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FILMS

NOSTALGIA FOR EL INDIO

Fernando Fuentes

This biography of Emilio Fernández, pacity creates a clear photographic Origins, Revolutions, Emigration one of 's most famous film di- identity whether he portrays the Me- rectors of the so-called Golden Age of xican countryside or the urban scene. Emilio Fernández, known in the film Mexican film, was written with the All the solemn moments in his world as El Indio, was born in what is analytic professionalism and historic films are impregnated by a nostalgia now a ghost town but was part of a vision characteristic of Emilio García for the Revolution on the nationalist mining zone called Mineral de Hon- Riera. level, and by nostalgia for virginity do, in the municipality of Sabinas, In his detailed revision of El Indio on an emotional level, whether the Coahuila. He was the only child of Fernández' cinematographic work, film is set in the violence of the pro- Sara Romo, a Kikapoo Indian, and the author provides a critical evalu- vinces or in urban cabarets or bur- of Emilio Fernández Garza. ation of the film maker's produc- dels. The rhythm of his stories is He participated in the Revolution tion, and generally refers exactly to marked by impulses of a energetic as a boy, or at least, he dedicated his sources, be these material from sensibility and an admirable artistic himself to taking mental photos: "I newspapers, magazines or books, or capacity. had what all boys dream about: a pis- testimonies of those who lived or El Indio Fernández is a poet of tol, a horse and a battleground. These worked with El Indio Fernández dur- pure and solidary ideals, a figure be- were my toys and the revolutiona- ing his artistic career and whose testi- come legend. ries were my playmates. I grew up in mony sheds light on the film direc- tor's private life. Emilio García Riera, author of more than ten books about the cine- ma, dedicates this text to a study of one of the greatest figures of Mexican cultural nationalism; a vigorous film creator who, in spite of his numerous weaknesses, managed to mark his movies with his own unmistakable style, a remarkable achievement in a film world which tends to reduce those who should be creators to the mere level of doers. Emilio Fernández has been classi- fied by some film buffs as the best film maker in classic Mexican cine. When we see the movies he made in the 1940's we can appreciate that these are poetic creations; his senti- mentality is overwhelming but at the same time, lyrical, and his visual ca-

Descendant of the Kikapoo Indians, he was proud of his indian blood. Photo by Héctor Journalist García/Foto Press

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the Revolution. At ten years of age, they made me a soldier, that's how I grew up. I studied in one school and another, from here to there. I visited all the cardinal points. From corpo- ral, I became first captain." (Quote from García Riera.) According to El Indio, he fought on the side of Pancho Villa's troops under the command of General Felipe Angeles, who was famous for his knowledge of artillery and for his moral and political integrity. El Indio entered Military College in 1920, and became part of the founding team of the Military School's aeronautics di- vision. "My greatest pride in life is having participated in the Revolution, which left me four wounds earned during armed actions," relates Fernández, adding that in one battle he was taken prisoner in Puebla and condemned to 20 years prison. Afterwards he was transferred to a prison in Tlatelolco in , and he was able to es- cape three years later, and fled to- wards the United States, where he liv- ed for vine years, working in various agricultura) jobs.

