Estrellas de Cine: Spanish and Mexican Stars

Between 1927 and 1935, just after the introduction of sound film, a new phenomenon emerged. Multi-language versions of films were made both in Hollywood and at the European Paramount studio near Paris. These were versions of Hollywood productions in French, German, Hungarian, Russian or even Dutch. The biggest market was Spanish-speaking countries, and Spanish versions with Spanish or Mexican actors were made at the assembly line. At the time, for instance, millions of Latin Americans did not know Bela Lugosi as the star of Dracula (Tod Browning, 1930) but had instead seen Carlos Villarías in Drácula (George Melford, 1931). After the multi-language boom ended, many of these actors left Hollywood again and returned home. Others had surprisingly long careers in the Mexican film industry. The Spanish series Estrellas del Cine offers a glimpse of these often forgotten film stars.


Spanish postcard in the Series Estrellas del cine by Editorial Grafica, Barcelona, no. 16. Photo: Paramount Film.

Spanish-American film actress and Flamenco dancer Maria Alba (1905-1999) was one of Hollywood's Latin stars. The Fox Film Corporation signed her after she won a Fox Film contest in Spain. She appeared in 25 feature films, starting with Road House (Richard Rosson, 1928) with Lionel Barrymore. Her most notable appearances were probably as 'Saturday' in the Douglas Fairbanks film Mr Robinson Crusoe (A. Edward Sutherland, 1932) and the exotic 'Princess Nadji' in the Bela Lugosi serial The Return of Chandu (Ray Taylor, 1934). Other Latin actresses working in Hollywood, like Lupe Vélez or Dolores del Río, became fluent in English. Still, Maria Alba spoke English with a thick accent, which limited her casting opportunities, and she made her last films in Mexico.


Spanish postcard in the Series Estrellas del cine by Editorial Grafica, Barcelona, no. 26. Photo: Paramount Film.

Spanish artist, theatre director and actor Ernesto Vilches (1879-1954) worked in Spain, Argentina, Mexico and other Latin American countries. He had his own company and was one of the first Spanish actors in Hollywood. He already made his film debut in 1909 in Francisco Oliver's Aventura de Pepín, followed by another outstanding silent Spanish film, El Golfo (José de Togores, 1917). In 1930-1931, he acted in five Spanish-language films at Paramount and MGM in Hollywood. First, he appeared in the Paramount production Cascarrabias (Cyril Gardner, 1930). In the MGM film Su última noche (Carlos F. Borcosque, Chester M. Franklin, 1931), he acted opposite Spanish actors who later became famous in Italian cinema: Conchita Montenegro and Juan de Landa. In Borcosque's Cheri-Bibi (1931), based on Gaston Leroux and the alternate version of The Phantom of Paris (1931), he had the lead as a man who transforms himself into his - dead - rival. After 1931, Vilches' career in Hollywood slowed down. He returned to Spain for El desaparecido (Antonio Graciani, 1934), and co-directed there El cientro trece (1935).


Spanish postcard in the Series Estrellas del cine by Editorial Grafica, Barcelona, no. 31. Photo: Paramount Film.

From 1930 on, Spanish actress Rosita Moreno (1907-1993) starred in Spanish-language versions of Hollywood films. That year, she appeared in the Spanish-language version of Paramount on Parade (1930). Among her best-known films are Piernas de seda / Silk Legs (1935), El día que me quieras / The Day You Love Me (1935) and Tango Bar (1935). In the latter two, her co-star was Carlos Gardel, the legendary songbird of Buenos Aires. She also played supporting parts in English language films such as Her Wedding Night (1930) starring Clara Bow, and Ladies Should Listen (1934) opposite Cary Grant. In Great Britain, she made Stamboul (1931) with Warwick Ward. Moreno appeared in more than 30 films in a career that spanned more than 20 years, often travelling through several countries in quick succession. She played her final role in 1949 in an episode of the TV series The Clock, in which she shared leading roles with George Reeves. Little is known about her after that point.


Spanish postcard in the Series Estrellas del cine by Editorial Grafica, Barcelona, no. 46. Photo: Paramount Film.

Carmen Larrabeiti (1904-1968) was a Spanish stage and screen actress. In 1926, Larrabeiti made her film debut with Currito de la Cruz (Alejandro Pérez Lugín, 1926). After spending time in Paris, she was hired, along with her husband, by the Paramount company to shoot Doña Mentiras / The Lady Lies (1930), Toda una vida / Sarah and Son (1930), La carta / The Letter (1931) and La fiesta del diablo / The Devil's Holiday (1931), all directed by former Latin lover film star Adelqui Migliar. She then moved to Hollywood with her husband. At Fox, she recorded Spanish versions of some of Hollywood's hits for the Spanish-speaking public. She acted in Esclavas de la moda / On Your Back (David Howard, 1931) with Julio Peña, ¿Conoces a tu mujer? / Don't Bet on Women (David Howard, 1931) with Rafael Rivelles, and La ley del harén / Fazil (Lewis Seiler, 1931) with José Mojica. In 1932, Larrabeiti had to return to Spain, suffering from an illness that kept her away from the stage for good.


