them. These four end up playing cat-and-mouse across Veracruz, with Fiske always a half-step ahead, while police Inspector General Ortega (Ramon Novarro) calmly keeps tabs on all of them, trying to figure out (along with the rest of us) exactly who is on the level (in those days, especially after Out of the Past, there was no built-in assurance for audiences that Mitchum and Greer played characters with clean hands, and Mitchum is almost too good with the rough stuff here to be an obvious hero). Holliday and Graham engage in some surprisingly playful and suggestive banter during their travels, in between her keeping Holliday -- whose command of Spanish is less than minimal -- from adding too many new permutations to the phrase "the ugly American" in his dealings with the Mexicans. The mood is decidedly brisk and light-hearted at times, given the gunplay and violence that explodes at key intervals. The addition of John Qualen -- in one of the strangest roles of his career -- as a decidedly fidgety and neurotic presence in the last quarter of the story only adds to the undertone of quirkiness in this superb film noir. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

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Starring:
Robert MitchumJane Greer, (more)
 
1946  
 
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Enamorada, Mexican filmmaker Emilio Fernandez' only 1946 effort, was released in the US early the following year. The film's English-language title is A Girl in Love, the girl in question being the ravishing Maria Felix. Set during the Mexican revolution, the story concerns the rocky relationship between the hoydenish, high-born Beatriz (Felix) and revolutionary General Reyes (Pedro Armendariz). Forsworn to kill and/or humiliate any artistocrats in his path, Reyes cannot bring himself to harm Beatriz, whose hatred for the general slowly but surely turns to love. Throughout, Maria Felix is stunningly photographed by Gabriel Figueroa, one of director Fernandez' favorite collaborators. A huge success upon its first release, Enamorada has since become a fixture of the various Spanish-language cable TV services. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Maria FelixPedro Armendáriz, (more)