The Last Torch Song (1957)
"El último cuplé" (original title)

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. She manages to return to the stage only to die ... See full summary »

Director:

Juan de Orduña

Writers:

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

Stars:

Sara Montiel, Armando Calvo, Enrique Vera

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	...	Cándido Chamorro
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

Storyline

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. She manages to return to the stage only to die after her first public performance.

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Genres:

Drama | Musical

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Details

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

1 August 1957 (Mexico)

Also Known As:

The Last Torch Song

Box Office

Gross:

ESP 1,720,522 (Spain)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Producciones Orduña Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Did You Know?

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.

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Soundtracks

"S.M. el Chotis"
Written by Eduardo Montesinos and Manuel Font de Anta
Performed by unidentified singer

User Reviews

A classic Spanish Film.

A fine film based on the life of a singer of "cuplés," a popular Spanish musical genre. It bears great similarity to the classic "Dama de las Camelias" with a tragic ending. The music is fine. The Sarita Montiel singing is warm and exotic, very easy listening. However, purists might prefer the original style of "cuplé" singers, a bit less warm.