El inocente

Don't be surprised if the Mexican television broadcasts this movie on New Year's Eve. Because this story begins that night.

This is a funny comedy starred by Pedro Infante and Silvia Pinal; Cruci and Mané. They have never met each other but when Mané's car breaks on the road, after a quarrel with her fiancé, Cruci is the mechanic who comes to help her. None of them wants to spend a lonely New Year's Eve so both come to Mané's place. Dancing, playing and drinking and more drinking the night goes by. So next morning they are caught together on bed by Mané's family. But what really happened? No embarrassing questions please: they are forced to marry.

Cruci is a loser, an ordinary mechanic while Mané is member of a wealthy family. Cruci's real name is the most ridiculous you can hear: Cutberto Gaudázar. So he is forced to change his name from the very first night to Cruci. To avoid shame when Cruci is introduced into society he is no more a Mexican mechanic but an European aristocrat. And so on, helplessly, step by step, the couple leads to the prearranged divorce.

But ¡Alas! Should she fall for a mechanic?

This movie had a remake, Romeo contra Julieta (Romeo vs Julieta) starred by Angélica María and Alberto Vázquez, which is almost forgotten even by the Mexicans.

El Inocente(The Innocent Guy) is a classic comedy starring the late Pedro Infante, Silvia Pinal, and Sara Garcia. It was remade in 1968 as Romeo Contra Julieta(Romeo vs. Juliet), with Angelica Maria and Alberto Vasquez. On New Years Eve, Mane(Silvia Pinal) throws a fit in front of her boyfriend and she takes off in her car. Unfortunately, the car stalls and ends up stranded on the highway. A mild mannered mechanic named Gutberto Gaudazar, alias "Cruzi"(Pedro Infante), gives Mane a ride home to her parent's house in Mexico City. She insists that he spend New Years Eve with her and the two get drunk on champagne. Mane passes out on the living room floor and Cruzi hauls her upstairs. Once Cruzi deposits her on her parent's bed, he passes out, too. The following day, Mane's parents come home from a party in Cuernavaca and they find Mane and Cruzi in bed together and they assume that Cruzi raped her! Cruzi's innocent(hence the title)and nobody is on his side. Mane's parents force Cruzi to marry Mane("a shotgun wedding")to save the family's good reputation. What's to become of Cruzi and Mane?

El Inocente is a lot more fresh and original than its remake, Romeo Contra Julieta. Then again, RCJ holds its own weight as a remake. I like the fact that El Inocente has more sight gags than RCJ when Mane's car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. Mane almost shoots a cow and a friendly gringo with a loaded gun!

Gringo: ?Pasar algo? ?Necesita help? ?Ayudar? Oh, OH, MY MISTAKE! GOOD NIGHT!"

Mane: "!Oiga, mister! !Alto ahi! !Ven aca! Come back! I am not...ladrona! !Tonto!"

One problem that I have with El Inocente is that Silvia Pinal is very shrill and whiny at times! For example, Pinal sounds really harsh to the ears when she finds out that she's being forced to marry Cruzi...or when Cruzi drops her onto the floor! In the remake, Maria is much more..."subtle"...when Mane finds out that she's being forced to marry Cruzi. Angelica Maria's Mane isn't as irritating. Actually, Maria's Mane is much more condescending. Still, Silvia Pinal gives a sincere performance and she has chemistry on screen with Pedro Infante. Pinal's version of Mane is different from Maria's. Aside from acting talent, Silvia Pinal was very sensual in her prime. At times, we could see Mane's cleavage and my eyes were glued to the screen! The late Pedro Infante gives a memorable performance as Cruzi. His version of Cruzi was a little more macho than Alberto Vasquez's. I thought Vasquez was much "cooler" as Cruzi.

Manuel Esperon wrote a memorable music score for El Inocente. His score gives the film some heart and soul. Sergio Guerrero also wrote another solid music score for the remake Romeo Contra Julieta. El Inocente and Romeo Contra Julieta are like the 1956 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the 1978 remake: The original and a remake can both be entertaining.

Guided by the hand of Rogelio Gonzalez and a clever script of Alcoriza couple we could enjoy one of the funniest Mexican comedies on fifties, Infante at the peak of his career and Silvia Pinal full of grace ,they get together a perfect chemistry and a memorable musical scene, Gonzalez who had worked with Infante as a scriptwriter(even as an actor) in some Ismael Rodriguez movies and he got of Rodriguez his popular sense,but no his excessive ways, so we can enjoy to Infante in his condition of poor mechanic,-but not miserable- with great wishes(he wants to become in engineer) and his world in a mechanic shop, and the other side the rich ones full of prejudices an appearances but not so mean.

Infante used to disappear practically of the screen his couples, this time he had in Pinal a worthy starring on the top of the things, besides we enjoyed the delicious Sara Garcia in her role of the fake self-sacrificing mother, so we have maybe one of the less appreciated comedies of Pedro Infante,but one of his better

A minor automobile accident on the eve of New Years, makes Mané (Silvia Pinal), a beautiful girl who was running away after a fight with her fiancée, met Cutberto (Pedro Infante), a mechanic. He can not fix her car and takes her instead to her parents house in Cuernavaca. Once there, after the small talk during the trip, they start drinking and one thing leads to another, so they end up falling asleep in each other's arms. The following day, when her parents arrive, find them together and think the worse of them.

But Mané and Cutberto didn't do anything. Mané's father (Óscar Ortíz de Pinedo) understands perfectly, buy his wife (Doña Sara García) doesn't allow anybody to clarify and decides they will have to marry. Of course the marriage will be dissolved as soon as possible, they will do this to save her reputation.

What nobody expects is that between Mané and Cutberto a little spark changes everything, they fall in love, but with her parents around, things get bad and they end up fighting and thinking they hate each other. Only him can save that relationship... but, is he ready? She's been a little hurtful...

Pedro Infante proves one more time that besides a great singer and actor, he was also a great comedian. Watch ESCUELA DE VAGABUNDOS, and if you watch ROMEO CONTRA JULIETA, do it on your own risk...