Alias Gardelito is a 1961

1961 in film

The year 1961 in film involved some significant events, with West Side Story winning 10 Academy Awards.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:* Atlantis, the Lost ContinentB...

  Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 drama film

Drama film

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 directed by Lautaro Murúa

Lautaro Murúa

Lautaro Murúa was a Chilean-born Argentine actor, film director, and screenwriter. He is one of the best known actors in the Cinema of Argentina....

 and written by Augusto Roa Bastos

Augusto Roa Bastos

Augusto Roa Bastos, was a noted Paraguayan novelist and short story writer, and one of the most important Latin American writers of the 20th century. As a teenager he fought in the Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia, and he later worked as a journalist, screenwriter and professor...

 and Bernardo Kordon. The film starred Alberto Argibay

Alberto Argibay

Alberto Argibay was an Argentine actor. He appeared in 51 films and television shows between 1958 and 1998...

, Virginia Lago and Walter Vidarte

Walter Vidarte

Walter Vidarte was a Uruguayan actor. He appeared in 83 films and television shows between 1958 and 2011. He starred in the film Circe, which was entered into the 14th Berlin International Film Festival....

.

Synopsis

The drama directed by Lautaro Murua is about the difficulty of living an honest life in the face of an unrelenting poverty

Poverty

Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...

. The title of this story is taken from the name of the great Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 singer Carlos Gardel

Carlos Gardel

Carlos Gardel was a singer, songwriter and actor, and is perhaps the most prominent figure in the history of tango. He was born in Toulouse, France, although he never acknowledged his birthplace publicly, and there are still claims of his birth in Uruguay. He lived in Argentina from the age of two...

, the idol of the antihero Toribio portrayed by Alberto Argibay

Alberto Argibay

Alberto Argibay was an Argentine actor. He appeared in 51 films and television shows between 1958 and 1998...

. Toribio's goal in life is to emulate the famous singer and making his own way successfully in the music business. Yet at the same time, he does not stop his illegal means of making ends meet, stealing and petty thievery. Discouraged when his big break never quite materializes, Toribio heads for disaster when he joins up with a large smuggling

Smuggling

Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...

 scheme.

Cast

• Alberto Argibay
  Alberto Argibay
  Alberto Argibay was an Argentine actor. He appeared in 51 films and television shows between 1958 and 1998...
  
   .... Toribio Torres, alias "Gardelito"
• Walter Vidarte
  Walter Vidarte
  Walter Vidarte was a Uruguayan actor. He appeared in 83 films and television shows between 1958 and 2011. He starred in the film Circe, which was entered into the 14th Berlin International Film Festival....
  
   .... Picayo, a friend
• Lautaro Murúa
  Lautaro Murúa
  Lautaro Murúa was a Chilean-born Argentine actor, film director, and screenwriter. He is one of the best known actors in the Cinema of Argentina....
  
   .... Boss
• Virginia Lago ... Girl, Toribio's neighbor
• Nora Palmer .... Margot
• Tonia Carrero ... Pilar
• Raúl Parini ... Feasini
• Raúl del Valle ... Julián
• Orlando Sacha ... Leoncio
• Nelly Tesolín
• Héctor Pellegrini
  Héctor Pellegrini
  Héctor Pellegrini was an Argentine film actor.Pellegrini came to fame in the 1961 acclaimed film Alias Gardelito and made over 50 appearances mostly in film between 1961 and 1988....
  
  

Other

• Rafael Diserio
• Cacho Espíndola
• Carmen Giménez .... Tía
• Alberto Barcel .... (uncredited)

Overview

A representative of the "new cinemas" that arose in the late 50s and early 60s, Murúa's Alias Gardelito ranks among the best of Argentine cinema in the period, along with films by Simón Feldman, David José Kohon, Rodolfo Kuhn, Manuel Antín, René Mugica. According to Paulo Antonio Paranaguá (O cinema na América Latina), in these works the characters' psychology takes the upper hand upon social themes, although usually the latter also provide a significant context for their action, as is the case here.

Release and acclaim

The film premiered in 1961. Produced by Rio Negro Productions it was distributed by Cinemagroup in 2002 on DVD

DVD

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....

.