El Indio Fernández is a poet of pure and solidary ideals, a figure become legend

In Hollywood

He returned to Mexico only to go back to the United States a few months later, and headed for Chica- go. Here, he saved a young German With his daughter in 1951. Photo by Héctor García/Foto Press woman (Olga Freud) from drowning in a spontaneous act that brought him eventually to Hollywood. It turned cago on the way, and El Indio joined land, 1933), with the Mexican actress out that Olga Freud was the lover of a the funeral cortege to accompany Va- Dolores del Río. well known gangster, "Baby Face", lentino to his final resting place. He received his film education in who, in gratitude, invited Fernández This was how El Indio arrived in Hollywood: exaltation for the movies to eat and drink in a first class hotel Hollywood in the 1920's, and there he of Serguei Mijailovich Eisenstein, de- in Chicago, where the cine's first "la- met various people from Latin Ame- votion for the star system, faith in tin lover", Rodolfo Valentino, was rica, including Alfonso Sánchez for his methods of historic staying. Valentino, impressed to see El Tello, Chano Ureta, Ramón Pereda, reconstruction, and the conviction Indio dance a perfect tango, invited Roberto Gavaldón, the Cuban René that melodrama is the best means to him to a drink, and offered to take Cardona, the Chilean Tito Davison transmit the pulse of life. him to Hollywood. Valentino was on and Gilberto Martínez Solares, all of tour with his wife, Natasha Ramvo- whom later became directors of Mexi- Return to Mexico va, and they went from Chicago to can cine. El Indio began to work with New York, but it was precisely there, them in Hollywood in the film in- Before returning to his native land, El in New York, where Valentino died. dustry, as extra, double, in secondary Indio posed as model for the statuette His body was taken from New York roles and as dancer, for example, in used in the Oscar Awards, given by to Hollywood, passing through Chi- Flying down to Rio, (Thornton Free- the recently founded Motion Pictures

63 FILMS Academy. This was an act of symbo- tón (Fernando A. Rivero, 1938), Los esque details and counts with the lic importance in his film career, and de abajo (Chano Ureta, 1939), Juan participation of convicts. it was thanks to his athletic and well- sin miedo (Juan José Segura, 1939), Soy puro Mexicano, directed by proportioned physique that he was El Charro Negro (Raúl de Anda, Fernández in 1942, starred Pedro Ar- "immortalized" in the statue design- 1940), and Rancho Alegre (Raúl de mendáriz and David Silva. Here El ed by Cedric Gibbons and sculpted by Anda, 1940), among others, in which Indio demostrated that Mexican George Stanley. he worked as director's assistant and machismo could be useful to Mexico's Back in Mexico in 1934, Emilio script writer as well as actor. allies in the Second World War, but Fernández began to work in the na- in spite of its patriotic excesses, it was tional film industry as actor in Janit- not a box office success. zio (Carlos Navarro, 1934), a movie Emilio Fernández' real film ma- considered significant because it be- All the solemn moments in his king career began in 1941 with , film set in the revolution, gan a certain "erotic struggle" with films are impregnated by a established traditions. Thanks to Ja- where for the first time he worked nitzio, El Indio discovered Mexican nostalgia for the Revolution with a cast and collaborators of the esthetics: the conquest of nature by on the nationalist level best quality and highest prestige in the camera, and the taming of the hu- Mexican cine of that epoch: script man being by tragedy. writer Mauricio Magdaleno, the ac- He also worked in films such as Co- tors Dolores del Río and Pedro Ar- razón bandolero (Raphael J. Sevilla, His Films mendáriz, and, most importantly, the 1934), (Fernando de photographer , who, Fuentes, 1934), Celos (Arcady Boy- The first film he directed was La Isla due to the various movies he filmed tler, 1935), (Fer- de la Pasión, with David Silva and with Fernández, won international nando de Fuentes, 1936), Allá en el Isabela Corona, about the tragic ad- awards, and who would be consider- rancho grande (, ventures of a Mexican batallion ed one of the best, if not the best 1936), Almas rebeldes (Alejandro Ga- which fought until death to defend camerographer in the world during lindo, 1936), Adiós Nicanor (Rafael the desert island of Clipperton (or of the decade of the 40's. E. Portas, 1937), with a script written the Passion) in the Pacific Ocean, The movies made by El Indio by El Indio himself, and starring him which belonged to Mexico up to 1931. express tendencies inspired by Eisens- in the main role), Aquí llegó el valen- The film abounds in strong pictur- tein, which can especially be appre-

He is remembered as a lover of his country and a defender of Mexican romanticism. Photo by Héctor García/Foto Press

