Escuta Minha Canção

"Escucha mi cancion" aka "Listen to my song" aka " Ecoute Ma Chanson" was the movie which suddenly made Joselito Jimenez an international megastar.I have a warm spot in my heart for this one which I saw in a movie theater when I was a kid.

"Escucha mi cancion" has a much better screenplay than the previous efforts.Although the long flashback is badly introduced in the movie,children will hardly notice it and this film,like all the Joselito saga ,was aimed at a young audience.Religious fervor has almost disappeared (Only two sentences in the whole movie when Joselito/Cinderella is watching the stars and when his mother tells him that God will help them;that's all,no priest,no church,no prayers ,which is quite amazing,compared to the two "Ruisenor" ).

"Escucha mi cancion" was obviously made for an international audience;even the songs have a more easy-listening feel.They are less numerous than in the previous films,but they are more palatable for a non-Spanish audience.

Joselito plays an orphan a shrew treats badly.But he takes a job in a gypsies ' small circus as a singer of course .Thus he will be able to travel across Spain and to find his mother.The only thing he 's got from her is a medal.Television will be a great help in his search.

Like in "Saeta del Ruisenor" ,(the American millionaire) ,there's a good fairy here too:an aristocrat ,a marquis ! Do not forget your box of Kleenex for the last third.

Agreeable , hilarious and fun Spanish co-production starred by the child prodigy Joselito singing a great number of songs . Joselito (himself) is a naughty and rogue waif boy , though he is really a wealthy heir . Here Joselito plays an orphan who escapes of his adopted relative and joins a circus troupe (led by Barta Barri) , but then a mean entrepreneur takes him and treats badly . Joselito again gets away ; then , he is threatened by his previous shrew boss to follow performing songs . Along the way Joselito will be able to travel across Spain and to find his aristocrat mummy (Luz Márquez) whose dad is a rich marquis (Jesús Tordesillas) . The only thing he 's got from her is a medal . Television will be a great help in his search as he shows up in various television spectacles , getting a big hit . Later on , the wealthy mother called Marta -who married secretly and whose husband had a deadly car crash along with Joselito-baby - , meets him by watching TV when ¨The little nightingale¨ is showing a spectacle with an Universitary ¨Tuna¨ , singing the famous song ¨Clavelitos , Clavelitos se llama mi amor¨.

This is a sensitive story proceeded in simplicity , delicacy and humor by Antonio Del Amo and well photographed by Juán Marimé . Here Joselito , who has a great success due to his magnificent voice , is well supported by a good plethora of secondaries as Luz Márquez , Jesús Tordesillas , Salvador Soler , and Barta Barri who played several Spaghetti Westerns and Peplum . This is a typical children/teenager film on the pretext that Joselito sings a lot of songs . In fact , Joselito was introduced to the movie business in 1956 by filmmaker Antonio Del Amo , who directed him in the popular ¨Nightingale trilogy¨: El pequeño Ruiseñor , Saeta del Ruiseñor and Ruiseñor de las cumbres . His first feature was El Pequeño Ruiseñor (1957) ("The Little Nightingale"), where he earned his famous nickname . That's why he sings like the nightingales . In his films Joselito is usually a singer boy who carries out antics , childish pranks , mischiefs and naughtiness . Joselito met actor , singer/actor Luis Mariano at a recital , and he convinced him to play together in French TV and Radio shows . He was widely known in Spain when he became a widely successful child star , following to ¨El Ruiseñor De Las Cumbres¨ , ¨Saeta Del Ruiseñor¨ and ¨El Pequeño Coronel¨. The main role "Joselito" is played by himself in a phenomenal manner , can be said that he is perfectly adequate to his measure . He was a milestone in Spanish "child prodigies" under Franco along with Marisol , Pili and Mili and especially Pablito Calvo who starred the hits ¨The Bait¨ , ¨Mi Tio Jacinto¨ and ¨Marcelino Bread and Wine¨ . And the producers trying to keep them as little kids for as long as possible . Due to false advertising by the studios that made their movies, and which wanted to make him appear younger than they really were , an obsession that haunted them through the whole of their careers.

