A Very Brief History of Mexican Cinema
By Adam M. Valdez, CEO—Oxxo Films

             Although in recent years movies like Como agua para chocolate, Amores perros, and Y tu mamá también have attracted international attention, many people are unaware that Mexico has been producing motion pictures for more than a century.

            As early as 1896, representatives of the French company Lumiere were in Mexico, exhibiting their movies and shooting Mexican scenes to add to their catalog.  Over the next several years, Mexicans like Salvador Toscano, Ignacio Aguirre, Enrique Rosas, the Alva brothers, and the Stahl brothers began making their own short films (mostly documentary views, although Toscano shot fiction films as early as 1899).  However, it was not until 1916 that the first feature-length movie was made, the historical drama 1810, o los libertadores de México!

            A silent film "industry" never developed in Mexico, forestalled by the general underdevelopment of the country as a whole, and by the Revolution, which disrupted the social fabric of the nation for nearly a decade.  Individuals or small companies would produce a film or two, but less than 100 silent features were shot during this era. One of the most successful Mexican silent films was El automóvil gris (1919), about a gang of daring bandits (this picture was re-released in the 1930s with an added soundtrack).   Among the handful of other movies from this period still extant are Tepeyac (1917), and the first screen adaptation of Santa (1918).  The sparse national production of films should not imply that Mexican audiences were uninterested in motion pictures-- their needs were amply filled by U.S. movie companies with branches in Mexico.  By the mid-1920s, Hollywood productions accounted for 97% of all films shown in Mexico.  

            But the coming of sound had a serious effect on Hollywood's dominance of the world's theatre screens.  Suddenly, much of the world could not understand English-language films.  Sub-titling was one answer, as was dubbing, and for a time there was an attempt to produce "alternate" versions of Hollywood films, spoken in various foreign languages.  None of these was completely satisfactory.  Thus, the coming of sound seemed to be a golden opportunity for national cinemas, especially in non-English-speaking countries.  Unfortunately, Mexico was handicapped from the start: its domestic film industry was virtually nonexistent, having almost no technical resources for the production of sound films, and lacking a significant pool of trained cinema actors or technicians.

            The first sound feature film produced in Mexico was Más Fuerte Que el Deber (1930), directed by Raphael J. Sevilla, using 50,000 feet of raw stock given to him by Warner Brothers in Hollywood, where he had been employed as a technical advisor.  Only six features were made in Mexico in 1932, but in 1933 the "industry" grew considerably.  21 films were produced, and by the end of the year three studios were in operation, and between 200 and 300 people were involved in making Mexican films.
Despite the steady increase in annual production and strides in the technical quality of Mexican films, the industry was still far from healthy.  However, there was no true Mexican film "industry," at least in the Hollywood sense of the word.  The "studios" were rental facilities, open to any producer who could afford to pay their fees.  There were few if any production companies engaged in making films on a regular schedule.
 
            Most of the early sound movies were melodramas, plus a few historical subjects, including films about the Revolution.  Allá en el Rancho Grande (1936) was not the first ranchera film made, but it helped define the genre and proved particularly palatable to Central and South American audiences with its colorful settings and costumes, heavy emphasis on music, and themes of family and personal honor, loyalty, and pride.  After the success of Allá en el Rancho Grande, the ranchera genre flourished for a few years and would be revived periodically over the next few decades featuring stars like Jorge Negrete, Pedro Infante, Luis Aguilar, and Demetrio González.

            Other notable movies of the 1930s included Vámonos con Pancho Villa, a second version of Santa, La mujer del puerto, and El compadre Mendoza .  Few enduring stars appeared during this decade, although future "name" performers like Mario Moreno "Cantinflas," Arturo de Córdova, Pedro Armendáriz, and Jorge Negrete all made their film debuts.

