Cantinflas

Cantinflas
Born	Fortino Mario Alfonso Moreno Reyes August 12, 1911(1911-08-12) Mexico City, Mexico
Died	April 20, 1993(1993-04-20) (aged 81) Mexico City, Mexico
Years active	1937–1982
Spouse	Valentina Ivanova (1936-1966)

Fortino Mario Alfonso Moreno Reyes (August 12, 1911 – April 20, 1993) was a Mexican comedian and stage and film actor, known professionally as Cantinflas. He often portrayed impoverished campesinos or a peasant of pelado origin. The character came to be associated with the national identity of Mexico, and allowed "Cantinflas" to establish a long, successful film career that included a foray into Hollywood. Charlie Chaplin once called him "the greatest comedian in the world",^[1] and Moreno has been referred to as the "Charlie Chaplin of Mexico".^[2] To audiences in the United States, he is best remembered as costarring with David Niven in Around the World in 80 Days (1956).

As a pioneer of the cinema of Mexico, Moreno helped usher in its golden era. In addition to being a business leader, he also became involved in Mexico's tangled and often dangerous labor politics. Although he was himself politically conservative, his reputation as a spokesperson for the downtrodden gave his actions authenticity and became important in the early struggle against charrismo, the one-party government's practice of coopting and controlling unions.

Moreover, his character Cantinflas, whose identity became enmeshed with his own, was examined by media critics, philosophers, and linguists, who saw him variably as a danger to Mexican society, a bourgeois puppet, a kind philanthropist, a venture capitalist, a transgressor of gender roles, a pious Catholic, a verbal innovator, and a picaresque underdog.

Personal life

He was born the sixth of twelve children to Pedro Moreno Esquivel, an impoverished mail carrier, and María de la Soledad Reyes Guizar (from Cotija, Michoacan). Four of their twelve children died due to miscarriages. Eight survived: Pedro, Jose ("Pepe"), Eduardo, Fortino, Esperanza, Catalina, Enrique and Roberto.

Fortino Mario Alfonso Moreno Reyes was born in the Santa María la Redonda neighbourhood of Mexico City, and grew up in the tough neighborhood of Tepito. ^[3] He made it through difficult situations with the quick wit and street smarts that he would later apply in his films. After an unsuccessful attempt to enter the United States through California, he became a prizefighter in his teens as a source of income.^[4] His comic personality led him to a circus tent show, and from there to legitimate theatre and film.

He married Valentina Ivanova Zubareff, of Russian ethnicity, on October 27, 1936, and remained with her until her death in January 1966. A son was born to Moreno in 1961 by another woman;^[5] the child was adopted by Valentina Ivanova and was named Mario Arturo Moreno Ivanova, causing some references to erroneously refer to him as "Cantinflas' adopted son".^[6]

Cantinflas was a friend of Elizabeth Taylor and Mike Todd.^[7]

He served as president of the Mexican actor's guild known as Asociación Nacional de Actores (ANDA, "National Association of Actors") and as first secretary general of the independent filmworkers' union Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Producción Cinematográfica (STPC). Following his retirement, Moreno devoted his life to helping others through charity and humanitarian organizations, especially those dedicated to helping children. His contributions to the Roman Catholic Church and orphanages made him a folk hero in Mexico.

In 1993, after his death in Mexico City of lung cancer, thousands appeared on the rainy day for his funeral. The ceremony was a national event, lasting three days. His body lay in state in the Rotonda de los Hombres Ilustres (Rotunda of Distinguished Men) and he was honored by many heads of state and the United States Senate, which held a moment of silence for him.

After his death, a 12-year legal battle ensued between Mario Moreno Ivanova, Cantinflas' son and heir to his estate, and the actor's blood nephew, Eduardo Moreno Laparade over the control of 34 films made by Cantinflas. The nephew claimed his uncle gave him a written notice to the rights for movies on his deathbed. Moreno Ivanova argued he is the direct heir of Cantinflas and the rights belong to him. Moreno Laparade won the lawsuit twice,^[8] but Moreno Ivanova eventually triumphed after two appeals.^[9] In 2005, Mario Moreno Ivanova, Jr. won rights to 39 films and name.

