Angelitos negros (1948 film)
Angelitos negros (English: "Little Black Angels") is a 1948 Mexican drama film directed and co-written by Joselito Rodriguez and starring Pedro Infante.[1]
| Angelitos negros | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Joselito Rodríguez |
| Produced by | Ramón Peón |
| Written by | Félix B. Caignet (play) Rogelio A. González (adaptation and dialogue) Fannie Hurst (novel) Joselito Rodríguez (writer) |
| Starring | Pedro Infante Emilia Guiú Rita Montaner Chela Castro |
| Music by | Nacho García Raúl Lavista |
| Cinematography | José Ortiz Ramos |
| Edited by | Fernando Martínez |
Production company | Producciones Rodríguez Hermanos |
Release date |
|
Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | Mexico |
| Language | Spanish |
Plot
Jose Carlos Ruiz (Pedro Infante) is a singer pop star that meets Ana Luisa de la Fuente (Emilia Guiú) an assistant manager of a Girls School. José Carlos begins to court successfully and quickly engage in marriage. Then Jose Carlos begins to realize that his future wife is prejudiced against black people, because she does not accept that he performs alongside mulatto artists.
Ana Luisa herself has a nanny called Merce (Rita Montaner) that has cared for her all her life and is a woman of color, she is accustomed to her but openly dislikes her. José Carlos tries his best to resolve the conflicts that his wife's racist attitude brings to their family. Ana Luisa soon gives birth to a daughter who surprisingly turns out to be dark-skinned, horrifying Ana Luisa. They name her Belen (Titina Romay).
Belen suffers a lot because her mother does not love her because of her color. Because of that Belen gets paint on one occasion and paints her face white trying to be accepted by her mom. Ana Luisa blames Jose Carlos' family for having African ancestry. But José Carlos knows the truth. Father Francisco (Nicolás Rodríguez) revealed to him that Ana Luisa's real mother is the nanny Merce who in her youth had an affair with her boss, Mr. de la Fuente. In order for her daughter to receive the benefits of inheriting a rich position, Merce renounced her motherhood but to be close she took a role as a servant in the household.
Nana Merce falls ill and Jose Carlos tries to bring Isabel (Chela Castro), a fellow artist to take care of Belen because her mother does not give her any attention. Then tragedy occurs because Ana Luisa comes to believe that her husband wants stick to his lover in their home and she reacts violently throwing nanny Merce down the stairs by accident. On her deathbed, Merce tells Ana Luisa the truth about her parentage. After this shocking reveal, Ana Luisa accepts her heritage and cries for her mother after she dies. She also decides to start loving her daughter and gives her a hug.
Cast
- Pedro Infante as José Carlos Ruiz
- Emilia Guiú as Ana Luisa de la Fuente
- Rita Montaner as Mercé
- Chela Castro as Isabel
- Nicolás Rodríguez as Padre Francisco
- Antonio R. Frausto as Laureano
- María Douglas as Malú del Rey
See also
- El alma no tiene color, a 1997 telenovela with a similar premise
- Tornatrás, a casta for an individual born to a white and "albino" parent
References
- Don M. Coerver; Suzanne B. Pasztor; Robert Buffington (2004). Mexico: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History. ABC-CLIO. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-57607-132-8.
Bibliography
- Juanita Heredia. Transnational Latina Narratives in the Twenty-first Century. Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.