            Although by the end of the first decade of sound film in Mexico, the film industry had made great advances, particularly in the technical area, and had opened up its market in the Western Hemisphere, the industry was still largely dominated by small producers whose output was sporadic, with the inauguration of each new film project largely dependent upon the financial success of the previous one. Despite the unstable nature of film production in Mexico, between 1930-1940 approximately 260 features were made (this includes a handful of films made in Tijuana and other locations outside of Mexico City), more than Argentina (214) or Spain (196), the only other Spanish-speaking countries with significant film industries.

            As the 1940s began, the world political situation brought benefits for Mexican cinema: Spain and Argentina faced constraints on the export of their films to Allied or pro-Allied countries, while the United States actively provided Mexico with technical assistance and raw film stock.  Mexico's annual film production began a steady increase, and there was a discernable change in the types of films being made, shifting from "folkloric" to "cosmopolitan" subjects.  Actors and technicians from Spain came to Mexico, the acknowledged world leader in Spanish-language cinema. The Mexican film industry advanced decades, virtually overnight. Some indication of the strides the industry made during the first half of the decade are evident in the annual production totals, which increased from 36 films in 1939 to 82 features in 1945.
            The 1940s truly saw the "Golden Age" of Mexican cinema, a time when Mexico dominated world production of Spanish-language films.  Many of the best films of Mexico's finest directors--such as Juan Bustillo Oro, Fernando de Fuentes, and Emilio Fernández--were made in this decade, and the technical level of Mexican films equalled or surpassed that of much of the rest of the world's cinema.  Movies were made in a wide variety of genres and styles.  The star system also developed, with new faces like María Félix, Pedro Infante, Germán Valdés "Tin Tan," Dolores del Río and Ninón Sevilla joining Cantinflas, Arturo de Córdova,  and Jorge Negrete in the public's favor.
            Many great pictures were produced during the "Época de Oro"--Ahí está el detalle with Cantinflas, María Candelaría (teaming director Emilio "Indio" Fernández with Dolores del Río and Pedro Armendáriz), Ninón Sevilla in Aventurera, Los tres García (an early hit for Pedro Infante), to name a few.  Established companies like Filmex and CLASA produced multiple movies each year, emulating the Hollywood model.
            Thus, at first glance, the Mexican film industry seemed in the 1940s to have solved many of the problems it was facing at the end of its first decade of sound film production.  However, the situation was not entirely favorable.  When WWII ended, many of the advantages the industry had enjoyed disappeared.  The Spanish and Argentine film industries began a slow process of recuperation.  More importantly, the end of wartime film-stock rationing allowed Hollywood to begin anew its attempts to conquer the world film markets. These post-war developments could not take away the technical advances made in Mexican cinema, and at least some of the Latin American market Mexico had captured remained loyal to Mexican films.  Annual production, after falling off in 1946-47, soared once more, topping 100 films for the first time in 1949.

            The "cosmopolitan" trend in Mexican film content abated significantly as rancheras made a comeback later in the decade, along with the familiar romantic melodramas, and cabaretera films (dramas of seamy nightlife in the big city).  However, movies were made in many genres, including Westerns, comedies, adventure films set in exotic locations, sports dramas, and more.

            The industry went into a gradual decline during the 1950s and 1960s, although the annual production totals stayed high.   Many of the problems could be traced to the system of distribution and exhibition in Mexico.  Mexican films were at a distinct disadvantage even in their own country, and attempts to rectify this situation were met with resistance from those who controlled the theatres.  The Film Industry Law of 1949 contained a clause stating the government would determine the number of days in each year that theatres in the country should dedicate to the exhibition of Mexican-made movies; a 1952 revision of the law set the screen quota at no less than 50% for "national" films.  However, the law was deemed unenforceable due to the extreme pressure brought by the monopoly which controlled most of the theatres in Mexico, and which preferred Hollywood films. The lack of screen time available for Mexican films contributed to the system of enlatamiento (literally, "canning"), whereby Mexican films were shelved indefinitely--not for censorship or quality reasons--but simply because foreign films (mostly from Hollywood) overwhelmed Mexican theatres.  The producers of Mexican movies could not recoup their investments while their films were sitting on a shelf.

