Regina Torne Movies
Based on the best-selling novel by Laura Esquival, this internationally popular romantic fable from Mexico centers on a young woman who discovers that her cooking has magical effects. The tale's heroine, Tita, is the youngest of three daughters in a traditional Mexican family. Bound by tradition to remain unmarried while caring for her aging mother, Tita nevertheless falls in love with a handsome young man named Pedro. Pedro returns her affection, but he cannot overcome her family's disapproval, and he instead marries Tita's elder sister. The lovestruck young woman is brutally disappointed, and her sadness has such force that it infects her cooking: all who eat it her feel her heartbreak with the same intensity. This newly discovered power continues to manifest itself after the wedding, as Tita and Pedro, overcome by their denied love, embark on a secret affair. Director Alfonso Arau, Esquival's husband at the time, presents the acts of love and cooking with the same glossy, sensual sheen. Indeed, despite occasional digressions into a magical realist tone, the film often takes on the gloss of Hollywood romance. This combination of traditional melodrama and exotic fairy tale proved extremely popular with audiences, particularly in the United States, where it became one of the highest grossing foreign language films at the time. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lumi Cavazos, Marco Leonardi, (more)
The comedy Capulina Speedy Gonzales stars the popular Mexican comic actor Capulina as a nosy telephone worker who causes a series of scandals in his town. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1971
A killer is on the loose in the vacation paradise of Acapulco. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
“The Big Cube” of the title is slang for a sugar cube dipped in LSD, which is omnipresent throughout the movie. Adriana Roman (Lana Turner) is a famous actress who is retiring from the stage to marry wealthy Charles Winthrop (Dan O’Herlihy), a situation that displeases Winthrop’s daughter Lisa. While hanging out at a nightclub called “Le Trip,”Lisa is shown the bizarre effects that LSD-laced sugar cubes can have when added to a drink. She also meets Johnny Allen, a drug dealer who, once he learns that Lisa comes from money, is anxious to marry her. While Adriana and Winthrop are away, Lisa and Johnny hold a wild drug and sex party at her home. When her father walks in on it, he forbids Lisa’s marriage. Soon thereafter, Winthrop drowns at sea, but Adriana follows his orders that Lisa will be disinherited if she marries Johnny. The two plot their revenge by lacing Adriana’s sleeping pills with LSD, to the point that she goes mad and is committed to an asylum. Lisa and Johnny marry, but when Johnny takes Lisa’s best friend to bed, Lisa regrets her actions. She tells Frederick Lansdale, a playwright friend of her stepmother’s, what she has done. He has the notion of writing a play based on Adriana’s experiences, and convincing Adriana to play the lead role. Amazingly, going through this experience cures Adriana – just as Lansdale hoped it would. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lana Turner, George Chakiris, (more)
- 1968
Nick Adams makes one of his last screen appearance in the Mexican Los Asesinos. Adams and Pedro Armendariz Jr. play a couple of bandits who would sooner kill each other than anyone else. Staking separate claims in a squalid little town, the two desperadoes vie for total control. Only one of the two is going to get out of this alive, and it may not be Adams, top billing or no top billing. Elsa Cardenas provides feminine interest to this cinematic macho excess. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
In this bloody Mexican horror outing, a beautiful woman suffers a terrible accident and becomes maimed and ugly. Desperate to again be lovely, she visits a dastardly dermatologist who tells her that for his experiment to work, she must provide him with a constant supply of fresh skin and blood for the transfusions she will need. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A hard-boiled cop (Mexican wrestling star Mil Mascaras) risks his life putting a notorious criminal behind bars, only to discover that his troubles are just beginning when the crook's girlfriend sets out seeking bitter revenge. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
From director Chano Urueta, this 1968 Mexican musical-comedy stars Manual Captillo as an overly confident man who makes the mistake of flirting with a tourist with the aim of riling up his sweetheart. Before long, his girlfriend is giving him a taste of his own medicine by taking up with a male tourist. El As de Oros also stars Flor Silvestre and Regina Torne. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Manuel Capetillo
