A Última Canção

A fine film based on the life of a singer of "cuplés," a popular Spanish musical genre. It bears great similarity to the classic "Dama de las Camelias" with a tragic ending. The music is fine. The Sarita Montiel singing is warm and exotic, very easy listening. However, purists might prefer the original style of "cuplé" singers, a bit less warm.

I had the privilege of seeing EL ULTIMO CUPLE in Paris during the Festival d'Automne in December 1981. Sarita Montiel, absolutely gorgeous in a mink coat, was in attendance and was given a standing ovation at the Saint-Germain-des-Près movie theater where three Montiel films were shown in an all-night presentation. EL ULTIMO CUPLE opened the evening and I was in awe at the beauty and talent of Sarita Montiel. She was charming in her speech to the house, that was fully packed, and I left the movie theater completely in love with the great Spanish star. I had already seen LA VIOLETERA, CARMEN LA DE RONDA, PECADO DE AMOR, MI ULTIMO TANGO, LA REINA DEL CHANTECLER and other Montiel films, but EL ULTIMO CUPLE may well be Montiel's signature performance, followed by LA VIOLETERA, and I have always gone back to it, time after time. This film is a national treasure. I am glad it has been restored and given the proper treatment it deserves.

EL ULTIMO CUPLE is a must-see for any Spanish cinema buff, in fact any admirer of Spanish culture. The movie has many layers that make it a favorite in the Spanish-speaking world, and is being seen by the newer generations, as we in the U.S. see "The Wizard of Us." It is a star-studded, more accessible alternative, to the heavier Spanish "zarzuela" or operetta. First, it is about cuples, "couplets" - simple Spanish songs from popular poems. In this respect, the movie, and its soundtrack are the ultimate collection of couplets. Secondly, the plot is woven so that nearly every major facet (now known as cliche') of Spanish culture is revealed in the diverse songs, and plot twists. These include the main regional costumes and dances, bullfighting rituals, the devotion to the Virgin Mary and local popular Saints, women's tragic position in life - dedicated to their men, and various folkloric songs that are not couplets. The latter include "Valencia" (about the orange growing province), and "La Madelon" (the French WW I hymn, also sung in Spain). In third place, and I'll stop here, it is a showcase for the extraodinary talent (which includes beauty and sensuality) of the Spanish World's star of the Century: Sarita Montiel, and at her prime.

Barcelona 1950s. María Luján (Sara Montiel), a famous star-business performer singing from the 1920s works at ¨El Molino¨ Cabaret , she is now forgotten , broke and alone . Juan Contreras (Armando Calvo), her ex-entrepreneur and ex-boyfriend , finds her singing at a modest theater in a variety show where people ignore how great she was . María and Contreras have an emotional reunion in her dressing room and start remembering their past . 1910 , Madrid , she lived modestly with her aunt Paca (Matilde Muñoz Sampedro) and Maria won a beauty contest . She was engaged to Cándido Chamorro (José Moreno) who worked at a watch repair shop . Cándido steals money from the shop , discovered and is imprisoned . Cándido is released but soon realizes that he has nothing to offer María so is enlisted and he volunteers for the African Army . Meanwhile , Maria gets a big success and soon she is singing in Paris where she is deemed as a superstar . 1919 , at the Moulin Rouge the spectators adore her and the men are all at her feet including a drunken Russian noble , Grand Duke Vladymir of Russia (Alfredo Mayo) , who forces her . But Contreras intervenes and ends up wounded in a duel with him . María realizes that Juan truly loves her and, moved with gratitude , swears eternal love to him . The couple tours America where María continues her triumphant career performing in the best venues from Buenos Aires to New York . Back in Madrid Maria meets Pepe Molina , (Enrique Vera) an aspiring Torero and she falls in love for him . They begin a torrid love story that is soon the scandal of the day . Maria uses her money and influence to advance Pepe's career and he soon becomes a famous bullfighter but a sad tragedy takes place .

Musical drama full of songs and attractive scenarios , being paced in a long flashback reminiscing about her glorious spectacles when she was received like a goddess as well as her turbulent past and distresses . Dealing with her rising , becoming the singing sensation of the time to her fall . It achieved a big hit , thanks to its 24 songs , 11 played by Sara Montiel. The film had problems with censorship due to some brief erotic elements , as when the original script of El Ultimo Cuple was submitted to the censors, as required by law in General Franco's regime, it was rejected . It was re-exhibited in 1973 , approx. 138 minutes of runtime ; 28 minutes more than first version . "The Last Torch Song" packs a brilliant cinematography by José F Aguayo . Evocative original musical score by Juan Solano filled of known and classic Spanish songs . The motion picture was professionally directed by Juan De Orduña and exhibited by the powerful production company CIFESA , the main filming enterprise from Franquismo . It was a big hit and considered to be one of the greatest successes of the Spanish cinema .