            The industry tried a new tack in 1955: to make Mexican films more attractive to audiences, fewer but bigger films were produced.  The average cost of making a film increased, 19 films were shot in color, and 4 were made in wide-screen processes.  In 1956, 45 color films were produced, almost half the total number of features made.

            Despite all of these efforts, the industry continued to be in precarious financial shape.  Still, many of the movies produced during this decade were entertaining and polished.  Luis Buñuel, an immigrant from Spain, directed numerous masterpieces of world cinema including  Los olvidados, Él, and Ensayo de un crimen.  Other filmmakers, including Roberto Gavaldón and Alejandro Galindo, continued careers that had begun in earlier decades and made fine movies such as En la palma de tu mano and Espaldas mojadas.  The "bread-and-butter" of Mexican producers was still commercial cinema, though, including melodramas starring Marga López and Libertad Lamarque, and comedies with Tin-Tan and Adalberto Martínez "Resortes."  Ladrón de cadáveres (1956) and El vampiro (1957) began a string of horror movies which remained popular well into the next decade.

            In 1960, the government-run Banco Cinematográfico broke the long-time exhibition "monopoly," buying out the owners of the country's largest theatre chain; the bank had also purchased (in 1959) a controlling interest in the Churubusco studio facilities (the government later took over Estudios América as well). The distribution and exhibition situation vis-a-vis Mexican films did not drastically improve, however.

            With the inauguration of the Estudios América in 1957, a steady stream of popular genre pictures began production.  From the late 1950s through the 1960s, Westerns, lucha libre movies (starring masked wrestlers such as El Santo and Blue Demon), and comedies made up a large proportion of the annual production totals.  "Serious" movies were still being made, of course, and in the latter half of the 1960s a so-called "new wave" of young filmmakers--among them Alberto Isaac, Arturo Ripstein, and Felipe Cazals--were given the opportunity to direct for the first time.  This led to such notable pictures as Los caifanes, Las visitaciones del Diablo, and En este pueblo no hay ladrones.  However, the majority of movies made in the decade were aimed at general audiences, and starred performers like Eulalio González "Piporro," Mauricio Garcés, Javier Solis, Antonio Aguilar, El Santo, and young pop singers including Julissa, Enrique Guzmán, and César Costa.  The old guard of popular stars from the "Golden Age" was dead, inactive, or reduced to supporting roles--"Cantinflas" was working only sporadically, his films were universally scorned by critics but still popular with the public; María Félix made her last movie in 1970; Arturo de Córdova, Pedro Armendáriz, Pedro Infante, and Jorge Negrete had all died. 

            The decade of the 1970s saw a great many changes in the Mexican film industry, particularly in its relationship with the government of Mexico.  The industry was not nationalized, but for a period of nearly 4 years, the government not only controlled the studio facilities, distribution, and exhibition, it also became the predominant producer of feature films.

            Luis Echeverría Alvarez assumed the presidency of Mexico in December 1970, and under his administration a true "new wave" of Mexican filmmaking began.  Echeverría's brother was named head of the Banco Cinematográfico: Rodolfo Echeverría had been a professional film actor for many years (under the name Rodolfo Landa), and was a former head of ANDA, the actor's union.  For the first time in many years, there was a significant increase in films with serious, even political themes: the young directors of the "new wave" (and some of their veteran compatriots) took advantage of the Echeverría administration's liberalism to broaden the subject matter of Mexican cinema. The traditional commercial cinema persisted, but these pictures no longer constituted 95% of the annual output.  Thus, pictures of enduring merit like Canoa, El castillo de la pureza, El lugar sin límites, and La pasión según Berenice were made alongside more commercial fare such as the Capulina series and exploitation movies aimed at the international market like Supervivientes de los Andes and Tintorera!

