El Hondo, 1904 – Cidade do México (México), 1986

By Afrânio Mendes Catani

Mexican filmmaker Emilio Fernández Romo was perhaps the most important in his country. His nickname was “El indio.” Initially an actor, he made a large number of films from the beginning of sound cinema until 1986. He was also a screenwriter for his own films and those of other filmmakers. A director of dramas, romantic dramas, and melodramas, he worked with major Mexican stars such as Pedro Armendáriz, Dolores del Río, and María Félix. He established lasting partnerships with cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa and screenwriter Mauricio Magdaleno. He debuted as a director with routine films La isla de la pasión (1941) and Soy puro mexicano (1942). Then he directed his significant works, beginning with Flor silvestre and María Candelaria (1943), followed by Las abandonadas and Corazón torturado (1944) and Pepita Jiménez (1945). He filmed adaptations of American writer John Steinbeck’s novels The Pearl and also Enamorada (1946). He continued making remarkable works such as Río escondido (1947), Maclovia, Pueblerina, and Santa entre demonios (1948). In 1949, he adapted Jacinto Benavente’s play in La malquerida and Ivan Turgenev’s novel Duel in the Mountains. In the two years 1950-1951, he released eight films, highlighting Víctimas del pecado (1950), and made his first dramedy, Acapulco. Changing genres, he made the mystery film Cuando levanta la niebla (1952), the western El rapto, and the new dramedy Reportaje (1953). He directed co-productions and filmed in Argentina La tierra del fuego se apaga (1955). He slowed his production pace until ending his career in 1979.