Fernando de Fuentes(1894-1958)
- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Director of two classic films of Mexican Cinema, Compadre Mendoza, El
(1933) and ¡Vámonos con Pancho Villa! (1935), De Fuentes began his
career as second assistant director in Santa (1931), the first "talkie"
produced in Mexico. His technical abilities promoted him to direct
Anónimo, El (1932). De Fuentes is considered a pioneer in Mexican
movies and a truly gifted director who combined superb technical
abilities with a extraordinary sense for visu al narrative. His best
films are those made on the early years of Mexican film industry. He
"invented" a genre: the Mexican comedy (comedia ranchera) with Allá en
el Rancho Grande (1936), the first Mexican film with great success in
foreign markets -a sort of musical Como Agua Para Chocolate (1992) of
the 30s. He discovered Gabriel Figueroa and pioneered genres such as
horror, melodrama and historical. De Fuentes was the first Mexican
director who made a film in color: Asi se Quiere en Jalisco (1942). He
also was the first to make a film in coproduction with another country:
Jalisco Canta en Sevilla (1948), coproduced with Spain.