At the same time, another legal battle ensued between Columbia Pictures and Moreno Ivanova over control of these films. Columbia claims that it bought the rights to the 34 films four decades ago with the court noting several discrepancies in the papers. Moreno Ivanova wanted the rights to the films to remain his and more generally, Mexico's, as a national treasure. On June 2, 2001 the eight year battle was resolved with Columbia retaining ownership over the 34 disputed films.^[10]

Origin of name

As a young man, Cantinflas performed a variety of acts in travelling tents, and it was here that he earned the nickname "Cantinflas", although the origin of the name is obscured by legend. According to one obituary, "Cantinflas" is a meaningless name invented to prevent his parents from knowing he was in the entertainment business, which they considered a shameful occupation. In another version, the Mexican media critic and theorist Carlos Monsiváis cites a legendary account of the origin of Cantinflas's characteristic speech:

Entertainment career

Cantinflas with Bing Crosby in the 1960 movie Pepe, his second and last American film.

Before starting his professional life in entertainment, he explored a number of possible careers, such as medicine and professional boxing, before joining the entertainment world as a dancer. By 1930 he was involved in Mexico City's carpa (travelling tent) circuit, performing in succession with the Ofelia, Sotelo of Azcapotzalco, and finally the Valentina carpa, where he met his future wife. At first he tried to imitate Al Jolson by smearing his face with black paint, but later separated himself to form his own identity as an impoverished slum dweller with baggy pants, a rope for a belt, and a distinctive mustache.^[4] In the tents, he danced, performed acrobatics, and performed in the roles of several different professions.

Cantinflismo

In 1936, Moreno made his debut in Mexico City's Folies Bergères Theater. Now removed from the lower-class environment that pandered to baser humor, cantinflismo, the political joke that challenged the notion that Cantinflas' nonsense was vacuous, was born. In 1937, the politician Vicente Lombardo Toledano responded to a political rival: "If [labor leader Luis] Morones has decided to show his dialectical prowess, let him argue with Cantinflas". Now directly invoked in the debate, Cantinflas responded:

Media figures and intellectuals fleshed out the definition and applications of cantinflismo in subsequent publications. Monsiváis interprets it in the context of the left-leaning presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas, calling it a "mock[ery] of proletariat discourse from glorious senselessness".^[13] But perhaps the contemporary writer Miguel del Río's elaboration is the most eloquent:

The political bent of Moreno's work was a marked turn, and his comedic innocence no longer sufficed to shield him from the criticism that political involvement entailed.

Film career

A caricature of Cantinflas on the poster for Águila o sol (meaning Heads or Tails) under the alternative title Cantinflas en el teatro.

In the mid-1930s, Cantinflas met Russian producer Jacques Gelman and subsequently partnered with him to form their own film production venture. Gelman produced, directed, and distributed, while Cantinflas acted. Cantinflas made his film debut in 1936 with No te engañes corazón but the film received little attention. He established Posa Films in 1939, producing short films that allowed him to develop the Cantinflas character, but it was in 1940 that he finally became a movie star, after shooting Ahí está el detalle ("There's the rub", literally "There lies the detail"). The phrase that gave that movie its name became a "Cantinflas" (or catch phrase) for the remainder of his career. The film was a breakthrough in Latin America and was later recognized by Somos magazine as the 10th greatest film produced largely in Mexico.^[15]

In 1941 Moreno first played the role of a police officer on film in El gendarme desconocido ("The unknown police officer" a play on words on "The Unknown Soldier). By this time he had sufficiently distinguished the peladito character from the 1920s-era pelado, and his character flowed comfortably from the disenfranchised, marginalized, underclassman to the empowered public servant. The rhetoric of cantinflismo facilitated this fluidity. He would reprise the role of Agent 777 and be honored by police forces throughout Latin America for his positive portrayal of law enforcement.

Ni sangre, ni arena ("Neither Blood, nor Sand" a play on words on the bullfighter/gladiator phrase Blood and Sand), the 1941 bullfighting film, broke box-office records for Mexican-made films throughout Spanish-speaking countries. In 1942, Moreno teamed up with Miguel M. Delgado and Jaime Salvador to produce a series of low-quality parodies, including an interpretation of Chaplin's The Circus.

