09 · 25 · 26

The Michoacan author José Rubén Romero

Rafael Aviña

Despite its brevity, the emblematic novel The Futile Life of Pito Perez, by the Michoacan diplomat, scholar, and costumbrist author José Rubén Romero (1890-1952), was brought to the big screen with remarkable success. This is the very reason why, in 2013, the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) decided to pay tribute to him with the two most acclaimed film adaptations of his work. The novel The Futile Life of Pito Perez (1938)—a picaresque story set in the lethargic world of provincial life and centered on the adventures of a sharp-witted vagabond, an alcoholic and small-town philosopher who wanders the roads of Michoacán—featured three legendary Mexican actors: Manuel Medel, Germán Valdés ‘Tin Tan’, and Ignacio López Tarso in 1944, 1957, and 1970, respectively. 

More particularly, the one filmed in late 1943 marked the beginning of two careers. On one hand, Katy Jurado, an actress whose unique beauty and commanding presence distinguished her from the others, despite echoing a style similar to María Félix and Elsa Aguirre. On the other hand, Romero’s novel, written by the author born in the municipality of Cotija de la Paz, offered the chance of a lifetime on the big screen to a comedian who emerged from the carpas [tent shows], Manuel Medel—who gained fame in the early films of Mario Moreno ‘Cantinflas’.  

The novel’s character seemed meticulously crafted to fit Medel’s distinctive and playful humor, as seen in unforgettable scenes like the one where he turns tail and runs after being caught in the middle of a love affair with Dolores Tinoco—the apothecary's wife. In the 1944 film directed by Miguel Contreras Torres, Medel’s performance stood out not only for his encounter with Elvia Salcedo—the flirty village girl and co-star—but also for the presence of  Katy Jurado in the role of Soledad—the beautiful woman whom Pito Perez falls in love with, though she ends up marrying a wealthy man instead of the poor wretch played by Medel, in Bartolo toca la flauta (1944) and Pito Pérez se va de bracero (1947).

Meanwhile, for the 1957 film, Rogelio A. González gave Germán Valdés ‘Tin Tan’ the opportunity to shine for the first time in a tragicomic role—one that could really allow the comedian to unveil his versatility and to prove himself as a complete actor, shifting effortlessly from comedy to drama, as in The Adventures of Pito Perez, considered the best of the three film adaptations of José Rubén Romero’s novel, directed by Juan Bustillo Oro.

In a similar way, the novel Rosenda—written in 1946 by José Rubén Romero and brought to the screen two years later by Salvador Elizondo Sr. and the filmmaker Julio Bracho—remains an underrated gem of Mexican cinema. Along with Another Dawn (1943), Rosenda is considered one of the director’s most accomplished works, starring the beautiful and sensitive Rita Macedo and the brilliant Fernando Soler, in a role that fitted him perfectly. This film is a rural tragicomedy set in the years of the Mexican Revolution, with themes reminiscent of Emilio ‘Indio’ Fernández but marked by Julio Bracho’s own elegant style.

In Rosenda, Bracho explores autumnal sensuality and virginal innocence, the horrors and absurdities of war, and themes of tenderness, fate, and the transformative power of education. These themes converge in Rosenda, whose unforgettable images—the village kermesse and the climactic ending on the railway tracks of Cotija de la Paz—pay tribute to the birthplace of the monumental figure José Rubén Romero.

Translated by Michelle Olvera