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La Zandunga (Mexico, 1937); Beautiful Sky (Cielito Lindo) (Mexico, 1935)

Beautiful Sky (1935)
February 2, 2014 - 7:00 pm

Image from the collections of the Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Due to a program change, we will now be screening LA ZANDUNGA (1937) in place of CELOS (1935). We apologize for any inconvenience.

La Zandunga (Mexico, 1937)

Directed by Fernando de Fuentes

In a small town on the isthmus of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, beautiful Lupe (Lupe Vélez) awakens the admiration of many men, including the sailor, Juancho (Arturo de Córdova). When Juancho sails away, promising to return, Lupe is caught in a classic story of womankind, tending her heart while watching the sea (and fielding the proposals of new interlopers). Mainly a vehicle for Vélez, the film shows de Córdova, still an emerging personality, to great advantage.

Producer: Perdo A. Calderón. Screenwriter: F. de Fuentes, Salvador Novo, Rafael M. Saavedra. Cinematographer: Ross Fisher, Alex Phillipa. Editor: Charles L. Kimball. Cast: Lupe Vélez, Rafael Falcon, Arturo de Córdova, Joaquin Pardave, Carlos López. 

35mm, b/w, in Spanish with English subtitles, 107 min.

Beautiful Sky (Cielito Lindo) (Mexico, 1935)

Directed by Roberto Gavaldón, Roberto O’Quigley

A young Arturo de Córdova cuts a dashing figure as Mexican Revolutionary hero Felipe Vélez.  Bearing a debt of gratitude to fellow fighter José Orozco (for once saving him from execution), Vélez faces complications upon discovering that he and his friend love the same woman.  Romantic rivalry intensifies their fervor for the national cause in this classic from the golden age of Mexican cinema.

Producer: José Luis Bueno. Screenwriter: Ernesto Cortázar. Cinematographer: Gabriel Figueroa, Jack Draper. Editor: Jorge Bustos. Cast: Arturo de Córdova, Felipe de Flores, Lupita Gallardo, Max Langler, Carlos López.

35mm, b/w, in Spanish with English subtitles, 70 min.