''Cantaclaro'' is a 1946 Mexican drama film directed by Julio Bracho and starring

Esther Fernandez Esther is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther. In the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus seeks a new wife after his queen, Vashti, is deposed for disobeying him. Hadassah, a Jewess who goes by the name of Esther, is chosen ...

, Antonio Badú and Alberto Galán. The film is based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Rómulo Gallegos. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Jesús Bracho.

Plot

Florentino (Antonio Badú), nicknamed "Cantaclaro", after saving his family's lands, goes to the plains to learn more songs to sing. There he falls in love with Rosángela (Esther Fernandez), a young woman surrounded by many secrets.

Cast

as Rosangela / Angela Rosa * Antonio Badú as Florentino Coronado Cantaclaro * Alberto Galán as Doctor Juan Crisostomo Payara * Paco Fuentes as Juan Parado * Rafael Lanzetta as Guarriqueño * Fanny Schiller as Doña Nico * Rafael Alcayde as Carlos Jaramillo * Ángel T. Sala as Coronel Buitrago *

Alejandro Ciangherotti Alejandro Ciangherotti (1940 – 30 May 2004) was a Mexican film actor. He appeared in 45 films between 1953 and 1999. Selected filmography Film * '' The Coward'' (1953) - Roberto, niño (uncredited) * '' The Second Woman'' (1953) - Ramó ...

as Juan el Veguero * Maruja Grifell as Nana * Arturo Soto Rangel as Don Aquilino * Gilberto González * Salvador Quiroz * Roberto Cañedo

Production

The film was made as part of a spate of film adaptations of Rómulo Gallegos's novels following success of ''

Doña Bárbara ''Doña Bárbara (Lady Bárbara)'' is a novel by Venezuelan author Rómulo Gallegos, first published in 1929. It was described in 1974 as "possibly the most widely known Latin American novel".Shaw, Donald, "Gallegos' Revision of Doña Bárbara 1 ...

'' (1943). ''Cantaclaro'' began filming in June 1945, after Julio Bracho made '' The White Monk''. An American envoy from

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

, Francis Alstock, boyfriend of actress

, who starred in the film, featured as executive producer. It features filming locations in Veracruz.

Reception

In ''Los Bracho: tres generaciones de cine mexicano'', Jesús Ibarra states that at the time of the film's premiere, "the critics were divided their opinions and the public did not like it," stating that "despite the beautiful and fluid language, the dialogues were long and the film a bit boring," with ''Global Mexican Cinema: Its Golden Age'' citing that "some contemporary critics have generally labeled ''Cantaclaro'', along with most or all of the Gallegos films, 'mediocre'". However, Ibarra also stated that with the film "the same thing happened as with ''The White Monk''; Bracho made art cinema, not suitable for the Mexican public in general", going so far as to argue, when mentioning that the film won fewer Ariel Awards than

Emilio Fernández Emilio "El Indio" Fernández Romo (; 26 March 1904 – 6 October 1986) was a Mexican film director, actor and screenwriter. He was one of the most prolific film directors of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema in the 1940s and 1950s. He is best kn ...

's film '' Enamorada'' that year, that Bracho's film was "much more worthy of being awarded" than Fernández's film.

References

External links

* 1946 films 1946 drama films Mexican drama films 1940s Spanish-language films Films directed by Julio Bracho Films based on Venezuelan novels Mexican black-and-white films 1940s Mexican films {{1940s-Mexico-film-stub