The Guitar of Gardel

1949 film

León Klimovsky
Manuel Villegas López

Produced byAlberto SoiferStarring

Agustín Irusta
Carmen Sevilla
Antonio Casal

CinematographyEmilio ForiscotEdited bySara OntañónMusic by

Fernando Carrascosa
Alberto Soifer

Production
company

Lais

Release date

22 December 1949 (1949-12-22)

Running time

85 minutesCountries

Argentina
Spain

LanguageSpanish

The Guitar of Gardel (Spanish:La guitarra de Gardel) is a 1949 Argentine-Spanish musical film directed by León Klimovsky and starring Agustín Irusta, Carmen Sevilla and Antonio Casal. The film is based on the life of the tango star Carlos Gardel.^[1]

Plot

Raul, who has a magnificent voice, was orphaned as a child and has been educated by Felipe, a musician who encourages him to work with his voice. He advises him to get publicity by looking for a guitar that belonged to Carlos Gardel. He does so in Buenos Aires, Mexico and Spain while he is reaping success, besides finding love.

Cast

Agustín Irusta as Raúl Armada
Carmen Sevilla as Carmelilla
Antonio Casal as Paco
Jorge Cardoso as Tito
Trini Montero as Clarita
Héctor Pontón
Juana Mansó as Señorita Menchioti
Santiago Rivero as Antequera
Ana María Olaria as Novia
César Fiaschi as Don Felipe
Manuel Arbó as Borracho
Manuel Requena as Rodríguez
Manuel Guitián as Ropavejero
María de la Vega
Casimiro Hurtado as Cantante argentino
Horacio Llamas
Julio Ballesteros
Beni Deus as Serafín Rodríguez
José Villasante as Novio
Guillermo Cereceda
Aníbal Vela as Empresario
Dante Tulián as Músico
Hebe Dolián
María López Morante
Manuel de Juan as Dueño del hotel
Miguel de los Reyes

Reception

Fotogramas magazine commented on the film (translated from Spanish):

"Aged musical comedy built to the measure of the then famous Argentine singer Agustín Irusta. The slight plot anecdote, the search for a guitar that would have belonged to Carlos Gardel, is a mere pretext for the usual repertoire of tangos and the occasional sevillana. Everything takes place within the limits of zero imagination."^[2]