During a haute couture fashion show, an incident occurs. A policeman (Francisco Arenzana) asks the head of the fashion show, Don Amaro (Manuel Díaz González), to present the young model Tona (Lyla Rocco) to the inspector in order to tell him that her former fiancé has been murdered. Tona, who already has a new boyfriend (Alfredo Mayo) whom she intends to marry , falls into real fear because she has something to hide.
This mediocre film turns out to be a simple and light-hearted melodrama with a murderer in the middle. In ¨Alta Costura¨ an ex-boyfriend of a haute couture mannequin is found dead by the girl, who about to marry runs away and tells nothing, then the police will attempt to reconstruct the facts, offering an insight of what goes on behind the modeling salon curtains. However, despite the crime, the film cannot be defined as a crime thriller, since there is hardly any intrigue, suspense or action, so the story merely describes the lives of the models, their loves and relationships with their boyfriends and their desire to get married, all while they parade in luxurious Balenciaga dresses through the catwalks.
In this film the only thing worth mentioning are the luxurious dresses in which the beautiful models parade, being designed by Cristóbal Balenciaga Eizaguirre (1895 - 1972), known simply as Balenciaga, was a prestigious Spanish fashion designer, founder of the eponymous fashion house. Considered one of the most important creators of haute couture, he carried out his work mainly in the city of Paris for more than three decades, and his clothes were even worn by famous Hollywood actresses. Previously, he had training as a tailor and various brands of his own in Spain. Contemporary of Coco Chanel and Christian Dior, he is the most important Spanish haute couture designer in history along with Manuel Pertegaz and Elio Berhanyer.
There is a good main cast made up of actresses and actors playing the models and their boyfriends, some on the rise or others already established such as Lyla Rocco, María Martín, Laura Valenzuela, Dina Sten, Margarita Lozano, Alfredo Mayo, Mario Berriatúa. Adding a good support cast with some familiar faces, such as: Rosario García Ortega, Gustavo Re, Julia Lajos , Adriano Domínguez, Manuel Díaz González, Pilar Gómez Ferrer, Rosa Palomar and two young people who will have a long and prosperous career: Arturo Fernández and Antonio Ferrandis.
Adequate cinematography in black and white by notorious cameraman Heinrich Gärtner (as Enrique Guerner). The motion picture was mediocrely but professionally directed by Luis Marquina, and nothing special. Luis Marquina was a film craftsman who was born in Barcelona (1904) and died in Madrid (1980). In his beginnings he was sound engineer , but was Luis Buñuel who gave him the chance to shoot his first movie: Don Quintin el amargao (1934), based on Carlos Arniches play. Marquina was a writer, producer and director, and had a prolific career, writing and directing all kind of genres with penchant for musical and comedy; he made various coproductions as well. Being known for The Gossiper (1938), La viudita naviera (1962), Siege of Terror (1970), Backfire !. Crucero de verano, Su hermano y él, Malvaloca, Torbellino , El capitán veneno, Noche fantástica, Ventolera , Navidades en Junio, Fabulous fraud, Adiós Mimí Pompón, Maribel y la extraña familia, la batalla del domingo, Siege of Terror. Rating: 4.5/10 . Mediocre but passable at times.