Spanish postcard in the Series Estrellas del cine by Editorial Grafica, Barcelona, no. 52. Photo: Paramount Film.

María Calvo (1892-1995) was a Spanish-American actress who worked in many Spanish alternate versions of early 1930s Hollywood films. Calvo debuted in 1930 in the Spanish alternate language version of The Benson Murder Case, called Il cuerpo del delitto (1930), shot at the Paramount studios in California. Between 1930 and 1935, she acted mostly in supporting parts in over twenty Spanish-speaking film productions shot in Hollywood. These were often alternate language versions of English spoken films, first at Paramount, but soon also at MGM and Fox. Examples are Sevilla de mis amores (1930), directed and performed by Ramon Novarro, Primavera en otoño (Eugene Forde, 1933), Rosa de Francia (1935), with Rosita Díaz Gimeno, José Peña, and Antonio Moreno, and El cantante de Napoles (Howard Bretherton, Moreno Cuyar, 1935), with Enrico Caruso Jr. In the late 1930s, she moved to Mexico, where, just before and during the war years, she acted in several films by Raphael J. Sevilla and William Rowland, including comedies with Cantinflas. After the war, she remained in Mexico for productions like Fernando Rivero's La morena de mi copla (1946), and Reina de reinas: La Virgen María (Miguel Contreras Torres, 1948) in which she played Elisabeth. After 1948, she only acted in one more film: the Spanish production Pleito de sangre (Ricardo Gascón, 1956). All in all, Calvo acted in over forty films.


Spanish postcard in the Series Estrellas del cine by Editorial Grafica, Barcelona, no. 105. Photo: Paramount Film.

José Crespo Férez (1900-1997) was a Spanish actor who worked in Spain, Hollywood and Mexico. In 1926, he toured several Latin American countries and arrived in the United States in December 1926, where he had a great success in Los Angeles with the play 'El gran Galeoto' by José Echegaray. This attracted the attention of the film studios, and his first American film was Revenge (Edwin Carewe, 1928), starring Dolores Del Rio. He acted in one of the first sound films, the Fox production Joy Street (1929), starring Lois Moran. In May 1930, after a stay in Mexico, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer offered him a long-term contract. Metro used him to replace John Gilbert in dubbed versions of Gilbert's films for Spanish America. The two actors got to know each other and became good friends. With the disappearance of silent films, he specialised (1930-35) in the dubbed and Spanish versions for United Artists, Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. For Fox, he did mostly comedies, and for Metro, dramas. He also appeared in English films, while he spoke he language perfectly. He later acted in New York on CBS radio for the Hispanic market, including the series 'Hollywood por dentro'. When the Spanish dubbing studios were established in New York, he was hired as director. Crespo became the Spanish voice of Joseph Cotten in Paramount films. In 1936, he settled in Mexico and then, after a brief stay in Spain, he returned to the United States (1964) to direct the Spanish Theatre of New York.


Spanish postcard in the Series Estrellas del cine by Editorial Grafica, Barcelona, no. 128. Photo: Paramount Film.

Félix de Pomés (1889-1969) was a Spanish actor, screenwriter and film director as well as a footballer and fencing champion. He acted in 72 films between 1928 and 1967. Félix de Pomés started his career as a film actor in Germany in the late 1920s, debuting as Teddy Bill in the silent film Die große Abenteuerin (Robert Wiene, 1928) starring Lili Damita. Until the end of the silent era, he had major parts in four more German films. When sound set in, De Pomés acted in Spanish language versions at the Paramount studios at Joinville, starting with Doña mentiras (Adelqui Migliar, 1930), the alternate version of The Lady Lies (1929), starring Carmen Larrabeiti. De Pomés had the lead at Paramount in El secreto del doctor (Migliar, 1930), the alternate-language version of The Doctor's Secret (1929). In 1931, he went to Hollywood to act in three Spanish versions of films at Fox, such as Cuerpo y alma (David Howard, 1931) with George Lewis. In 1933, he returned to Spain for a series of ten films produced in Barcelona in seven years.


Spanish postcard in the Series Estrellas del cine by Editorial Grafica, Barcelona, no. 145. Photo: Metro G.M.

Carmen Guerrero (1911-1986) was a Mexican actress who had a successful career in Spanish alternate versions of early Hollywood sound films and afterwards in Mexican cinema of the early 1930s. After a bit part in the Laurel & Hardy comedy Double Whoopee (Lewis R. Foster, Hal Roach, 1929), Guerrero's first substantial part was in a Mexican independent production shot in California: Dios y ley (Guillermo Calles, 1930). This led to performances in a dozen Spanish alternate versions of Hollywood films, including the Spanish version of Dracula: Drácula (George Melford, 1931) in which Guerrero played Lucy/Lucia. She had the female leads in Cascarrabias (Cyril Gardner, 1930) opposite Ernesto Vilches and Barry Norton, Huye-Faldas (James W. Horne, 1931) with Charley Chase, Una cana al aire (Horne, 1931) again with Chase, Un fotógrafo distraído (Xavier Cugat, 1931) with Don Alvarado, and La gran jornada (David Howard, Samuel Schneider, Raoul Walsh, 1931), the Spanish version of The Big Trail. In 1932, Guerrero returned to Mexico as a celebrated movie star and played the female lead in several Mexican films.