            However, the major step taken by the Echeverría administration was the establishment of three government production companies: CONACINE (in 1974), and CONACITE I and CONACITE II (both in 1975). Over the next few years these three entities would produce or co-produce a large number of Mexican features of all types, from "serious" films to comedies and exploitation films.  1977 was perhaps the peak year for this system of government production, with at least 45 films produced or co-produced by the three companies.

            In 1976, José López Portillo became Mexico's chief executive, and the film industry-government relationship underwent more drastic changes.  López Portillo named his sister to the top spot in a newly-created government agency (RTC) charged with overseeing radio, television, and cinema matters.  Furthermore, the López Portillo administration dissolved the Banco Cinematográfico (which provided loans to producers) and CONACITE I.  As the López Portillo sexenio went on, the number of films produced wholly or partially by CONACINE or CONACITE II dropped steadily.      
     
            Although, as always, there were films of artistic merit still being made, Mexican cinema of the 1980s was overwhelmingly characterized by commercial cinema, particularly action pictures (often dealing with narcotics smuggling) and the sexy-comedy genre (based on scantily-clad women and off-color jokes).  Comedians like Alfonso Zayas, Rafael Inclán, and Roberto "Flaco" Guzmán, sexy actresses such as Sasha Montenegro and Angélica Chaín, and grim, gun-toting actors like Álvaro Zermeño and Valentín Trujillo were the new faces of Mexican cinema.

            On the distribution and exhibition front matters remained bleak for Mexican films.  In 1983, 320 films were released in the Federal District: 137 were U.S. productions, 54 were Mexican. In 1989 only two Mexican films were among the top 10 box-office attractions in Mexico City (7 of the other 8 were Hollywood movies).  The new "film law" of the 1990s tried to establish a new "quota" of screen time in theatres for Mexican movies, but failed to produce results.
            Another phenomenon which began in the 1980s and continues to this day is the production of direct-to-video films, known as videohomes.  Usually shot on 16mm, these pictures--also mostly comedies and action movies--occasionally show some promise, but low budgets and low aspirations condemn most of them to mediocrity.  However, videohomes do serve a dual purpose, providing work for performers and technicians and a steady stream of product for video rental outlets in Mexico and (an increasingly important market) the United States.
            As the 1990s began, there were few signs that radical changes for the better would occur in the Mexican film industry.  The precarious state of Mexico's economy meant less, not more, government interest in cinema.  Under President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, the government closed the two remaining state production companies, CONACITE II and CONACINE, and merged two of the government distribution entities.  Annual production of theatrical features dropped precipitously, bottoming out in 1997-1998, when just over a dozen movies were made each year (the lowest totals since 1932!).  Since that time, there has been a rebound in the number of movies made yearly, although the halcyon days when more than 100 Mexican films were produced each year are probably gone forever.  IMCINE (the Mexican Film Institute) and government-funded entities such as FOPROCINE have allotted some funds for the production of movies, although generally this money is only a fraction of each film's budget.

            In some ways the industry is today much closer to its origins in the 1930s than during its peak years of the Forties and Fifties.  The studio infrastructure which developed during the "Golden Age" of Mexican cinema and collapsed in the 1980s has largely been replaced by independent producers who make films on a piecemeal basis, cobbling together diverse groups of investors, including universities, cooperatives, private producers, government sources (local, state, and national), and international partners.

            Nonetheless, this system seems to be capable of producing both popular and critical successes.  While veterans such as Jaime Humberto Hermosillo and Arturo Ripstein continue to direct, a new generation of young filmmakers--Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Luis Estrada, Carlos Carrera, to name a few--have made movies like Amores perros, La ley de Hérodes, El crimen del Padre Amaro, and Y tu mamá también, which have made money and earned critical accolades.       

            The Mexican film industry constantly moves from crisis to crisis, but has never quite collapsed into ruin.  Mexican films continue to be interesting and there are still film-makers attempting to make films of high quality, despite the obstacles in their path.