Gilberto Martinez Solares Movies
With over 150 films to his credit, Mexican director Gilberto Martinez Solares was one of his country's most prolific filmmakers. He started out doing camera chores on Rosario (1935), but did not make his feature film directorial debut until 1938 with El Senor Alcade (Mr. Mayor). Solares is credited with having significantly added to the growth of Mexican cinema during the '40s and '50s, an era that is considered the country's golden age of movies. Solares died of a heart attack in Mexico City on January 17, 1997, at age 90. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A ravishing black woman sends every man around her into a frenzy of heated passion in this film starring Tun Tun and Caesar Bono, and inspired by the popular song of the same name. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1937
Esos Hombres (These Men) offers a few new and novel twists on a familiar story. The hero (if he can be called that) is Fernando, played by Arturo de Cordova. Breezing through law school with the considerable financial aid of his sweetheart Juana (Marina Tamayo), Fernando summarily dumps the girl when Azucena (Adriana Lamar) comes along. Equally smitten by the fickle protagonist, Azucena turns her back on her wealthy family and moves in with Fernando. Her reward for this devotion is betrayal when Fernando elects to marry another, wealthier girl. Amazingly, the louse continues to get away with this sort thing right up to the end -- and then... ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arturo de Cordova, Marina Tamayo, (more)
- 1943
Originally Yo Balle Con Don Porfirio, this Mexican musical comedy is built around the talents of singer/dancer Mapy Cortes and pianist/conductor Emil Tuero. In a plot hinging on a case of mistaken identity, wealthy socialite Don Servero has kept a big secret from his wife and teenage daughter. Unbeknownst to his family, he has fathered another child with his mistress, and she is the spitting image of his "legitimate" daughter. Though Servero works hard to keep his secret daughter a secret, things get out of hand when his wife finally discovers the ruse and when the beautiful girls' boyfriends end up with the wrong girls. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mapy Cortes, Emilio Tuero, (more)
- 1944
El Globo de Cantolla (The Balloon of Cantella) is a frothy musical concoction, ideally suited to Mexican wartime tastes. The toothsome Mapy Cortes stars as Luisa, one of three amorous daughters of a wealthy mamacita. Though their mother has already chosen three husbands for her daughters, Luisa and her sisters (Josefina Martinez and Martha Elba) prefer to do their own shopping. Amazingly, our heroine falls in love with her mother's selection, Roberto (Jose Cibrian) -- especially after he describes a huge musical show he plans to stage, with Luisa as star. Even without English-language subtitles, El Globo de Cantolla is easy to follow; after all, the plot is virtually interchangeable with any of the 20th Century-Fox "South of the Border" musicals being produced at the same time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mapy Cortes
Tin Tan stars as a poor railroad employee by day and a modern day Robin Hood by night. ~ All Movie Guide
A woman has half of a treasure map, and must fight off the crooks who want to steal it from her while she searches for the other half. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide
A man hired to impersonate a bankrupt business mogul who is currently on the run from creditors sets out organize a musical starring beauties from Brazil, Mexico, and Spain in this Spanish-language comedy starring popular funnyman Tin Tan. Now, as the hapless imposter attempts to finance a musical without any money, he also discovers just how difficult it can be to juggle three beautiful starlets who all have eyes for their presumably wealthy producer. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Lupe has fallen in love with El Zorilla, but little does the smitten beauty realize that the heroic figure is actually the alter ego of the soft-spoken Tin-Tan. When the scheming Don Gaspar has Don Martin and his loyal employees jailed in a devious underhanded scheme, however, it's up to El Zorila to thwart the evil plan and ensure that justice prevails in a Mexican comedy classic directed by Gilberto Martinez Solares and starring Silvia Pinal and German Valdez. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
An innocent man's dreams of a beautiful princess get him into trouble. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide
