El analfabeto
Encyclopedia
El analfabeto is a Mexican
comedy
film
, directed by Miguel M. Delgado. It is the second Cantinflas film presented by Columbia Pictures
starring the prolific actor Mario Moreno "Cantinflas"
and Lilia Prado
.
as proof of identity. However, as an illiterate, Inocencio has no idea of the contents of the letter. While waiting for the local druggist to wait on him so he can have the letter read to him, Inocencio is embarrassed to see that a customer's young daughter is already able to read while he, a grown man, cannot. He leaves without telling the druggist his problem, resolved to go to school and to wait to learn the letter's contents until he can read them for himself, so that never again will he have to share private matters with others because of his own ignorance. After registering at school, he stops by the local bank to ask for a job, having quit his previous employment that morning. Leaving the bank, he meets Blanca, an attractive young woman newly arrived in town, and shows her the way to her new place of employment, partly to avoid admitting he cannot read the written address. The daughter of Blanca's employer is entertaining her fiancé, Aníbal, who finds Blanca appealing and begins to make advances on her almost immediately. These advances are spurned each time; the final time, Aníbal warns her she will regret her refusals.
Over the course of the film, Inocencio gradually learns to read, courts Blanca, and makes both friends and enemies at the bank. He foils a robbery
and then a plot to make him look guilty; the bank manager is so pleased with his honesty that he gives Inocencio a 1000-peso reward, which the grateful man proceeds to spend on a new dress for his godmother
, a traditional regional dress for Blanca to wear in a beauty contest
, and new shoes for himself. While going about his cleaning work in the bank, Inocencio unwittingly drops the lawyer's letter — which he still has yet to read — and a fellow employee with a grudge against him finds the item on the floor. On the day of the contest, Aníbal and the bank employee conspire to make it appear that Blanca has stolen her employer's jewels and passed them to Inocencio. Though both are arrested, the trial is cut short when the bank employee discovers Aníbal has betrayed him and gone alone to claim the inheritance, leaving the employee to reveal the whole plot. Inocencio and his friends rush to Mexico City to thwart the attempt and denounce Aníbal, who is arrested at the lawyer's office after he arrives to claim the funds. The film concludes with Inocencio's and Blanca's wedding.
from Sony Pictures Entertainment
, with Spanish
audio and Spanish and English
subtitles
. This edition of the film is letterbox
ed and in widescreen
format.
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, directed by Miguel M. Delgado. It is the second Cantinflas film presented by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
starring the prolific actor Mario Moreno "Cantinflas"
Cantinflas
Fortino Mario Alfonso Moreno Reyes , was a Mexican comic film actor, producer, and screenwriter known professionally as Cantinflas. He often portrayed impoverished campesinos or a peasant of pelado origin...
and Lilia Prado
Lilia Prado
Lilia Prado was a Mexican actress. After winning a beauty contest she started working in the Mexican cinematographic industry, first as an extra, and later on in leading roles....
.
Plot
Inocencio Prieto y Calvo receives a letter telling him that he is the heir to his uncle's fortune of two million pesos, which he has only to claim by producing his baptismal certificateInfant baptism
Infant baptism is the practice of baptising infants or young children. In theological discussions, the practice is sometimes referred to as paedobaptism or pedobaptism from the Greek pais meaning "child." The practice is sometimes contrasted with what is called "believer's baptism", or...
as proof of identity. However, as an illiterate, Inocencio has no idea of the contents of the letter. While waiting for the local druggist to wait on him so he can have the letter read to him, Inocencio is embarrassed to see that a customer's young daughter is already able to read while he, a grown man, cannot. He leaves without telling the druggist his problem, resolved to go to school and to wait to learn the letter's contents until he can read them for himself, so that never again will he have to share private matters with others because of his own ignorance. After registering at school, he stops by the local bank to ask for a job, having quit his previous employment that morning. Leaving the bank, he meets Blanca, an attractive young woman newly arrived in town, and shows her the way to her new place of employment, partly to avoid admitting he cannot read the written address. The daughter of Blanca's employer is entertaining her fiancé, Aníbal, who finds Blanca appealing and begins to make advances on her almost immediately. These advances are spurned each time; the final time, Aníbal warns her she will regret her refusals.
Over the course of the film, Inocencio gradually learns to read, courts Blanca, and makes both friends and enemies at the bank. He foils a robbery
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
and then a plot to make him look guilty; the bank manager is so pleased with his honesty that he gives Inocencio a 1000-peso reward, which the grateful man proceeds to spend on a new dress for his godmother
Godparent
A godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...
, a traditional regional dress for Blanca to wear in a beauty contest
Beauty contest
A beauty pageant or beauty contest, is a competition that mainly focuses on the physical beauty of its contestants, although such contests often incorporate personality, talent, and answers to judges' questions as judged criteria...
, and new shoes for himself. While going about his cleaning work in the bank, Inocencio unwittingly drops the lawyer's letter — which he still has yet to read — and a fellow employee with a grudge against him finds the item on the floor. On the day of the contest, Aníbal and the bank employee conspire to make it appear that Blanca has stolen her employer's jewels and passed them to Inocencio. Though both are arrested, the trial is cut short when the bank employee discovers Aníbal has betrayed him and gone alone to claim the inheritance, leaving the employee to reveal the whole plot. Inocencio and his friends rush to Mexico City to thwart the attempt and denounce Aníbal, who is arrested at the lawyer's office after he arrives to claim the funds. The film concludes with Inocencio's and Blanca's wedding.
Cast
- Mario Moreno "Cantinflas"CantinflasFortino Mario Alfonso Moreno Reyes , was a Mexican comic film actor, producer, and screenwriter known professionally as Cantinflas. He often portrayed impoverished campesinos or a peasant of pelado origin...
as Inocencio Prieto y Calvo - Lilia PradoLilia PradoLilia Prado was a Mexican actress. After winning a beauty contest she started working in the Mexican cinematographic industry, first as an extra, and later on in leading roles....
as Blanca Morales - Angel Garasa as Don Rómulo González
- Sara GarciaSara GarcíaSara García was a Mexican actress who made her biggest mark during the "Golden Age of Mexican cinema". During the 1940s and 1950s, she often played the part of a no-nonsense but lovable grandmother in numerous Mexican films...
as Doña Epifanita - Miguel Manzano as Fermín
- Carlos AgostíCarlos AgostíCarlos Agostí is a Spanish-born Mexican film actor.-Selected filmography:*The Hidden One ... Octavio Montero*Dos Corazones y un Cielo ... César Ordóñez*El analfabeto ... Aníbal Guzmán...
as Aníbal Guzmán - María Teresa Rivas as Señora González
DVD details
The film is available on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
from Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. is the television and film production/distribution unit of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony...
, with Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
audio and Spanish and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
subtitles
Subtitle (captioning)
Subtitles are textual versions of the dialog in films and television programs, usually displayed at the bottom of the screen. They can either be a form of written translation of a dialog in a foreign language, or a written rendering of the dialog in the same language, with or without added...
. This edition of the film is letterbox
Letterbox
Letterboxing is the practice of transferring film shot in a widescreen aspect ratio to standard-width video formats while preserving the film's original aspect ratio. The resulting videographic image has mattes above and below it; these mattes are part of the image...
ed and in widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
format.