''Siempre Tuya'' ( en, Forever Yours) is a

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

Mexican film starring singer

Jorge Negrete Jorge Alberto Negrete Moreno (; 30 November 1911 – 5 December 1953) was a Mexican singer and actor. Life and career Negrete was born in the city of Guanajuato and had two brothers and three sisters; his father was a Mexican Army Colonel who f ...

. It is filmed in black and white, in Spanish, and features Negrete singing some popular

ranchera Ranchera () or canción ranchera is a genre of traditional music of Mexico. It dates to before the years of the Mexican Revolution. Rancheras today are played in virtually all regional Mexican music styles. Drawing on rural traditional folk musi ...

-music standards.

Plot

The film follows the trials of tenant farmer Ramón García (Negrete) and his wife Soledad (

Gloria Marín Gloria Méndez Ramos (19 April 1919 – 13 April 1983), better known as Gloria Marín, was a Mexican actress. She was considered a celebrated female star of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. During her career, Marín appeared in about 100 film ...

) when drought forces them off their land in the Mexican state of

Zacatecas , image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg , map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type ...

. They make their way to

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

, where they find city life difficult. Ramón cannot find steady work. They build a home in a squatters' settlement, but then their house is bulldozed by a developer. Soledad finds work as a live-in maid, and her husband can see her for only a few moments each evening. Ramón, destitute and despondent, wanders into a theater during a live radio broadcast of an audience-participation talent show. Ramón volunteers for the show, and although the host makes fun of him as a hayseed, he wows the audience with a stirring version of the classic ''Mexico Lindo'' (''Beautiful Mexico''). The audience reaction causes the station manager to hire García as a featured performer, as a change of pace from more trendy musical genres. García gains a wide radio following by singing traditional songs praising the virtues of Mexico. Now highly paid and famous, García rents a luxurious apartment, but his wife Soledad fears that they do not belong in their new and rich surroundings. Soledad's fears turn out to be prescient, as her husband soon falls into the clutches of Mirta (Joan Page) a blonde with a heavy American accent. In the end, however, Ramón realizes that he belongs with his loyal wife.

Critical view

''Siempre Tuya'' presents the experience of Mexicans fleeing rural poverty and the difficult adaptation to city life. On one level it is standard fare, with stock characters and a plot designed to showcase Negrete's singing. It is in many ways typical of popular films of the

Golden Age of Mexican cinema The Golden Age of Mexican cinema ( es, Época de Oro del Cine Mexicano) is a period in the history of the Cinema of Mexico between 1930 and 1969 when the Mexican film industry reached high levels of production, quality and economic success of its ...

. Ramón and Soledad's perseverance and loyalty are rewarded by a happy ending. The plot also has a recurring subtext of Mexican pride and patriotism vis-a-vis the United States. At the start of the film, García decides against going to the United States to look for work, saying that he belongs in his native land. One of his short-lived jobs ends during a drinking session when he punches out his American boss for the American's racist mistreatment of a black employee. He strikes a patriotic cord with the radio audience by singing traditional songs extolling Mexico. In the end, as a final affirmation of his Mexican identity, he rejects the seduction of the beautiful and heartless American woman Mirta, to rejoin his wife.

Cast

* Tito Junco *

Arturo Soto Rangel Arturo Soto Rangel (March 12, 1882 – May 25, 1965) was a Mexican film, television, and stage actor. Soto was best known for appearing in over 250 Mexican films. He appeared in one American movie, '' The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'', which wo ...

* Juan M. Núñez * Abel López * Emilio Lara * Ismael Pérez * Ángel Infante * Lupe del Castillo * Fernando Galiana * Joaquín Grajales * Raúl Guerrero * Juan Muñoz * Joan Page

External links

Cine Mexico
* {{Emilio Fernández 1952 films 1950s musical drama films 1950s Spanish-language films Mexican black-and-white films Mexican musical drama films 1952 drama films 1950s Mexican films