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ciated in another film made in 1943, with María Elena Marquez as the fe- and other progressive sectors of the Maria Candelaria, where he worked male star, he made what was perhaps country, acclaimed the director and with the same crew as in Flor Sil- his best film, La Perla. The story is named him the "film champion" the vestre. This story relates the vicissitu- based on a novel by John Steinbeck, people needed. des of an indigenous couple from and for the first time, deals with the Thus began the great epoch of Emi- Xochimilco, convincingly acted by social problems of the indigenous lio El Indio Fernández. Dolores del Río (who was beginning people in a coherent way without de- In 1946 he directed Enamorada, a to work in the Mexican film industry magogy, transcending purely pictur- film that can be considered a model after having starred in Hollywood), esque elements. Here, both director of the comedy genre, where El Indio and Pedro Armendáriz. This movie and photographer reach their highest once more recreated the atmosphere received world wide acclaim and was levels of artistic excellence; La Perla of the . María Fé- awarded prizes in the Cannes Film represents the best example of their lix, a war hardened and rebellious fe- Festival. style and esthetic conceptions. male, acts with Pedro Armendáriz. A particular trait of films made by Then followed Río Escondido El Indio was the frequent use of char- Best Moments (1947), a study about the situation of acters of plebian extraction who the rural teacher, where there is a cer- portray some "social enigma" and La Perla signified the height of Fer- tain amount of demagogy due to the become simple idealized symbols cre- nández' career. Mexican intellectuals idealization of the characters. ated in the reflection of a romantic image, but totally lacking in ideologi- cal force and tending to a demogogi- cal treatment of "national problems". Indigenous themes are treated with all solemnity, with what could be described in ideological terms as a cult to indigenism, to the "eternal values of the native race". However in María Candelaria, the beauty of Figueroa's camera work, combined with the intense poetic cli- mate created by the director, caused general admiration for one of the first productions of a promising school of Mexican cine.

"I had what all boys dreamed about: a pistol, a horse and a battleground. These were my toys and the revolutionaries were my playmates"

The same group made two more films in 1944 and then did not work together again until 1949. The two films were: Las abandonadas, also set in the Revolution, and relating the trials of a heroine who finally suc- cumbs after a life of sacrifices (mi- sery, loneliness, prostitution and ill- ness), and , a story set in the Mexico of the beginning of the 19th century. In 1945, El Indio directed Pepita Jiménez, based on the Spanish novel by Juan Valera. This first attempt by Fernández to deal with non-Mexican themes, showed his obvious limita- tions. But in the same year, with the collaboration of Gabriel Figueroa "Soy puro mexicano". Photo by Héctor García and the actor Pedro Armendáriz, 65

FILMS the last of the series which best show El Indio's talents and marks the end of the era when he appears to have worked with most freedom and confi- dence. Fernández placed great hopes in this movie, but it was poorly re- ceived by the public. It can be said that his decline and fall began at this time.

The Downfall

In 1950 he directed Víctimas del peca- do, with Ninón Sevilla, Rodolfo Acosta and Tito Junco, a film which clearly belonged to the then fashion- able genre, the suburban melodra- ma, interspersed with the almost compulsory dances and Afro-West In- dian music. This was a thoroughly conventional film which unwittingly included humorous moments. His next films were typical examples of his style but were practically ignor- ed by the public, in a clear indication of his iminent fall: Islas Marías (1950), with and Ro- saura Revueltas: (1950), with and Gloria Marín; and La bien amada (1951) with Roberto Cañedo and .

