''La melodía prohibida'', translated into English in English reviews as ''Forbidden Melody'', was a 1933 American

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Frank Strayer Frank Raymond Strayer (September 21, 1891 – February 3, 1964) was an actor, film writer, director and producer. He was active from the mid-1920s until the early 1950s. He directed a series of 14 ''Blondie (1938 film), Blondie!'' (1938) movies ...

, which stars

José Mojica Fray José de Guadalupe Mojica (14 September 1895 – 20 September 1974) was a Mexican Franciscan friar and former tenor and film actor. He was known in the music and film fields as José Mojica. (Spanish) Mojica joined the world of the Ameri ...

, Conchita Montenegro, and

Mona Maris Mona Maris (born Mona Maria Emita Capdeville or Maria Rosa Amita Capdeville; November 7, 1903 – March 23, 1991) was an Argentine film actress. Early life Mona Maris was born Mona Maria Emita Capdeville. Some sources spell her last name as C ...

. The screenplay was written by

Paul Perez Paul Lusi Perez (born 26 July 1986) is a Samoan rugby union player. Career Sevens In 2005 and 2006, Perez was part of the Samoa sevens side. He was also a member of the Samoan side that played at the 2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament in ...

and

Enrique Jardiel Poncela Enrique Jardiel Poncela (15 October 1901 – 18 February 1952) was a Spanish playwright and novelist who wrote mostly humorous works. In 1932-33 and 1934 he was called to Hollywood to help with the Spanish-language versions shot in parallel to ...

, from a story by Eve Unsell. It was produced and distributed by

Fox Films The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American independent company that produced motion pictures and was formed in 1914 by the theater "chain" pioneer William Fox. It was the corporate successor to his earlier Greater New ...

, which released it on September 13, 1933.

Plot

Kalu and Tuila are two South Pacific islanders who are getting married. Invited to their wedding are several tourists who have recently arrived aboard a yacht. During the wedding Kalu sings a "Forbidden Melody", which is a song that a young man sings only once in his life, on the day of his wedding. However, he is enticed by Peggy, a nightclub performer who arrived on the yacht, into an illicit affair, eventually leaving with the tourists when their yacht departs. One of the other tourists is a nightclub owner, who offers Kalu a job back in the states. In the states, Kalu pursues Peggy, who leads him on. He performs the "Forbidden Melody", which is recorded. Eventually, Kalu discovers that Peggy was just leading him on. Despondent, one night he gets quite drunk, and believing that he hears Tuila's calling to him, he runs into the street, where he is struck and killed by a fire engine. At home in the South Pacific, the island's governor hears the recording of Kalu singing the "Forbidden Melody".

Cast

as Kalu * Conchita Montenegro as Tuila *

as Peggy *

Romualdo Tirado Romualdo Tirado Pozo, aka Romualdo Tirado Pozo, (September 3, 1880 – October 17, 1963) was a stage actor and theatre impresario with a prolific career in Spanish language films produced in Hollywood during the advent of film talkies. Early life R ...

as Al Martin * Juan Martínez Plá as Bob Grant * Carmen Rodríguez as Tía Olivia * Antonio Vidal as El gobernador * Ralph Navarro as Tom Nichols *

Agostino Borgato Agostino Borgato (June 30, 1871 – March 14, 1939), sometimes known as Al Borgato, was an Italian actor and director, before moving to Hollywood in the mid-1920s. Borgato acted and/or directed about fifteen films in his native Italy between 191 ...

as Win Ta Tu * Soledad Jiménez as Fa Uma * Charles Bancroft as Ricky Doyle

Reception

The film was reviewed by ''

The San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and has been published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst and the flagship of the H ...

'', The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', and ''

The Film Daily ''The Film Daily'' was a daily publication that existed from 1918 to 1970 in the United States. It was the first daily newspaper published solely for the film industry. It covered the latest trade news, film reviews, financial updates, informati ...

''. ''The Examiner'' said the film allowed Mojica to display his wonderful tenor voice, and called the picture "beautifully produced ... is rich in romance". ''The Film Daily'' called it an "entertaining fantasy, something in the nature of a modern Garden of Eden."

References

External links

* * * 1930s Spanish-language films Spanish-language American films 1933 drama films 1933 films American drama films Fox Film films Films directed by Frank R. Strayer American black-and-white films Films scored by Samuel Kaylin 1930s American films Spanish-language drama films {{1930s-drama-film-stub