A Mexican charro trades his mariachi suit for a machete in the Venezuelan jungle — colonialism meets cowboy cosplay.
Marcos Vargas returns home to Ciudad Bolívar after finishing his studies in Trinidad. There he decides to start a business transporting merchandise to the interior of the jungle. A local chieftain will not make things easy for him.
Acting
Jorge Negrete's charisma almost sells the white-savior nonsense.
Cinematography
Actual Venezuelan location shooting — rare for 1945 Mexican productions.
Director
Juan Bustillo Oro
Jorge Negrete
Marcos Vargas
Rosario Granados
Aracelis Vellorini
Carlos López Moctezuma
Col. José Francisco Ardavin
Andrés Soler
Conde Giaffaro
Alfredo Varela
Arteaguita
Gilberto González
Sute Cúpira
Arturo Soto Rangel
Manuel Ladera
Alfonso Bedoya
Cholo Parima (Pantoja)
Luis G. Barreiro
Vellorini el malo (don José)
Vicente Padula
Vellorini el bueno (don Francisco)
Carolina Barret
Juanifacia
Salvador Quiroz
Secuaz de Ardavin
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Juan Bustillo Oro shot this in Venezuela partly to escape the increasingly standardized studio system in Mexico City — the location chaos shows.
This is basically Mexican cinema's awkward attempt at a 'Gone With the Wind' for Latin America, complete with plantation nostalgia and racial hierarchies nobody asked for.
MX
