El último cuplé (1957)

Director:

Juan de Orduña

Writers:

Jesús María de Arozamena (screenplay)
Jesús María de Arozamena (story)

Release Date:

6 May 1957 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama | Musical

Plot:

A musical drama featuring a tragic love story. Relates a singer's rise to fame and her subsequent downfall because of the death of her lover...

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Sara Montiel	...	Maria Luján
Armando Calvo	...	Juan Contreras
Enrique Vera	...	Pepe Molina
Julia Martínez	...	Trini (as Julita Martínez)
Matilde Muñoz Sampedro	...	Paca (as Matilde M. Sampedro)
José Moreno	...	Singer
Laly del Amo		(as Lali del Amo)
Aurora García Alonso		(as Aurora Garcialonso)
Beni Moreno
Luis Orduña		(as Luis Orduna)
Erasmo Pascual
Consuelo de Nieva
Miguel Fleta
Manolita Guerrero
Antonio Alcázar

Also Known As:

The Last Torch Song (International: English title)
Valencia (Europe)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Producciones Orduña Films

Trivia:

One of the characters in this film is called the Grand Duke Vladymir of Russia (played by Alfredo Mayo as required by the script: a drunken aristocrat who is after Maria Lujan (Sara Montiel). It so happened that there was in real life a Russian Grand Duke by that name and he sued the film for portraying him in such an unflattering manner. The problem was resolved when Cifesa (the film's distributor) agreed to pay the indignant Duke an undisclosed large sum of money and removed from the soundtrack any reference to Vladymir of Russia. Since then all you hear in the movie is references to "Grand Duke" but no name.

Soundtrack:

Marcha de Cádiz

Sarita, the songs and Eastmancolor make endurable classic!

Sorry but the writers of previous commentaries in this section seem to be confusing "El Último Cuplé" with another movie or movies. One of them writes that this film "bears a resemblance to Dama de las Camelias. " The writer is probably confusing "El Último Cuplé" with another Sara Montiel vehicle titled "La Bella Lola" (1962) which is based on "Camille" the classic novel by Alexander Dumas Jr.

Another writer states that the film includes "nearly every major facet of Spanish culture" and names as examples, "main regional costumes and dances, bullfighting rituals, the devotion to the Virgin Mary and local popular Saints, women's tragic position in life dedicated to their men, etc." Except for the fact that one of the characters in "El Último Cuplé" is a bullfighter all the other claims in that commentary are simply false. "Cuplé" is not about regional costumes or dances, the Virgin Mary or saints do not show up anywhere, and the plot has nothing to do with "women's tragic position in life." If there is one thing clear in this film is that the main character, as played by Sarita Montiel, is a sexually-charged liberated woman so I have no idea where the commentator got that outrageous information.

It is tragic that some confused or irresponsible people write comments and provide misleading false data in these pages and nobody checks its accuracy. Of course, to check everything would be an impossible task for IMDb but there should be a warning to every writer that before they post anything they must be absolutely sure about the assertions being made. Maybe a proper warning should read: "do not comment on any film you have not seen in more than ten years." Regarding "El Ultimo Cuplé" my opinion is that director Juan de Orduña and the screenwriters hit the jackpot by choosing the right cuplés (songs) in order to support the film's story line. By doing this, the not so brilliant script becomes credible and moving, impacting the viewers and making this low budget production an unforgettable experience. Photographer José Aguayo should also be commended for his use of Eastmancolor and making the film look like a much more expensive production while composer Juan Solano deserves praise for writing the soundtrack music and arranging all the songs. But, lets face it: Sara Montiel's beauty and talent as both an actor and a singer makes the whole package irresistible.

"El Ultimo Cuplé" was recently digitally restored and released in DVD by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, unfortunately in Spain only. A non-restored version was issued in the United States on a cheap double-feature DVD by SlingShot Entertainment in Burbank, California and has been sold at Wal-Mart, Amazon.com and other on-line stores. Pity! "El Ultimo Cuplé" deserves a deluxe edition, restored, with surround sound and extras including English subtitles.