Description
Book SynopsisProbes into the life and times of Mario Moreno, Latin America's famous film star from the 1940s to the 1970s. This book illuminates the social and cultural history of twentieth-century Mexico. It is suitable for courses on Mexican history and Latin American film.
Trade ReviewExcellent. The ideal biography of Cantinflas would set the comic's life within Mexico's social and political history, within Mexican popular culture, and within the context of the nation's emerging cinema. Solidly researched and splendidly written, Jeffrey Pilcher's book does all this and more. It finds a way to convey to the non-Spanish-speaking reader Cantinflas's imaginative and wonderfully convoluted wordplay. -- Charles Ramírez Berg, University of Texas at Austin
An insightful, authoritative, and important look at one of Latin America's most influential and beloved comedians, Mario Moreno, 'Cantinflas.' This is the very best biographical study in any language of an icon of Mexican cinema and culture. Cantinflas's significance grew not only from his image as one of the country's greatest comedians and stars but also from his powerful force in the labor movement of the industry, in politics and in opening up the doors of Hollywood to Mexico. The book masterfully combines the study of this unique star with a solid analysis of the culture and society that predominated in the decades of his life and times. Cultural and biographical history at its best. -- David R. Maciel, California State University
Tracing the phenomenon of the Mexican film comic Cantinflas's rise to fame and subsequent decline within the context of Mexican post-Revolutionary modernity, the author offers a sustained account of changing perceptions of Mexican national identity. A compelling examination of the modern Mexican state from the 1930s through the end of the 1950s. -- Joanne Hershfield, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Pilcher's study is an engaging view of twentieth-century Mexico through the lens focused on Mexico's most famous comic. A crisp, straightforward, and compelling look at mid-twentieth-century Mexico through the life of one of its most beloved citizens. * The Americas: A Quarterly Review of Latin American History *
Table of ContentsChapter 1 List of illustrations Chapter 2 Acknowledgments Chapter 3 Chronology Chapter 4 Introduction Chapter 5 From Vale Coyote to the Carpa Valentina Chapter 6 Ambiguous Profiles Chapter 7 The Details of Fame Chapter 8 Syndicalism and Stardom Chapter 9 The Magician Chapter 10 Around the World or Just the Studio Chapter 11 A Modern Quixote Chapter 12 Conclusion Chapter 13 Notes Chapter 14 Bibliographical Essay Chapter 15 Index