¨Escucha mi canción¨ "Listen to my song" is a joyful as well as fun Spanish musical/melodrama movie , professionally realized by Antonio Del Amo . This an attractive and feeling movie full of mirth ,entertainment , amusement , humor touches , agreeable message and drama , as in final takes places the ordinary happy end . The scenarios in which develops the deeds are adequate and well designed . Augusto Alguero , Cesare A. Bixio , Genaro Monreal , and Antonio Segovia's songs and musical score respond appropriately to the ambient , originating a careful atmosphere . Luminous cinematography by Juán Marimé , though a perfect remastering is really necessary .

Of course , Joselito steals the show as the singer boy. Spanish film studios were looking for a new child star to follow the steps of Pablito Calvo, and make popular and populist folkloric movies and they found Joselito . After the international success of El Pequeño Ruiseñor , and following successful films such as ¨La Saeta Del Ruiseñor¨ , ¨Bello Recuerdo¨ , ¨Los Dos Golfillos¨, which were big box-office hits in Spain during Franco's dictatorship he became Spain's most famous child actor , outstanding his highly expressive face and eyes , enormous eyes and innocent, angelical face .Getting successes all around the world , France , South America and even Japan . His pictures touched the hearts of numerous spectators by the time .His hits expanded all over the world , even Pier Paolo Pasolini included one song in his prestigious film ¨Mamma Roma¨(1962) with Anna Magnani . In his films he often sings Flamenco Cante , Saetas , Soleadas and other Folkloric songs . After several movies and records, and already a big star as a singer and an actor in Europe, the next move was trying to triumph in America, so Joselito went to Mexico where he filmed various projects, starting by ¨El Caballo Blanco¨ , ¨Aventuras de Joselito en América¨ (1960), which paired him with Mexican child star 'Cesáreo Quezadas Pulgarcito to grant local box-office . His success even reached around the world , in fact he was discovered as a singer by Luis Mariano, who got him to perform in France, pretending he was 9 at the moment of his debut, when he actually was 13 . However, life was not too glamorous for Joselito, as he was treated almost as a sideshow act by his managers, not allowing him to become an ordinary teenager , and even locking him in his room between rehearsals so he couldn't meet girls . He was forced to keep his childlike image up to 1969 (when he was in his mid-twenties) in ¨Loca Juventud¨ , ¨Falso Heredero¨ and when he appeared in his last film , ¨Prisionero En La Ciudad¨ (1969). But, as his voice had long broken, he was not successful anymore . Retired from acting at early age to become a drifter , even working as a mercenary . Disappearing from public life until it was discovered much later that he had become a heroin addict and even worked as a mercenary in Africa . An attempt of a comeback as an adult proved unsuccessful, as the tastes of the audience had changed, and his voice didn't resemble the one he had as a kid, so Joselito definitely retired from show business to his home in Utiel (Valencia), where he, now clean and sober, lives a quiet life far from movie and recording studios. Nowadays , he has reappeared doing brief TV interventions and cinema such as ¨Torrente¨ and ¨Spanish movie¨ .

The filmmaker Antonio Del Amo as well as the famous producer Cesáreo Gonzalez from his production Company : Suevia Films got a big hit in this picture , obtaining a great achievement in South America , managing perfectly to the performers and taking advantage of them , giving the best of his acting . Here Joselito plays an unfortunate young who gets away and takes a job in a gypsies ' small circus as a notorious singer , of course , and outstanding his spectacular voice . There Joselito singing the following songs : Pueblecito de estrellas , Doce cascabeles , Mi tito Fernando , Platerillo canta el grillo ,Violino Tzigano , Lloraba un Zagal , Colorin de la niña bonita , Fandangos , Clavelitos , Violino Tzigano , and Platerillo . His usual director was Antonio Del Amo .The craftsman filmmaker Del Amo is specially known for shooting " Joselito" films as Saeta del Ruiseñor, El Ruiseñor de las cumbres, Escucha mi cancion, El Pequeño Coronel , Los dos golfillos and Aventuras de Joselito en America ; though he also directed Spaghetti Western as El hijo de Jesse James and Eurospy as 001 Operacion Caribe and dramas as Sierra maldita considered to be his best movie .