StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Whitech It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

FightingWesterner Revolutionaries led by Pedro Armendariz, blow into a Mexican town and turn it upside down. Disregarding the advice of old friend and priest Gilbert Roland, he falls in love with Paulette Goddard, the daughter of a wealthy man slated for execution. He pursues her, despite the fact that the sassy senorita hates his guts.Armendariz delivers a magnetic performance and his character is an interesting one, with the General showing many sides of his multi-faceted personality.Armendariz's and Roland, as well as the exciting takeover scenes make the first third of the film quite compelling. However, after the General and the girl meet, it all becomes more conventional and sometimes downright silly, with Goddard overacting her part, before turning a bit morbid, as the whole town is stricken with a deadly outbreak of influenza!Overall, it's a fairly interesting film, competently directed by frequent actor Emilio Fernandez and atmospherically photographed on some excellent Mexican locations.

mstomaso El Nace del Amor mixes romance and melodrama with historic and military drama set in a late 19th century Mexican town. The story centers on a few very strongly realized characters - Maria Dolores (Paulette Godard) Jose Juan (Pedro Armendariz), Father Sierra (Gilbert Roland) and Dr. Stanley (Walter Reed). Maria Dolores is a headstrong and lovely young upper middle class woman who is engaged to an American doctor (Reed) who has settled in the town. Father Sierra is a community-leading priest and Jose Juan is a revolutionary general who brings unsolicited agrarian reform to the town and falls in love with Maria Dolores.Jose Juan (who is remarkably well-played by Armendariz) and Maria Dolores are the most dramatic and unpredictable characters of the lot. Father Sierra, who has known the General since they were both young, makes it clear that Jose Juan is a principled man, but his bloody revolution and generally aggressive and angry demeanor do not seem to sit well with this representation. Maria Dolores is intelligent, intuitive, passionate and virtuous, but also inexperienced and a bit naive. Although the revolutionary occupation of the town and the calamities that beset the place at the time comprise most of the threads of the nicely woven plot, the romance between Dr. Stanley, Maria and Jose Juan is the fundamental story in El Nace.Goddard's performance is not one of her best, but she does an admirable job of playing a woman who was probably about half her age (Godard was 48 when the film was released).Filmed in Mexico and shot in English with Spanish subtitles, veteran Mexican actor Emilio Fernandez's directing and cinematography are surprisingly superb. Each shot is very nicely composed and the camera usually makes up for occasional weaknesses in the acting and the script. There are a few problems with the editing which do not really detract from the value of the story. The few war scenes, though they do not approach the blood and guts realism of today's military adventures, are startlingly vivid and a bit scary.Despite my praises, the film has quite a few tedious moments which are important from the perspective of character development, but which do not stand up to the test of time.Interesting from a cultural and historical perspective, and as a well-made low budget early independent, El Nace del Amor is recommended for film buffs and students of cinematography. While it is hardly a classic, it is a good story well told.

David Someone gave a DVD of this film to a coworker as a "gag" gift, and that coworker took her revenge on the rest of us by showing it on a tour bus en route from a day of wine tasting.Perhaps it was a day of wine tasting that contributed to the group's response, but nearly everyone fell asleep during this film. Although I did watch a bit at the beginning before falling asleep myself, I did notice that the film was rife with stereotypes (politically incorrect by today's standards, but probably not for 1950) and overacting (Goddard wants to be Norma Desmond--bulging eyes and intense stares-- but the part was already taken).Someone joked that this wasn't a "B" movie, but a "B-minus" movie. Like most of my coworkers, I give it an "F."

sampson-8 .I saw the film when I was 14 years old. It was on TV in the mid fifties. I hardly remember the story, but it was about a Pancho Villa type revolutionary who decides to retreat from the town wherin dwells his lady-love. The images from the film have remained crisp and clear in my mind, both sight and sound after all these years, moreso than any film I have seen since. Most well remembered was the opening scene in the glass blowing shop, and the final retreat from the city at the film's end. This is not a very good reviw of the film, just an old fellow's happy remembering. Sadly, I don't know anyone else who has seen it, and I have not been able to find the film on tape.