Directed by Adolfo Best-Maugard, his only full length film.
Written by Adolfo Best-Maugard and Miguel Ruiz Moncada. The Cinematography by Ross Fisher and Agustín Jiménez. Music by Jose Gamboa Ceballos.
Starring Stella Inda as Camellia, Jose Casal as William, Heriberto G. Batemberg as Gaston, Manuel Dondé as The Prince, with Kyra, Lorenzo Diaz Gonzalez, Elvira Gostí as sort of the house mother and possibly Kyra as the exotic dancer. Most of the rest of the cast were not professional actors.
The film just may be the first precursor to the Mexican "rumberas" cinema, also known as the Cabaretera Noirs. It only lacks full musical pieces and complete dance numbers that are a trope of these Noir.
Stories of Noir Femmes and Femme Fatale prostitutes are a popular theme in Mexican Noir with possibly La mujer del puerto 1934 being the first.
La Mancha de Sangre ranks 44th out of 100 of the best Mexican films ever made. Unfortunately two elements of the film have not be restored one audio scroll and one visual scroll. The audio scroll missing has subtitles to bridge the missing audio. The visual final denouement is missing but it's audio survives.
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| Stella Inda as Camellia |
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Jose Casal as William
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| Heriberto G. Batemberg as Gaston |
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| Manuel Dondé as The Prince |
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| Lorenzo Diaz Gonzalez? |
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| Elvira Gostí as the house mother lt. |
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| Exotic Dancer Kyra? |
If this film would have debuted in Paris it would be exactly the kind of film the French right wing and religious publications would have condemned as a film Noir.
The Veil Dance
La Mancha de Sangre (1937)
As it was the film was banned during the government of General Lázaro Cárdenas del Río, due to the scandalous plot, but also because it contained some erotic orgy like scenes and a nude veil dance performed by one of the prostitutes, this being one of the first nude scenes in Mexican cinema. It was not released to theaters until June 1943.
The Story
Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. Night. La Mancha de Sangre Cabaret. Camelia, a hooker who works as a "B" girl, waiting tables, dancing with and caging drinks out of friendly customers. She also pulls tricks for her pimp Gaston.
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It starts to go Noirsville when Carmelia's pimp Gaston shows up and sees what's going on. he chases Guillermo away from the cabaret, but not before Guillermo makes friends with the gang members of "The Prince" a notorious jewel thief. they tell Guillermo to come back to the cabaret next week.
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When Guillermo returns to the cabaret he's dressed in pinstripes like a gangster and he tells Camelia that the gang is going to make a good score.
Noirsville
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This film is Noir alone by subject matter. It takes place in a cabaret / whorehouse, the characters are all from the lower classes. There's certain sequences that are shot with Noir stylistics. Others that are lost and we can only visualize them from the script. In the end there is a "happy" ending (like the majority of Hollywood Noir). But the characters are not "redeemed" so much by seeing the light as they are by "Love." 7/10
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