Spanish postcard in the Series Estrellas del cine by Editorial Grafica, Barcelona, no. 152.

Tony D'Algy (1897-1977) was a Portuguese film actor who appeared in 57 films between 1924 and 1949. D'Algy acted in various silent Hollywood films. In 1926, D'Algy also directed two films, The Reckless Mollycoddle, scripted by future director Tay Garnett, and the Spanish film Raza de hidalgos, with his sister Helena D'Algy and himself in the leads. In the early 1930s, he acted in Spanish sound versions of American films directed by Adelqui Migliar at the Paris Paramount studios, while he simultaneously also acted in French and Belgian early sound films. In the mid-1930s, he started to act in Spain but then moved to Argentina for several films, returning to Spain in 1940 for more films until 1949.


Spanish postcard in the Series Estrellas del cine by Editorial Grafica, Barcelona, no. 158.

Spanish actor Julio Peña (1912-1972) debuted in a Spanish language film at the Paris Paramount studio, Doña mentiras (Adelqui Migliar), the Spanish version of The Lady Lies, starring Carmen Larrabeiti and Félix de Pomés. He then acted at MGM in California in the Spanish version of Min and Bill, La fruta amarga (Arthur Gregor, José López Rubio, 1931) with Virginia Fábregas and Juan de Landa in the title roles. Peña stayed at MGM for the alternate language versions of Madame X, La mujer X (Carlos F. Borcosque, 1931). He had a first lead opposite Larrabeiti at Fox in Esclavas de la moda (David Howard, Francisco Moré de la Torre, 1931), the Spanish version of On Your Back, and also co-starred in the Fox film Mamá (Benito Perojo, 1931). Peña stayed at Fox for more Spanish language films: Primavera en otoño (Eugene Forde, 1933), Una viuda romántica (Louis King, 1933), Yo, tú y ella (John Reinhardt, 1933), La ciudad de cartón (Louis King, 1933), all starring Catalina Bárcena. Then followed the Fox productions Un capitán de cosacos (John Reinhardt, 1934) with José Mojica and Rosita Moreno, Julieta compra un hijo (Louis King, Gregorio Martínez Sierra, 1934) with Bárcena and Gilbert Roland, Rosa de Francia (José López Rubio, Gordon Wiles, 1935), and Fox's last Spanish language production: Angelina o el honor de un brigadier (Louis King, Miguel de Zárraga, 1935), a comedy starring Enrique de Rosas. After the Universal production Alas sobre El Chaco (Christy Cabanne, 1935), the Spanish version of Storm over the Andes, and four years of acting in alternative versions in California, Peña left Hollywood and returned to Spain to act on stage and on screen.


Spanish postcard in the Series Estrellas del cine by Editorial Grafica, Barcelona, no. 177. Photo: Paramount Film.

Imperio Argentina (1906-2003) was a singer, dancer and actress who appeared in more than 30 films. Although she was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and was successful all over South America, she was a Spanish citizen. Besides Spain and South America, she also worked in France, Italy and Germany.


Spanish postcard in the Series Estrellas del cine by Editorial Grafica, Barcelona, no. 182. Photo: Paramount Film.

Miguel Ligero Rodríguez (1890-1968) was a Spanish revue, film and zarzuela actor. Ligero made his film debut in 1926, but it was not until the 1930s that he achieved true recognition as a leading screen figure in the Spanish cinema of the time. At the beginning of the decade, he shot at the Paramount studios in Joinville near Paris Spanish language versions of films, such as Doña mentiras (Adelqui Migliar, 1930), the Spanish version of The Lady Lies, starring Carmen Larrabeiti as the lying lady. After five more films at Joinville, Ligero went to the US and acted there in Hollywood versions for Spanish-speaking countries of Fox films, such as Hay que casar al príncipe (Lewis Seiler, 1931), starring José Mojica, and ¿Conoces a tu mujer? (David Howard, 1931) with Larrabeiti again. After two more films in Hollywood, Ligero returned to Spain.


Spanish postcard in the Series Estrellas del cine by Editorial Grafica, Barcelona, no. 188. Photo: Paramount Film.

Marita Ángeles (?-?) had a short film career in 1931-1932 as a supporting actress acting in Spanish language films at the Paramount studios in Joinville. She started with La incorregible (Leo Mettler, 1931) with Tony D'Algy, followed by Las luces de Buenos Aires (Adelqui Migliar, 1931) with Carlos Gardel, and Un caballero de frac (Roger Capellani, Carlos San Martín) starring Roberto Rey - the latter was the Spanish version of Trois hommes en habit. After an uncredited part in La pura verdad (Florián Rey, Manuel Romero, 1931) and a role in the German version, Die nackte Wahrheit (Karl Anton, 1932), she quit film acting.

Source: IMDb.