El bolero de Raquel

El bolero de Raquel (aka Raquel's Shoeshiner) is a 1957 Mexican comedy film directed by Miguel M. Delgado and starring Cantinflas, Manola Saavedra, Flor Silvestre, and child actor Paquito Fernández. The film's art direction was by Gunther Gerszo.

El bolero de Raquel
Directed byMiguel M. Delgado
Written byJaime Salvador (adaptation and dialogue)
Miguel M. Delgado (technical screenplay)
Story byDaniel Jiménez
StarringCantinflas
Manola Saavedra
Flor Silvestre
Music byRaúl Lavista
CinematographyGabriel Figueroa
Edited byJorge Bustos
Production
company
Posa Films
Distributed byColumbia Pictures (1957 worldwide theatrical release)
Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2003 U.S. DVD release)
Release date
9 October 1957
Running time
101 minutes
CountryMexico
LanguageSpanish

This is Cantinflas' first Mexican color film (it was filmed in Eastmancolor, also considered as Mexico's Technicolor).

Plot

Cantinflas is a down on his luck but affable shoeshiner that learns that his compadre has died in an accident. His friend's widow, Leonor (Flor Silvestre) is unable to raise her child, Chavita, so she leaves the kid with Cantinflas so she can go to Guadalajara, Jalisco in order to seek help from her parents. In the first days, Cantinflas goes to work in Chapultepec and Chavita catches a ball that some other children are playing with, and almost ends up in a fight with the owners of the ball. Cantinflas calms down the child by promising he will bring him a new ball.

In order to find a better job, Cantinflas goes to school, where he tries to learn but, instead, falls in love with Raquel (Manola Saavedra), an attractive teacher who works there. While in school, he tries finding more jobs, with comic results: first, as a shoe shiner in a night club, where he gets into various incidents on his first night, including an unexpected entrance in the dancers' dressing room and an accidental entrance to Ravel's Boléro dance act performed by Elaine Bruce (from which the pun in the Spanish title is drawn, as he confuses the name of the piece, Boléro, with the name with which shoeshiners are known in Mexico, bolero, thus thinking that the dance is for him). After sabotaging the act, Cantinflas is removed from the night club.

Cantinflas tries to get new jobs in Acapulco, where he tries everything to get some money, when accidentally Chavita leaves Cantinflas to climb La Quebrada. Cantinflas tries to rescue him, but he is stuck himself at the top of La Quebrada (as Chavita escapes easily to the other side) and he is obliged to make a spectacular dive. His action leads him to get a job as a lifeguard, but his incompetence when attempting to save a large woman from drowning (almost drowning himself in the process) causes him to be fired the same day.

Finally, Cantinflas gets enough money to raise his godson and buys him a new big ball, but Leonor returns from Guadalajara, with a husband, a better life and a brand new ball. Chavita leaves Cantinflas and he sadly sees the scene. He encounters Raquel in a park and then he kicks a ball, hitting a policeman guarding the park; after that, he and Raquel kiss each other. The policeman looks at them smiling watching them happily stay together.

Cast
  • Cantinflas as "El bolero", Cantinflas having enjoyed success in Around the World in Eighty Days, which earned him a Golden Globe Award, returns to Mexico to star in this film.
  • Manola Saavedra as Raquel, Saavedra was a Spanish expatriate who marks her film debut in this film.
  • Flor Silvestre as Leonor, Silvestre had already been working on films since her debut in 1950 and later continues to star in the Oscar-nominated film Animas Trujano, but was also continuing her musical career which she had previously initiated in 1943. Unlike other singers at the time, Silvestre also found a profession as an actress in film until her last appearance in 1991.
  • Paquito Fernández as Chavita, Paquito had appeared in film in 1955, and later continues as a child actor until 1962.
  • Daniel Herrera as Edelmiro
  • Mario Sevilla
  • Alberto Catalá
  • Roberto Meyer
  • Elaine Bruce as Mimí
  • Leonor Gómez as Maid in park
  • Erika Carlsson (uncredited)
  • Roberto Corell (uncredited)
  • Pedro Elviro (uncredited)
  • Pablo Ferrel (uncredited)
  • Lidia Franco (uncredited)
  • Elodia Hernández (uncredited)
  • Carlos León (uncredited)
  • Dina de León (uncredited)
  • Salvador Lozano (uncredited)
  • Casimiro Ortega as Foreman (uncredited)
  • Manuel Trejo Morales (uncredited)
  • Guillermo Álvarez Bianchi as Fat Tourist (uncredited)

Reception

Box office

Though a relative box office disappointment for a Cantinflas film, it still ranked among the most profitable Mexican films of the year.[1][2]

Awards

Child actor Paquito Fernández was nominated for a 1958 Silver Ariel for Best Performance by a Child Actor for the role of Chavita.[3]

References
  1. Pilcher, Jeffrey (2001). Cantinflas and the chaos of Mexican modernity. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 171–172. ISBN 9780842027717.
  2. Werner (Ed), Michael (2001). Concise encyclopedia of Mexico. Taylor &Francis. p. 490. ISBN 9781579583378.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  3. Awards and nominations for El bolero de Raquel
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