La noche avanza aka Night Falls (1952) Mexican Noir

"Darkness Comes or, The Bear and the three Goldilockses'"

Directed by Roberto Gavaldón. Written by Jesús Cárdenas, Roberto Gavaldón, and  José Revueltas, based on a story by Luis Spota. The The excellent Cinematography was by Jack Draper, and Music was by Raúl Lavista.

It stars Pedro Armendáriz (3 Godfathers, Fort Apache, Distinto amanecer) as Marcos Arizmendi Jai Alai superstar, Anita Blanch as his old, three season old, old flame Sara, Rebeca Iturbide as the very recently ex virgin Rebeca Villarreal, and Eva Martino as torch singer Lucrecia, the squeeze he's tapping in Mexico City. 

Also in the cast are José María Linares-Rivas as bookie Marcial, Julio Villarreal as Sr. Villarreal, Armando Soto La Marina as Chicote, Carlos Múzquiz as Armando Villarreal, with Wolf Ruvinskis, Francisco Jambrina, Juan García, Roberto Y. Palacios, Margarito Luna, Luis Mussot, José Torvay.

Pedro Armendáriz as Marcos Arizmendi

Anita Blanch as Sara

Eva Martino as Lucrecia

Rebeca Iturbide as Rebeca Villarreal

Story 

Marcos Arizmendi is a Jai Alai champion the star player of his team. So right away some of you may be lost. Think the equivalent of a Tom Brady or Muhammad Ali.  

Jai Alai is the updated version of  a 400 year old Basque handball game. It was a pickup game played up against an outdoor church wall or walls plural, usually during parish gatherings for various fiestas. It was ideal if you could find three walls. The two inch diameter ball is called a pelota and it is harder and heavier than a golf ball. It is made of hand-wound virgin rubber then a layer wound  with nylon thread and all that covered with two layers of hardened goat skin. 

Then around 1800 somebody figured that if you used a woven wicker basket attached to a leather glove. Called a "cesta," it's a combination catch mit and throwing apparatus, you could up the ball velocity to an insane 190 mph. Psycho handball. Its killed a few players throughout the years. 

Professional Jai Alai is "Often called the “fastest sport in the world,” jai alai consists of men with weird basket hands whipping rock-hard balls against a granite wall, trying to make their opponent miss the return while avoiding being hit with the speeding bullet themselves. It’s a game that requires a combination of skill, speed, and acrobatics." (in: Leisure, Living - Brett & Kate McKay)

Jai Alai is played in a building called the fronton on a three walled court called a cancha. They are 40 by 176 feet with 40 foot high walls. The front wall of the cancha is made of granite, it's the only surface that can withstand the pounding of the pelota.  The third side is open to the viewing stands and is behind a mesh fence. This is a game you can place wagers on at betting windows. "Betting on jai alai is just like betting on horse racing or dog racing. So you can place a single “win,” “place,” or “show” bet on a particular team or you can pick two teams to finish first and second with a “quinella” bet.  Spectators can also make trifecta and superfecta bets." (in: Leisure, Living - Brett & Kate McKay)

It was huge in  Mexico, Cuba, Florida, and even the Philippines. For more info check it all out here .

Inside the fronton and the three walled court called a cancha

So Marcos Arizmendi is not only a talented athlete playing in a dangerous sport but also a macho arrogant prick with a chick magnet in his pants playing another dangerous skill of juggling, multiple women simultaneously. 

Marco's currently playing grab ass and hide the sausage with gal pal, Lucrecia, a torch singer at the Monaco Nightclub. She has been at the Jai Alai game watching the play. 

Lucrecia

Rebeca Iturbide as Rebeca Villarreal and Julio Villarreal as Sr. Villarreal

Rebeca's brother Armando works at one of the fronton's betting windows. Armando owes bookmaker Marcial ten thousand pesos. He doesn't have it. Armando offers him an account that contains valuable papers and deeds as collateral. Marcial gives him three more days.

Carlos Múzquiz as Armando Villarreal

José María Linares-Rivas as bookie Marcial

After the game Marco escorts' Lucrecia to her car. He opens the door for her. He closes it and is about to go around to the drivers side when a chauffeur approaches with a package. It's a gold cigarette case from an old girlfriend/groupie named Sara, who he last saw in Manila. 

