Currito de la Cruz (1965) Poster

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7/10
Good melodrama about the bullfighting world , being set during Holy Week and Ferias De Sevilla
ma-cortes3 December 2017
Last version about the known novel dealing with Toreo world , boasting a nice cast as Francisco Rabal as Manuel Carmona , Arturo Fernández as Ángel Romera 'Romerita' , José Marco Davó , El Pireo as Currito De la Cruz , and Soledad Miranda as Rocío Carmona . Melodrama , tragedy , love stories and Toreo in this third version about life of a famous bullfighter . Having been a poor orphan who grew up in the hospice cared by a fine nun (Julia Gutiérrez Caba) , the dream of Currito De la Cruz (performed by a real Torero : El Pireo) is to become a great bullfighter . Thanks to prestigious matador Manuel Carmona (Francisco Rabal) , Currito starts his career in art of bullfighting . When he finally gets the chance of fighting for the first time , it will be in the presence of Manuel Carmona . At last , Currito triumphs , as he gets to be famous , but he is apparently unrequited . Meantime , he falls in love for the daughter of Carmona , Rocio (Soledad Miranda) . But Rocio is enamored to bullfighter Angel Romera, ¨Romerita¨(the incombustible Arturo Fernández , still playing) and both of whom escape to Mexico . Later on , Rocio is abandoned and tragedies and distresses emerge . At the end , Currito and Romerita confront at a noisy plaza where takes place a tragic denouement .

This is a bullfighting drama about a notorious Torero , narrating his raise and fall , in which he will learn to overcome difficulties and penury . The big hit ¨Currito De La Cruz¨ silent version (1925) determines the successive renditions . As ¨Currito De La Cruz¨(1965) is fourth and colorful recounting thanks to the solid direction by Rafael Gil , adding an excessive melodrama , romance , and a lot of songs as Saetas , Bulerias and other Andalucian music . The picture gives a spectacular as well as religious portrayal of Sevilla with its Holy week , feasts , procession , Santa Virgen , Sevillan fair and songs : Cante Hondo , Saetas and Flamenco dancing . It is described in semi-documentary style , including : Stockbreeding of brave bulls or ¨Reses Bravas¨ , corridas , Tientas and other bullfight related traditions are shown . Regular acting by El Pireo as a poor honest boy finds patronage by a veteran to become a Torero -bullfighter- , in fact , El Pireo was a real ¨Matador¨ . At the final bullfight when Currito uses his capote , you can glimpse his real name printed on its back side . Very good acting by the veteran Francisco Rabal as a renowned bullfighter who will become Currito's protector . Support cast is pretty good , such as : Yelena Samarina , Manolo Morán , Julia Gutiérrez Caba , José Marco Davo , Ángel Álvarez , Rafael Durán , Adrian Ortega , Mercedes Vecino as a likable land-lady and special mention for Manolo Moran in one of his always sympathetic roles . Atmospheric photography in Technicolor by the Spanish classic cameraman José F Aguayo , shot on location from Madrid , Murcia , Sevilla, Andalucía and interiors in Roma studios , Madrid . Evocative musical score plenty of popular songs by Manuel Parada . The motion picture lavishly produced by Coral productions was well directed by Rafael Gil . He was one of the best filmmakers from Spanish cinema , directing several classic movies , such as : ¨Don Quijote De La Mancha¨ , ¨El Clavo¨ , ¨La Fe¨ , ¨La Señora De Fatima¨, ¨Aventuras De Juán Lucas¨, ¨La Reina Santa¨ , ¨La Guerra De Dios¨ , ¨El Beso De Judas¨ , and several others.

This novel ¨Currito De La Cruz¨ or "Currito of the Cross" has been adapted various times , such as : 1925 silent rendition by Fernando Delgado and the same author Alejandro Perez Lugin with Jesús Tordesillas , Manuel Gonzalez and Elisa Romero , José Rivero as Manuel Carmona and Antonio García 'Maravilla' ; 1936 version with Antonio Vico as Currito De la Cruz , Elisa Ruiz Romero as Rocío ; the best version was ¨Currito De la Cruz¨ (1949) by Luis Lucia with Pepin Martin Vazquez , Manuel Luna , Jorge Mistral , and Nati Mistral
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