Flor de mayo (1959)

Director:

Roberto Gavaldón

Writers:

Libertad Blasco Ibáñez (writer)
Vicente Blasco Ibáñez (novel)

Release Date:

9 July 1959 (Mexico)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Beautiful...Seductive...Lovable! Married to one...loving another. The lusty tale of a bold beauty and the two men she desires!

Plot:

In the Mexican fishing village of Topolobampo, a man has his pride and a woman has her reputation. Pepe...

Plot Keywords:

Fishing | Melodrama | Father Son Relationship | Adultery | Based On Novel

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

María Félix	...	Magdalena Gombai
Jack Palance	...	Jim Gatsby
Pedro Armendáriz	...	Pepe Gamboa
Carlos Montalbán	...	Nacho
Domingo Soler	...	Priest
Jorge Martínez de Hoyos	...	Rafael Ortega
Emma Roldán	...	Carmela
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Humberto Almazán
Agustín Fernández
Pedro Galván
Enrique Lucero
Juan Múzquiz	...	Pepito
Alberto Pedret
Paul Stewart	...	Pendergast
José Torvay

Also Known As:

Beyond All Limits (USA)
Flowers of Mayo (International: English title) (literal title)

Runtime:

114 min | West Germany:100 min (Berlin Film Festival)

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Topolobampo, Sinaloa, Mexico

Company:

Cinematografica Latino Americana S.A. (C.L.A.S.A.)

A visual and emotional stunner

Favorite: Flor de Mayo (1959) (Cozumel Films, Ventura Distr.)

I found this recent DVD which apparently is widely AVAILABLE now. It is in Spanish but with my high school and post school Spanish I thoroughly enjoyed this stunning movie filmed in Topolobampo, Sinaloa.

Cinematography is by the legendary Gabriel Figueroa (John Ford's The Fugitive, 1947) . This is also a chance to see the great María Félix (at age ~44) and Pedro Armendáriz along with Paul Stewart (Citizen Kane).

Jack was ~ 39 at the time of filming but Félix and Palance seem much younger. It is quite an artsy film effort and a somewhat different kind of role for Palance. He does refer to himself as a lesser pirate (una pirata menor) when young Pepito asks him if he really is a pirate. The movie has a terrific close (you might cry).

People will probably ask for and search the English version which came out about 1960 under the title Beyond All Limits. The scenes may be different and it might be worth it if there is additional magnificent footage from Gabriel Figueroa. Being a life scientist/student of the Sea of Cortez I was looking for a surrealistic scene of Jack running thru a forest of giant columnar cardón cacti which I recall from some movie that saw many years ago (1960s on a b/w TV in Tucson when I was a student). Maybe, my memory is faulty.

The film was totally different from what I expected and I do not understand why it is not mentioned more. I understand that Jack speaks 6 languages including Spanish, Italian, French along with Ukrainian and Russian and English. He speaks great Spanish and the movie is considered by some as one of the better Mexican movies of the 1950s.

I am going to look for other Gabriel Figueroa works (Night of the Iguana, La Perla, others) as I realize now that movies are really a visual thing....