Here's the Point

Here's the Point
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Juan Bustillo Oro
Produced by Jesús Grovas
Screenplay by Humberto Gómez Landero
Juan Bustillo Oro
Starring Cantinflas
Joaquín Pardavé
Sara García
Sofía Álvarez
Dolores Camarillo
Music by Raúl Lavista
Cinematography Jack Draper
Edited by Mario González
Juan Bustillo Oro
Production
company
Grovas-Oro Films
Release date
 11 September 1940
Running time
 112 minutes
Country Mexico
Language Spanish

Here's the Point (Spanish:Ahí está el detalle)[1] is a 1940 Mexican comedy film starring Cantinflas. It was produced by Jesús Grovas and directed by Juan Bustillo Oro, and also features Joaquín Pardavé, Sara García, Sofía Álvarez, and Dolores Camarillo. It was the twelfth film in Cantinflas's career, considered one of his best by Mexican film critics, as well as one of Mexico's best films.[2]

The film's sets were designed by the art director Carlos Toussaint.

Plot summary

Cantinflas is the boyfriend of Paz, the household maid of Cayetano Lastre. It is dinnertime and Cantinflas is waiting outside the mansion for Paz's whistle: a sign for Cantinflas to enter the kitchen to eat. This is because there is a dog in the front yard named "Bobby", and Paz's boss is unaware of Cantinflas's forays into the house. Though like other times Cantinflas goes straight in to eat, this time his girlfriend has a favor to ask him, that of killing the dog "Bobby" who has suffered a sudden onset of rabies and will not let Cayetano leave for an appointment. If he does not kill the dog, he does not get to eat. Cantinflas is nervous about the idea, but eventually kills him with a gun. However, inside the house, Cayetano plots a scheme to expose his wife Dolores del Paso's supposed "adultery" with her ex-boyfriend, Bobby Lechuga, who's a gangster. Dolores is not in a relationship with Bobby Lechuga, but Cayetano's over-bearing jealousy leads him to think otherwise. Cayetano catches Dolores and Paz with Cantinflas, but Dolores pretends that Cantinflas is her long-estranged brother, Leonardo del Paso. Cayetano begins treating Cantinflas like a king in order to gain his trust as his father-in-law (Dolores and Leonardo's father) needed to distribute their inheritance evenly. Confusion arises when Bobby Lechuga is killed and Cantinflas admits to killing Bobby (the dog, not the gangster), but is arrested anyway and put on trial...

Cast

  • Mario Moreno as Cantinflas
  • Joaquín Pardavé as Cayetano Lastre
  • Sofía Álvarez as Dolores del Paso
  • Dolores Camarillo as Paz
  • Sara García as Clotilde Regalado, Leonardo del Paso's mistress
  • Manuel Noriega as the Judge
  • Antonio R. Frausto as Cantinflas' lawyer
  • Agustín Isunza as a prosecutor who tries "Leonardo".
  • Antonio Bravo as Bobby Lechuga "The Fox Terrier"
  • Francisco Jambrina as the real Leonardo del Paso.
  • Joaquín Coss as the Magistrate
  • Eduardo Arozamena as the deaf judge
  • Rafael Icardo as the dim-witted policeman
  • Alfredo Varela, Jr. as the federal scribe
  • Ángel T. Sala as the inspector
  • Estanislao Schillinsky as the deaf judge's assistant
  • Max Langler as the policeman
  • Narciso Busquets as one of Clotilde and Leonardo's sons
  • Wilfrido Moreno as an extra
  • Adolfo Bernáldez as an extra

Production

The film's last scene is based on true events involving Mexican criminal Álvaro Chap, which inspired Cantinflas' form of speech for this film, also known as "cantinfleada".[2] The film's director Juan Bustillo Oro based it largely on his experience as a pro bono lawyer at the Cárcel de Belén.[2] The film was completed in only three weeks, with the only problems arising from Cantinflas's improvisation over what he considered to be a poorly written script.

References

  1. ↑ Krebs, Albin (April 22, 1993). "Cantinflas, Mexican Comic Actor And Philanthropist, Is Dead at 81". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 "Peliculas del cine mexicano - Ahí está el detalle (1940)". Más de Cien años de Cine Mexicano. Retrieved 14 October 2013.

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