Night Falls

La noche avanza

Mexico

1952

85 Min

Black and White

Spanish

Currently 4.7/5 Stars.
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PROD Óscar J. Brooks, Felipe Mier

SCR Jesús Cárdenas, Roberto Gavaldón, José Revueltas

CAST Pedro Armendáriz, Anita Blanch, Rebeca Iturbide

Mexico City’s famed jai alai arena, the Frontón México, becomes ground zero for greed and betrayal in this seething film noir starring Armendáriz as Marcos, an arrogant womanizer headed for “The Big Fall.” A legend on the jai alai court, Marcos struts from locker room to nightclub to penthouse, pushing around “the weak” and wracking up romantic affairs with a jaw-dropping sense of entitlement. However, when one of his conquests—a young girl from a respectable family—becomes pregnant, Marcos is caught between his ego and a hard place after her debt-ridden brother blackmails him into throwing a match for the mob. From there, twists and turns start piling up at a dizzying rate as Gavaldón drives a stake into the heart of machismo. –UCLA Film Archive

Director

Roberto Gavaldón

Roberto Gavaldón (born June 7, 1909 in Jiménez, Chihuahua — died September 4, 1986 in Mexico City) was a Mexican film director. Eight of Gavaldón’s films were featured on the list 100 best movies of the cinema of Mexico. His 1958 film Ash Wednesday was entered into the 8th Berlin International Film Festival and his 1959 film Beyond All Limits was entered into the following years festival. His 1960 film Macario was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but did not win. —Wikipedia