Sara Montiel is frankly well as one very highly sensual singer , making lavish utilization of her considerable physical assets , attractive countenance , charms and whatever acting ability was necessary , Sara made her María Luján the most enticing , heartless and hot-blooded screen heroine of the Spanish cinema . At the beginning , she won a beauty and talent contest held by Cifesa, the most influential Spanish film studio of that era . In the next four years she appeared in 14 films for Cifesa , including her first international success Locura De Amor (1948), which led to a long term-contract in Mexico. She quickly established herself as one of the most popular film actors of the decade. They starred 14 films between 1950 and 1954. Hollywood came calling and she was formally introduced to American moviegoers in Veracruz (1954), playing Gary Cooper's love interest. Later she filmed she worked at Warner Bros in Serenade (1956) with Mario Lanza, directed by Anthony Mann, who became her first husband. After starring in Samuel Fuller's Yuma (1957) with Rod Steiger, Sarita shot El Ultimo Cuplé (1957) ("The Last Song") in Spain, a musical production that turned out to be the biggest box-office success in Spain's film history. It played for over one year in the same theaters in which it opened. A similar reaction followed in Western Europe and Latin America. Sarita Montiel had become the most popular actress-singer of 1957 and a national treasure for Spain.The unprecedented success of "El Último Cuple" threw a wrench into her Hollywood career, as she was offered a multimillion-dollar contract to star in four films in Europe . Her next vehicle, La Violetera (1958) ("The Violet Peddler"), confirmed Sara's popularity and broke the box-office records set by the previous movie. The theme song from "La Violetera" became Montiel's signature song as well as ¨El Relicario¨ from ¨El Ultimo Cuple¨

Sorry but the writers of previous commentaries in this section seem to be confusing "El Último Cuplé" with another movie or movies. One of them writes that this film "bears a resemblance to Dama de las Camelias. " The writer is probably confusing "El Último Cuplé" with another Sara Montiel vehicle titled "La Bella Lola" (1962) which is based on "Camille" the classic novel by Alexander Dumas Jr.

Another writer states that the film includes "nearly every major facet of Spanish culture" and names as examples, "main regional costumes and dances, bullfighting rituals, the devotion to the Virgin Mary and local popular Saints, women's tragic position in life dedicated to their men, etc." Except for the fact that one of the characters in "El Último Cuplé" is a bullfighter all the other claims in that commentary are simply false. "Cuplé" is not about regional costumes or dances, the Virgin Mary or saints do not show up anywhere, and the plot has nothing to do with "women's tragic position in life." If there is one thing clear in this film is that the main character, as played by Sarita Montiel, is a sexually-charged liberated woman so I have no idea where the commentator got that outrageous information.

It is tragic that some confused or irresponsible people write comments and provide misleading false data in these pages and nobody checks its accuracy. Of course, to check everything would be an impossible task for IMDb but there should be a warning to every writer that before they post anything they must be absolutely sure about the assertions being made. Maybe a proper warning should read: "do not comment on any film you have not seen in more than ten years." Regarding "El Ultimo Cuplé" my opinion is that director Juan de Orduña and the screenwriters hit the jackpot by choosing the right cuplés (songs) in order to support the film's story line. By doing this, the not so brilliant script becomes credible and moving, impacting the viewers and making this low budget production an unforgettable experience. Photographer José Aguayo should also be commended for his use of Eastmancolor and making the film look like a much more expensive production while composer Juan Solano deserves praise for writing the soundtrack music and arranging all the songs. But, lets face it: Sara Montiel's beauty and talent as both an actor and a singer makes the whole package irresistible.

"El Ultimo Cuplé" was recently digitally restored and released in DVD by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, unfortunately in Spain only. A non-restored version was issued in the United States on a cheap double-feature DVD by SlingShot Entertainment in Burbank, California and has been sold at Wal-Mart, Amazon.com and other on-line stores. Pity! "El Ultimo Cuplé" deserves a deluxe edition, restored, with surround sound and extras including English subtitles.