SIN, SCANDAL AND SONG: EXTRAVAGANT MELODRAMAS OF MEXICO

SEPTEMBER 15 - OCTOBER 4

AVENTURERA

AVENTURERA (THE ADVENTURESS)

Directed by Alberto Gout
Mexico, Drama, Film Noir, Cabaret Musical, 1950
101 minutes, 35mm, Black and White
In Spanish with English subtitles

Saturday, September 15, 2007 at 8PM
Mexican-American Cultural Center Grand Opening
600 River Street
Austin, TX 78701-4218
Free admission. Mature audiences.

Released in 1950 and produced in 1949, AVENTURERA is one of the most popular Mexican films ever made. It is extravagant melodrama, popular entertainment, film noir, cabaretera (cabaret musical), and a revenge film all in one glorious effort. The film has seldom been screened theatrically since its initial release.

Starring the immortal Ninon Sevilla, who Variety called "a cross between Rita Hayworth and Carmen Miranda," Sevilla plays Elena Tejero, a middle-class girl from Chihuahua who witnesses her mother's affair and her father's suicide, leaves Chihuahua for Ciudad Juarez and tries to make it and fails as a waitress and secretary, is sold into prostitution, and is transformed into a nightclub sensation -- all in the first twelve minutes of the film.

VICTIMAS DEL PECADO

VICTIMAS DEL PECADO (VICTIMS OF SIN)

Directed by Emilio "El Indio" Fernandez
Mexico, Drama, Film Noir, Cabaret Musical, 1951
90 minutes, 35mm, Black and White
In Spanish with English subtitles

Thursday, September 20 at 7:30PM
Mexican-American Cultural Center
600 River Street
Austin, TX 78701-4218
Free admission. Mature audiences.

Cabaret dancer Violeta (Ninon Sevilla) rescues an abandoned baby from a garbage can in Mexico City's red-light district. She decides to raise the child, a decision that puts her at odds with cabaret owner Rodolfo (Rodolfo Acosta.) Santiago (Tito Junco), a rival club owner, falls in love with Violeta and offers to help. Rumberas, zoot suits and dizzying dance sequences. Read more …

LA MUJER DEL PUERTO

LA MUJER DEL PUERTO (WOMAN OF THE PORT)

Directed by Arcady Boytler
Mexico, 1934, in Spanish with English Subtitles
76 minutes, 35mm, Black and White

Thursday, October 4, 2007 at 7:30PM
Mexican-American Cultural Center
600 River Street
Austin, TX 78701-4218
Free admission. Mature audiences.
Reception to close the program follows the film.

After her father dies and she discovers her lover's indiscretions, Rosario, played by the exquisite Andrea Palma, resorts to prostitution. Sailor Alberto Venegas (Domingo Soler) saves her from an attack on the docks. She takes Alberto home for an erotic encounter and true love blossoms. Suddenly a terrible secret from their past comes to light. One of the first movies with recorded sound produced by the Mexican film industry.