Indigenous themes are treated with all solemnity, with what could be described in ideological terms as a cult to indigenism, to the "eternal values of the native race" One of Mexico's greatest film makers: he swore he would only direct films that carne from his soul. Photo by Héctor García/Foto Press These failures led El Indio to try and gain the confidence of producers In 1948, Fernández made three mov- most famous cabarets: Salón México, by making films to their liking. In this ies: the first, Maclovia, with María a veritable temple of the danzón and way, in 1951, he directed Acapulco, Félix and Pedro Armendáriz, is of exploited prostitutes. The director which turned out to be a pathetic at- another rural story where El Indio successfully recreated the authentic tempt to conciliate commercial inter- once more shows his typical virtues atmosphere of the cabaret, source of ests with his own style. and defects. This can also be said multiple cinematographic possibili- El Indio was in disgrace with pro- about the third movie made in this ties. ducers, although he tried desperately same year: with Roberto In 1949 he directed La Malquerida, to regain his prestige. For Fernández, Cañedo and Columa Domínguez in another film set in the Mexican coun- the decades of the 50's and 60's were the main roles, although Pueblerina is tryside, starring Dolores del Río full of an almost uninterrupted series a better movie with a well-acheived —who had not worked with Fernán- of offenses, frustrations and econo- poetic atmosphere. dez since 1944— and Pedro Armen- mic difficulties, and brought out his The other movie he made in 1948 dáriz. In the same year he also direc- violent nature. was Salón México, with Marga Ló- ted Duelo de Montañas, with Rita In 1952 he directed Cuando levanta pez, Roberto Cañedo, Rodolfo Acos- Macedo and Fernando Fernández. la niebla, with Arturo de Córdova ta and Miguel Inclán. Fernández here Un día de vida (1950), a film about and María Elena Marqués. The fol- abandoned the rural setting and loca- the Revolution with Columba Do- lowing year he suffered a great set- ted this film in one of the capital's mínguez and Fernando Fernández, is back in his career with La Red, 66 FILMS

starring Rossana Podestá and Ar­ a man who showed the values of ten­ mando Silvestre. These two charac­ For Fernández, the decades of derness and solidarity with poetic ters were confined on a beach, but the the SO's and 60's were full of expression in his films, and who made director failed to acheive the constant a great contribution to Mexican erotic violent tension that he wished an almost ininterrupted series e in e. O to create. of offenses, frustrations and Every film he made afterwards, economic difficulties Emilio Fernández (1904-1986) by Emilio lacked real importance: García Riera. (1953), a movie that with the pretext Edited by the Centro de Investigaciones y Ense­ of linking various stories, counts with ñanza Cinematográficas de la Universidad de the participation of severa! of Mexi­ City. He is remembered as a flag Guadalajara; Cineteca Nacional de México, co's most popular movie stars of the bearer of nationalist values, a lover of México, 1987. time: Arturo de Córdova, Dolores del bis country, of the fecundity and Río, Jorge Negrete, María Félix, fruits of this land and its people, a Pedro Infante, Pedro Armendáriz, defender of Mexican romanticism, as , and others; El Rapto (1953) with Jorge Negrete and María Félix, was a film that tried un­ successfully to repeat the success of Enamorada; La rosa blanca (Momen­ tos de la vida de Martl) (1953), a biographic film about José Marti, with the classic errors. of historic­ commemorative cine, and El Impos­ tor (1956), with Pedro Armendáriz and Silvia Derbez, and other films.

Final Years

During the 60's and until the mid 70's, Emilio Fernández alternated between directing occasional films and acting minor roles in Mexican and foreign films, including sorne by Sam Peckinpah. He appeared in De­ trás de esa puerta (1972, directed by Manuel Zeceña), El Rincón de las Vírgenes (Alberto lssac, 1974), in 1980 he acted in 's Un­ der the Vo/cano.

He had the conviction that melodrama is the best meaos to transmit the pulse of life

HJS iast works as director were (1973), with Pilar Pellicer and Mercedes Carreño; (1975), with Fanny Cano and Arman­ do Silvestre; México Norte (1977), with Roberto Cañedo and Patricia Reyes Spíndola, and Erótica (1978), with Jorge Rivero and Rebeca Silva. Ali of these were considered unim­ portant works made by a director who was far from the fame and suc­ cess he once knew during the socalled Golden Age of Mexican film. • On August 6, 1986, El Indio suffer­ ed a heart attack and died in Mexico 67