| Angelitos negros | |
| Director: | Joselito Rodríguez |
| Producer: | Ramón Peón |
| Starring: | Pedro Infante Emilia Guiú Rita Montaner Chela Castro |
| Music: | Nacho García Raúl Lavista |
| Cinematography: | José Ortiz Ramos |
| Editing: | Fernando Martínez |
| Studio: | Producciones Rodríguez Hermanos |
| Distributor: | Variety Distribution |
| Runtime: | 100 minutes |
| Country: | Mexico |
| Language: | Spanish |
Angelitos negros (English: "Little Black Angels") is a 1948 Mexican drama film directed and co-written by Joselito Rodriguez and starring Pedro Infante.[1] [2]
The film deals with themes such as racism, self deprecation, negligence, poverty and social classes.
Jose Carlos Ruiz (Pedro Infante) is a famous singer that meets Ana Luisa de la Fuente (Emilia Guiú), an assistant manager of a girls school. José Carlos begins to fall in love with her and they become engaged. Then Jose Carlos begins to realize that his future wife is prejudiced against black people, because she does not accept that he performs alongside mulatto artists.
Ana Luisa herself has a nanny called Merce (Rita Montaner) that has cared for her all her life and is a woman of color, she is accustomed to her but openly dislikes her. José Carlos tries his best to resolve the conflicts that his wife's racist attitude brings to their family. Ana Luisa soon gives birth to a daughter who surprisingly turns out to be dark-skinned, horrifying Ana Luisa. They name her Belén (Titina Romay).
Belen suffers a lot because her mother does not love her due to the color of her skin. Because of that Belen gets paint on one occasion and paints her face white trying to be accepted by her mom. Ana Luisa blames Jose Carlos' family for having African ancestry. But José Carlos knows the truth. Father Francisco (Nicolás Rodríguez) revealed to him that Ana Luisa's real mother is the nanny Merce who in her youth had an affair with her boss, Mr. de la Fuente. In order for her daughter to receive the benefits of inheriting a rich position, Merce renounced her motherhood to be close to her daughter, and took a role as a servant in the household.
Nana Merce falls ill and Jose Carlos tries to bring Isabel (Chela Castro), a fellow artist to take care of Belen because her mother does not give her any attention. Then tragedy occurs because Ana Luisa comes to believe that her husband wants to stick his lover in their home and she reacts violently throwing nanny Merce down the stairs by accident. On her deathbed, Merce tells Ana Luisa the truth about her parentage. After this shocking revelation, Ana Luisa accepts her heritage and cries for her mother after she dies. She also decides to start loving her daughter and gives her a hug.[3]
Pedro Infante sings the title song Angelitos Negros. Andrés Eloy Blanco's poem Píntame Angelitos Negros[4] [5] was set to music by the Mexican composer Manuel Álvarez Maciste.[6] It's a protest against racism.
The instrumental music was written by Nacho García and Raúl Lavista.