Marcos tells Lucrecia to wait for him. She patiently waits for Marcos, until Marco drives off with Sara. Lucrecia, teary eye, then slides across the bench seat and drives herself to the club.

Lucrecia at the Club Monaco

Ogled by bookmaker Marcial rt.

Lucrecia does her sets and gets ogled by bookmaker Marcial who has the hots for her. At the end of the night in the darkened nightclub, Marcial tries to put the moves on Lucrecia but Marcos shows up and orders Lucrecia out to the car. Marcos then shoves Marcial across the room knocking over chairs and tables telling him to stay away. 

Things start on the road to Noirsville when Rebeca Villarreal visits Marco in his hotel room and tells him she is pregnant. She threatens to kill herself and his child if he doesn't marry her. 

I'm pregnant

Marco puts a scheme into action, he visits Senior Villarreal to explain the situation, that Rebeca is infatuated with him, but he must leave Mexico in a few days for team contractual obligations he has in Havana. 

Marco and Senior Villarreal decide on a plan. Senior Villarreal will give his blessings to the marriage but will put off the date far enough in the future to hope that Rebeca will get over Marco in the interim. Of course Marco doesn't mention that Rebeca is pregnant. 

Later, during diner at the Villarreal's Rebeca overhears on the radio that Marco has only a few days left in Mexico. She gets hysterical and then runs from the house. 

Her brother Armando chases after her and catches her just before she is going to throw herself under a trolley. 

Armando asks her why she is so distraught and she confesses to playing hide the sausage with Marcos. Armando starts slapping her around for being such a slut. Armando threatens to kill Maros as a matter of family honor. But Rebeca then tells him that she is pregnant. Armando then thinks of a better course of action. Starting to sound like a Soap Opera, no?

The next day when Marcial comes to Armando's betting window, Armando tells him he's got a plan to get Marcial his money and then some. 

Later at the Monaco, Armando and Marcial with four of his loan shark enforcers, confront Marcos about Rebeca. Armando tells Marco that this is a serious family matter and that Marcial is his representative.

Armando excuses himself and Marical explains that the Villarreal family will accuse him of rape, abuse of a minor and etc., etc,, and ruin his reputation. 

Marco thinks that he is being blackmailed and pulls out a checkbook asking how much? Marical tells Marco that it wont cost him anything, all he has to do is throw the next Jai Alai game. Marco protests at first but agrees.

Outside the Monaco, Marical tells Armado that it's all set. Armando wanting to bet on this sure thing asks Marical if he an borrow more money to make a bet. Marical basically tells him to fuck off. 

So Armando now pissed off at Marical decides he is going to double cross both of those putos Marco and Marical.

Noirsville

This is a good Noir. Pedro Armendáriz does an excellent job portraying a world class asshole and he kicks dogs. He spouts his philosophy in V.O.  

"Yes I'm Marcos I'm used to success and everyone is used to seeing me succeed It makes sense. Nobody looks at failure. Not even enough to get accustomed to their failures. This is why we'll never stop being winners. I am amongst the victorious the strong. The weak deserve a regrettable inglorious fate. The weak don't count. "

Later he tells his girlfriend Lucrecia when he's taking off with Sara that "it's better to have one fifth of a first rate man that 5/5ths of a fifth rate man." Generous!

Eva Martino as Lucrecia is compelling and add wonderful to that if she did her own singing. Just a heads up for those who may be unfamiliar with Mexican Noir. So far most of those that I have seen have got a lot of either singing or music of the diegetic variety. Same goes for Greek Noir. The rest of the cast of La noche avanza is top notch. 8//10

A rare spearhead of the Mexican Noir (from IMDb)

Trevisand 1 July 2017

In "La noche avanza" there are no good or decent characters. There are only anti-heroes and self-assumed victims who do not hesitate a second to become perpetrators to take revenge on their own perpetrators: jealous, liars or possessive women, dangerously self-destructive; And men whose maximum value is opportunism. There is no trait of kindness here, only facets of selfishness. Considering the improbability of this happening (not only in Mexican cinema of that time but in cinema in general), La noche avanza has a spectacular and quirky freshness.

In addition, the frenzy accelerates as the night advances. Quite a few scenes from the second half of this film could be considered even pre- tarantinescan. So far the best movie I've found of the so-called Mexican Noir and the second best of the director Roberto Gavaldón (after Macario, 1960).