''Vidalita'' is a 1949 Argentine

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed and co-written by

Luis Saslavsky Luis Saslavsky (April 21, 1903 – March 20, 1995) was an Argentine film director, screenwriter and film producer, notable for his work during the classical era of Argentine cinema. Personal life Saskavsky was born in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argenti ...

and produced by Emelco during the classical era of Argentina cinema. It stars

Mirtha Legrand Rosa María Juana Martínez Suárez (born 23 February 1927), known by her stage name Mirtha Legrand (; from the French , "the great"), is an Argentine actress and television presenter. With an 80-year career, Legrand is one of the most recognize ...

as the title character, a girl who cross-dresses as a

gaucho A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, the southern part of Bolivia, and the south of Chilean Patago ...

to be able to take charge of her grandfather's estate. This was considered transgressive for the time.i

Fernando Lamas Fernando Álvaro Lamas y de Santos (January 9, 1915 – October 8, 1982) was an Argentine-American actor and director of the Golden Age of Argentine cinema. He is the father of actor Lorenzo Lamas. Biography Argentina Fernando Álvaro Lamas y ...

stars as the captain of the fort, who falls in love with Legrand's character "to the point that he is willing to marry her without knowing if she is a man or a woman".

Cast

Narciso Ibáñez Menta Narciso Ibáñez Menta (; 25 August 1912 – 15 May 2004) was a Spanish theatre, film, and television actor. He developed much of his career in Argentina, during the Golden Age of Argentine cinema of the 1930s and 1940s. Biography Born in Langr ...

Amalia Sánchez Ariño Amalia Sánchez Ariño (1883–1969) was a Spanish-born Argentine stage actress, stage and film actress.Richard p.275 She appeared in more than fifty films during her career. Selected filmography * ''The Wicked Carabel'' (1935) * ''Blood Weddin ...

Oscar Valicelli Oscar Valicelli (1 July 1915 – 11 October 1999) was an Argentine film actor. Filmography * '' La Mary'' (1974) dir. Daniel Tinayre …Ubaldo * ''Balada para un mochilero'' (1971) dir. Carlos Rinaldi …El Moncho * ''Desnuda en la arena'' ( ...

Milagros de la Vega Milagros de la Vega (1895–1980) was an Argentine stage and film actress.Cowie & Elley p.20 Filmography References Bibliography * Peter Cowie & Derek Elley. ''World Filmography: 1967''. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1977. External ...

* Leticia Scury

Reception

The film was poorly received by the media related to

Peronism Peronism, also known as justicialism, is an Argentine ideology and movement based on the ideas, doctrine and legacy of Juan Perón (1895–1974). It has been an influential movement in 20th- and 21st-century Argentine politics. Since 1946, P ...

. According to Saslavsky, they "find that a gaucho represented by a girl in disguise is a lack of ''

machismo Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1940s and 1950s and its use more wi ...

'', of ''

criollismo ''Criollismo'' () is a literary movement that was active from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century throughout Hispanic America. It is considered the Hispanic counterpart to American literary regionalism. Using a realis ...

''." Writing for '' Página/12''s LGBT periodical ''Soy'' in 2022, Adrián Melo stated:

In a key scene, Vidalita-Legrand finds herself in the situation of sharing a room where Lamas bathes naked and in another she dances with him in front of a people who are shocked to see two passionate men together. Only for this 1949 film directed by Luis Saslavsky, Legrand would deserve to enter the eternal sky with stars of the LGTBIQ world. There is probably nothing in Argentine cinematography—neither before nor after—so deliciously erotic and transgressive in relation to sexual dissidence, nor so subversive in dealing with two founding topics of nationality and local hegemonic masculinity: being a gaucho and being a soldier.

Raúl Manrupe and María Alejandra Portela described it as a "mythical work and an accursed classic." In 2022, it ranked 51st in the list of

The 100 Greatest Films of Argentine Cinema The 100 Greatest Films of Argentine Cinema (Spanish: ''Las 100 mejores películas del cine argentino''), also known as the Survey of Argentine cinema (Spanish: ''Encuesta de cine argentino''), are a series of opinion polls carried out to establis ...

, a poll organized by the specialized magazines ''La vida útil'', ''Taipei'' and ''La tierra quema'', which was presented at the

Mar del Plata International Film Festival The Mar del Plata International Film Festival () is an List of film festivals, international film festival that takes place every November in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. It is the only competitive feature festival recognized by the FIAPF ...

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id =, title =Vidalita 1949 films 1940s Spanish-language films Argentine black-and-white films Argentine musical comedy films 1949 musical comedy films 1940s Argentine films Spanish-language musical comedy films

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links