El Santo ("The Saint") was a luchador enmascarado ("masked professional wrestler") who portrayed a fictionalized version of himself in numerous luchador films from 1961 to 1984.
It is unclear as to the exact date when Santo (real name Rodolfo Guzmán) made his professional wrestling debut, but by the end of the 1930s, he was an established wrestler and had worked under a variety of ring names and gimmicks both masked and unmasked.[1] One of these aliases was Murciélago Enmascarado II ("The Masked Bat II"), with the implication that he was related to the original Murciélago Enmascarado, and after Murciélago made a complaint to a wrestling commission, Guzmán was barred from using that name.[2] After losing the ability to use the Murciélago name, Guzmán's manager wanted him to be part of a new group of masked wrestlers debuting in 1942, all dressed in silver. Guzmán chose the Santo persona, and was often referred to as El Enmascarado de Plata ("The Man in the Silver Mask").[2] Ten years later, Santo was a beloved household name, despite being a rudo ("bad guy wrestler"), and he was asked by José G. Cruz to star in a television serial named El Enmascarado de Plata, in order to capitalise on his popularity and change his image into that of a técnico ("good guy wrestler"). Santo declined as he feared that it would not be a commercial success. This saw a late casting change as Médico Asesino, a wrestler who wore a white mask similar to Santo's, was now the lead, and the title of the serial began to refer to the villain. The serial's villain (portrayed by Médico Asesino) was originally intended to be its hero and would have been portrayed by Santo. The serial did become a success, which convinced Santo to make his first foray into film, although he would be portraying the masked sidekick character El Enmascarado, alongside Fernando Osés who portrayed the hero, a masked detective named El Incognito. El Cerebro del Mal ("The Evil Brain") and Hombres Infernales ("The Infernal Men") were filmed in Cuba, but due to the Cuban Revolution, they failed to find a distributor. With the success of Santo Contra los Zombies ("Santo vs. the Zombies"), in which Santo played a fictionalized version of himself, the producers of El Cerebro del Mal and Hombres Infernales were able to release their films by rebranding them under the Santo name instead.
Many of the luchador films Santo starred in were low-budget and often had similar storylines, in which Santo would fight characters from the science fiction and horror genres of the time. They were also quickly produced, so it was not uncommon for there to be several Santo films in a single year. Santo would appear in a number of films with his in-ring rival Blue Demon, and then later, with Mil Máscaras. In fact, it was because of a contract dispute involving Santo and an injury to Blue Demon, that resulted in the rise of Máscaras, then a little known luchador enmascarado, who would become famous through his own series of films. Las momias de Guanajuato ("The Mummies of Guanajuato"), released in 1970 and co-starring Blue Demon and Máscaras, became Santo's most financially successful film. Blue Demon invited him to star in the multi-luchador film Los Campeones Justicieros ("The Champions of Justice"), but Santo turned him down as he was too busy making other films to participate.[3] As luchador films fell out of fashion during the 1970s, Santo's appearances in them dwindled and his final film credit was in 1982, two years before his death.
Santo's legacy within luchador films lived on through his son, El Hijo del Santo ("The Son of the Saint"), who portrayed him in the 1993 biopic Santo: la leyenda del enmascarado de plata ("Santo: The Legend of the Man in the Silver Mask"), as well as in the 2001 film Infraterrestre ("Infraterrestrial"), a revival of the Santo film series.[4] The Santo character has appeared in numerous films not authorized by Rodolfo Guzmán or his family, including the Turkish film 3 Dev Adam ("Three Giant Men") and the Canadian film Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter among others.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Santo contra el cerebro del mal ("Santo vs. the Evil Brain") | El Enmascarado | Filmed in 1958 and later branded as a Santo movie, despite El Santo portraying a different character |
| Santo contra hombres infernales ("Santo vs. the Infernal Men") | |||
| Santo Contra los Zombies ("Santo vs. the Zombies") | El Santo | Also known as Invasion of the Zombies One of the four Santo films that were dubbed in English during his lifetime | |
| Santo contra el rey del crimen ("Santo vs. the King of Crime") | |||
| Santo en el hotel de la muerte ("Santo in the Hotel of Death") | |||
| 1962 | Santo contra el cerebro diabolico ("Santo vs. the Diabolical Brain") | ||
| Santo contra las mujeres vampiro ("Santo vs. The Vampire Women") | Also known as Samson vs. the Vampire Women One of the four Santo films that were dubbed in English during his lifetime | ||