The biblical tale of Samson and Delilah comes to hilarious life in a classic musical sword and sandal parody starring screen legend Tin-Tan (aka Germán Valdés). Drifting off into a deep, much needed sleep, Tin-Tan's character soon enters into his dreams as Old Testament strongman Sanson. Despite the fact that he is deeply in love with the beautiful Delilah, Sanson soon falls under the hypnotic charm of Delilah's seductive sister Semadar. Upon realizing that he has fallen under the influence of evil, Sanson sets out declare his love to the true object of his affections but ends up embarking on a destructive rampage of epic proportions. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1957
The English-language title of this Mexican social drama is Boy's Town; the mood and texture of the film was obviously influenced by the 1938 Hollywood production of the same name. Arturo de Cordova stars as the real-life Padre Farias, who overcomes great obstacles to establish a Latin-American "boy's town" for wayward and neglected youth. The kids chosen to portray the Padre's charges are refreshingly natural and unaffected; also worthy of praise is the film's excellent location cinematography, courtesy of director Gilberto Martinez Solares' brother Augustin. As a bonus, the storyline's religious angle never overwhelms its entertainment value (and vice versa). La Ciudad de Los Ninos premiered at the 1957 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arturo de Cordova, Marga Lopez, (more)
An all-powerful lawman attempts to clear a town of crime. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1959
An insane scientist attempts to bring a mummy back to life, not realizing that the bandages were actually disguising not a mummy, but a werewolf. This Mexican horror-comedy attempts to find laughs in the resulting confusion and carnage. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
The Mexican comedy Tin Tan y las Modelos stars the comic icon as an employee of a fashion design company who must coordinate a number of different models and performers in order to create a television show. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
"Vivo" and "Muerto" refer to life and death, but there's more death than life in this bloody Mexican western. Viewers who prefer the unedited and unexpurgated version may have difficulty finding it; even Spanish cable TV aired the film in highly edited form. Manuel Capetillo, Flor Silvestre, Aldo Monte and Wolf Ruvinskis star. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Manuel Capetillo, Flor Silvestre, (more)
- 1961
A mixture of musical and love story, this entertaining film by Gilberto Martínez-Solares is set in a music academy where the students live the life of most aspiring artists-musicians-singers, and in the meantime, have a tendency to fall in love. One impoverished but talented singer (Pedro Geraldo) falls for a wealthy fellow student (Christine Martell) who keeps her monied status a secret lest it get in the way of their relationship. As the students practice and audition, hoping to break into the big time, songs and performances abound and the love affairs make predictable progress. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christiane Martell
- 1961
The celebrated Mexican comic Tin Tan steps outside of his usual slapstick in his portrayal of an eccentric millionaire in this comedy by director Gilberto Martínez-Solares. A singer with several albums to his credit, Tin Tan drops those talents here as well, making this an unusual effort that pays off in the end because of the credibility he achieves as the rich tycoon. The wealthy man comes across a woman in dire straits and nobly decides to help her out, hopefully giving lie to the title of this typical but effective Mexican comedy. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- "Tin Tan", Teresa Velazquez, (more)
- 1962
This typical Mexican tortilla Western about a "charro" or cowboy from south of the border has more Hollywood-style touches than usual. The valiant hero (Pedro Armendariz) carries his two six-shooters wherever he goes and wears his ten-gallon sombrero like a Latin John Wayne. He has a trusty sidekick who will break into song now and again, but is equally armed in case danger rides into town. In-between fighting for justice, the ~charros~ get to watch a small-town beauty contest which adds a light intermission to the proceedings. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pedro Armendáriz, Miguel Aceves Mejia, (more)
- 1963
American "B"-movie mogul Jerry Warren can always be counted on to turn a cheap but fun horror import into a boring, unwatchable mess -- as proven by this tedious effort, originally produced in Mexico as The Aztec Mummy and later padded out with deadly-dull exposition. The original film is silly enough; the first of a popular Mexican series, it involves the awakening of the mummy Popoca to avenge the desecration of his tomb by infidels. As a cost-saving measure, instead of re-dubbing the Spanish dialogue, Warren added new scenes with American actors, who drone on about reincarnation and past-life regression and bring the action to a screeching halt. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