The 1940s and 1950s were Cantinflas's heyday. In 1946, he rejected Mexican film companies and instead signed with Columbia Pictures.^[4] By this time, his popularity was such that he was able to lend his prestige to the cause of Mexican labor, representing the National Association of Actors in talks with President Manuel Ávila Camacho. The talks did not go well, however, and, in the resulting scandal, Moreno took his act back to the theatre.

On August 30, 1953, Cantinflas began performing his theatrical work Yo Colón ("I, Columbus") in the Teatro de los Insurgentes, the same theatre that had earlier been embroiled in a controversy over a Diego Rivera mural incorporating Cantinflas and the Virgin of Guadalupe. Critics, including the PAN and archbishop Luis María Martínez, called the mural blasphemous, and it was eventually painted without the image of the Virgin.

Yo Colón placed Cantinflas in the character of Christopher Columbus, who, while continually "discovering America", made comical historical and contemporary observations from fresh perspectives. The jokes changed nightly, and Moreno continued to employ his word games and double entendres to jab at politicians.

In 1956, Around the World in Eighty Days, Cantinflas's American debut earned him a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a musical or comedy.^[16] Variety magazine said in 1956 that his Chaplinesque quality made a big contribution to the success of the film.^[17] The film ultimately made an unadjusted $42 million dollars at the box office.^[18] While David Niven was billed as the lead in English-speaking nations, Cantinflas was billed as the lead elsewhere. As a result of the film, Cantinflas became the world's best paid actor.^[19]

Moreno's second Hollywood feature, Pepe, attempted to replicate the success of his first. The film had cameo appearances by Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and other stars. His humor, deeply rooted in the Spanish language, did not translate well for the American audience and the movie was a notorious box office disappointment. He still earned a Golden Globe nomination for his part. Later in a 1992 American interview, Moreno cited the language barrier as the biggest impediment to his making it big in the United States.^[20]

After returning to Mexico, Cantinflas created his own company, Cantinflas Films, and continued making movies until his last, El Barrendero, in 1982.

Like Charlie Chaplin, Cantinflas was a social satirist. He played el pelado, an impoverished Everyman, with hopes to succeed. With mutual admiration, Cantinflas was influenced by Chaplin's earlier films and ideology. El Circo (the circus) was a "shadow" of Chaplin's silent film, The Circus and Si yo fuera diputado ("If I Were a Congressman") had many similarities with the 1940 film, The Great Dictator. Cantinflas's films, to this day, still generate revenue for Columbia Pictures. In 2000, Columbia reported in an estimated USD$4 million in foreign distribution from the films.^[4]

Impact

Cantinflas' star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.

Among the things that endeared him to his public was his comic use of language in his films; his characters (all of which were really variations of the main "Cantinflas" persona but cast in different social roles and circumstances) would strike up a normal conversation and then complicate it to the point where no one understood what they were talking about. The Cantinflas character was particularly adept at obfuscating the conversation when he owed somebody money, was courting an attractive young woman, or was trying to talk his way out of trouble with authorities, whom he managed to humiliate without their even being able to tell. This manner of talking became known as Cantinfleada, and it became common parlance for Spanish speakers to say "¡estás cantinfleando!" (loosely translated as you're pulling a "Cantinflas!" or you're "Cantinflassing!") whenever someone became hard to understand in conversation. The Real Academia Española officially included the verb, cantinflear, cantinflas and cantinflada^[21] in its dictionary in 1992.

In the visual arts, Mexican artists such as Rufino Tamayo and Diego Rivera painted Cantinflas as a symbol of the Mexican everyman. The American EDM band Mindless Self Indulgence released a song about Cantinflas called "Whipstickagostop".

Cantinflas's style and the content of his films have led scholars to conclude that he influenced the many teatros that spread the message of the Chicano Movement during the 1960s-1970s in the United States, the most important of which was El Teatro Campesino. The teatro movement was an important part of the cultural renaissance that was the social counterpart of the political movement for the civil rights of Mexican Americans. Cantinflas' use of social themes and style is seen as a precursor to Chicano theater.^[22]

A cartoon series, the Cantinflas Show, was made in the 1970s starring an animated Cantinflas. The show was targeted for children and was intended to be educational.^[23] The animated character was known as "Little Amigo" and concentrated on a wide range of subjects intended to educate children, from the origin of soccer to the reasons behind the International Date Line. The animated series was a joint venture between Televisa and Hanna-Barbera

Although Cantinflas never achieved the same success in the United States as in Mexico, he was honored with a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He earned two Golden Globe nominations (winning one) for best actor and the Mexican Academy of Film Lifetime Achievement Award.^[2][24] His handprints have been imbedded onto the Paseo de las Luminarias for his work in motion pictures.