| 1963 | Santo en el museo de cera ("Santo in the Wax Museum") | Also known as Samson in the Wax Museum One of the four Santo films that were dubbed in English during his lifetime | |
| Santo contra el estrangulador ("Santo vs. the Strangler") | |||
| Santo contra el espectro del estrangulador ("Santo vs. the Ghost of the Strangler") | |||
| 1964 | Blue Demon contra el poder satánico ("Blue Demon vs. Satanic Power") | Cameo appearance | |
| Santo en Atacan las brujas ("Santo in The Witches Attack") | Also known as Santo en la casa de las brujas | ||
| Santo en el hacha diabólica ("Santo in The Diabolical Axe") | |||
| 1965 | Santo en los profanadores de tumbas ("Santo in The Grave Robbers") | ||
| Santo en el Barón Brakola ("Santo in Baron Brakola") | |||
| 1966 | Santo contra la invasión de los marcianos ("Santo vs. the Martian Invasion") | ||
| Santo contra los villanos del ring ("Santo vs. the Villains of the Ring") | Santo's last B&W film | ||
| Santo en Operación 67 ("Santo in Operation 67") | Santo's first color film | ||
| 1967 | Santo en el tesoro de Moctezuma ("Santo in The Treasure of Montezuma") | ||
| 1968 | Santo en el tesoro de Drácula ("Santo in The Treasure of Dracula") | Also known as The Vampire and Sex (a separate adult-rated version) | |
| Santo contra Capulina ("Santo vs. Capulina") | |||
| 1969 | Santo contra Blue Demon en la Atlántida ("Santo vs. Blue Demon in Atlantis") | ||
| Santo y Blue Demon contra los monstruos ("Santo and Blue Demon vs. the Monsters") | |||
| Santo y Blue Demon en el mundo de los muertos ("Santo and Blue Demon in the World of the Dead") | |||
| Santo contra los cazadores de cabezas ("Santo vs. the Headhunters") | |||
| Santo frente a la muerte ("Santo Faces Death") | Also known as Santo vs. the Mafia Killers | ||
| 1970 | Santo contra los jinetes del terror ("Santo vs. the Terror Riders") | Also known as The Lepers and Sex (a separate adult-rated version) | |
| Santo en la venganza de las mujeres vampiro ("Santo in "The Revenge of the Vampire Women") | |||
| Santo contra la mafia del vicio ("Santo vs. the Mafia of Vice") | Also known as Mission Sabotage | ||
| Santo en la venganza de la momia ("Santo in The Mummy's Revenge") | |||
| Las momias de Guanajuato ("The Mummies of Guanajuato") | |||
| 1971 | Santo en el misterio de la perla negra ("Santo in The Mystery of the Black Pearl") | Also known as The Caribbean Connection Released in Spain in 1971, but not released in Mexico until 1975 | |
| Santo contra la hija de Frankenstein ("Santo vs. Frankenstein's Daughter") | |||
| Santo en misión suicida ("Santo in Suicide Mission") | |||
| Santo contra los asesinos de otros mundos ("Santo vs. the Killers from Other Worlds") | Also known as Santo vs. the Living Atom | ||
| Santo y el tigresa en el aguila real ("Santo and the Tigress in The Royal Eagle") | |||
| 1972 | Santo y Blue Demon contra Drácula y el Hombre Lobo ("Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and the Wolf Man") | ||
| Santo contra los secuestradores ("Santo vs. the Kidnappers") | |||
| Santo contra la magia negra ("Santo vs. Black Magic") | |||
| Santo y Blue Demon en las bestias del terror ("Santo and Blue Demon in The Beasts of Terror") | |||
| Santo contra las lobas ("Santo vs. the She-Wolves") | |||
| Santo en Anónimo mortal ("Santo in Anonymous Death Threat") | |||
| Santo y Blue Demon contra el doctor Frankenstein ("Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dr. Frankenstein") | |||
| El Sabado del Santo ("Saturday of Santo") | Television series Unknown number of episodes | ||
| 1973 | Santo contra el doctor Muerte ("Santo vs. Dr. Death") | Also known as Santo Strikes Again and The Masked Man Strikes Again One of the four Santo films that were dubbed in English during his lifetime | |
| 1974 | Santo en la venganza de la llorona ("Santo in The Revenge of the Crying Woman") | ||
| 1975 | Santo en Oro negro ("Santo in Black Gold") | Also known as La Noche de San Juan | |
| 1976 | México de mis amores ("Mexico of my Loves") | Documentary Archival footage | |
| 1977 | Santo en el Misterio en las Bermudas ("Santo in The Bermuda Mystery") | ||
| 1979 | Santo en la frontera del terror ("Santo in The Border of Terror") | Also known as Santo vs. the White Shadow | |
| 1981 | Santo contra el asesino de televisión ("Santo vs. the TV Killer") | ||
| Chanoc y el hijo del Santo contra los vampiros asesinos ("Chanoc and the Son of Santo vs. the Killer Vampires") | Cameo appearance | ||
| 1982 | Santo en el puño de la muerte ("Santo in The Fist of Death") | ||
| Santo en la furia de los karatekas ("Santo in The Fury of the Karate Experts") | |||
| 1984 | Contrapunto ("Counterpoint") | Talk show At least 1 episode Final media appearance, unmasked on the show |
. Madigan, Dan. Dan Madigan. Mondo Lucha a Go Go: the bizarre & honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperCollins Publishers. 2007. El Santo. 71–78. 9780060855833.