The Mario Moreno "Cantinflas" Award is handed out annually for entertainers who "represent the Latino community with the same humor and distinction as the legendary Mario Moreno "Cantinflas" and who, like Cantinflas, utilizes his power to help those most in need".^[25] Cantinflas films are distributed in North America by Laguna Films.

Critical response

Cantinflas is sometimes seen as a Mexican Groucho Marx character, one who uses his skill with words to puncture the pretensions of the wealthy and powerful, the police and the government. Historian and author of Cantinflas and the Chaos of Mexican Modernity, writes, "Cantinflas symbolized the underdog who triumphed through trickery over more powerful opponents" and presents Cantinflas as a self image of a transitional Mexico. Gregorio Luke, executive director of the Museum of Latin American Art said, "To understand Cantinflas is to understand what happened in Mexico during the last century".^[4][26]

For his part, Monsiváis interprets the Moreno's portrayals in terms of the importance of the spoken word in the context of Mexico's "reigning illiteracy" (70% in 1930). Particularly in the film El Analfabeto, (The Illiterate), "Cantinflas is the illiterate who takes control of the language by whatever means he can".^[27]

The journalist Salvador Novo interprets the role of Moreno's character entirely in terms of Cantinflismo: "En condensarlos: en entregar a la saludable carcajada del pueblo la esencia demagógica de su vacuo confusionismo, estriba el mérito y se asegura la gloria de este hijo cazurro de la ciudad ladina y burlona de México, que es 'Cantinflas'". ("In condensing them [the leaders of the world and of Mexico], in the giving back to the healthy laughter of the people the demagogic state of their empty confusion, merit is sustained and glory is ensured for the self-contained son of the Spanish-speaking mocker of Mexico, who is Cantinflas.")^[28]

In his biography of the comic, the scholar of Mexican culture Jeffrey M. Pilcher views Cantinflas as a metaphor for "the chaos of Mexican modernity", a modernity that was just out of reach for the majority of Mexicans: "His nonsense language eloquently expressed the contradictions of modernity as 'the palpitating moment of everything that wants to be that which it cannot be'."^[29] Likewise, "Social hierarchies, speech patterns, ethnic identities, and masculine forms of behavior all crumbled before his chaotic humor, to be reformulated in revolutionary new ways."^[30]

A cinematic biopic is being co-written and directed by Alejandro Gomez Monteverde.^[31]

Bibliography

• Moreno, Mario "Cantinflas", 1969. Su Excelencia Mexico, D.F.: Gráficas Menhir, S.A.

Filmography

See also

• Mononymous persons

Notes

References

• Garcia Riera, Emilio, 1970. Historia documental del cine mexicano, vol. II.
• Leñero, Vicente. Historia del Teatro de los Insurgentes.
• Monsiváis, Carlos, 1999. Cantinflas and Tin Tan: Mexico's Greatest Comedians. In Hershfield, Joanne, and Maciel, David R. (Eds.), Mexico's Cinema: A Century of Film and Filmmakers, pp. 49–79. Wilmington, Delaware: Scholarly Resources, Inc. ISBN 0-8420-2681-9
• Morales, Miguel Ángel, 1996. Cantinflas: Amo de las carpas. México: Editorial Clío, Libros y Videos, S. A. de C. V. ISBN 968-6932-58-5
• Novo, Salvador, 1967. Nueva grandeza mexicana. México: Ediciones Era.
• Pilcher, Jeffrey M., 2001. Cantinflas and the chaos of Mexican modernity. Wilmington, Delaware: Scholarly Resources. ISBN 0-8420-2769-6
• Smith, Ronald L. (Ed.), (1992). Who's Who in Comedy pp. 88–89. New York: Facts on File. ISBN 0-8160-2338-7
• Stavans, Ilan, 1998. The Riddle of Cantinflas: Essays on Hispanic popular culture. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 0-8263-1860-6

External links

• Cantinflas at the Internet Movie Database
• (Spanish) Cantinflas at the cinema of Mexico site of the ITESM
• Biography at MSN Movies