Los dos golfillos (1961) Poster

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6/10
A joyful as well as entertaining Spanish musical/weeper/drama movie with the unforgettable Joselito
ma-cortes12 June 2022
Agreeable and sympathetic film with the child prodigy Joselito well accompanied by a good support cast . Set in Barcelona 1953 , the son of a Prison Mayor is abducted by a band of delinquents to guarantee their getaway . Along the way, his unfortunate mother (Maria Piazza) is looking for him by any means necessary . Some years later, Joselito lives badly with a vagrant (Antonio Prieto) who exploits him along with another kid playing accordion , as Joselito sings splendidly throughout the streets and country , but problems emerge .

This is a sensitive story proceeded in simplicity and delicacy by Antonio Del Amo ; this time Joselito is a kidnapped singer boy who's exploited by avaricious people . Antonio del Amo launched Joselito's career , in this little known film he directs him once again , being a 'Dramedy' , a comedy with some dramatic touches . Joselito was the most known singer actor boy during the Francoist period and whose pictures touched the hearts of numerous Spanish spectators by the time . In fact , Joselito was introduced to the movie business in 1956 by this filmmaker , Antonio del Amo , who directed him in this first feature, El Pequeño Ruiseñor (1957) ("The Little Nightingale"), where he earned his famous nickname . He was widely known in Spain when he became a widely successful child star , following to ¨El Ruiseñor De Las Cumbres¨ , ¨Saeta Del Ruiseñor¨ and ¨El Pequeño Coronel¨. The main role "Joselito" is played by the same in a phenomenal manner , can be said that he is perfectly adequate to his measure . He was a milestone in Spanish "child prodigies" under Franco along with Marisol , Pili and Mili and especially Pablito Calvo who starred the hits ¨The Bait¨ , ¨Mi Tio Jacinto¨ and ¨Marcelino Bread and Wine¨ . And the producers trying to keep them as little kids for as long as possible . Due to false advertising by the studios that made their movies, and which wanted to make him appear younger than they really were , an obsession that haunted them through the whole of their careers .

¨Los dos golfillos (1961)¨ was professionally realized by Antonio Del Amo , though it didn't achieved as success as others Del Amo/Joselito films . This an enjoyable and feeling movie full of mirth , drama , humor touches , agreeable message and in final takes places the ordinary happy end but with some tragic touch . At the same time the film gives us an ample panorama about life in the dictatorial Sixties . The scenarios in which develops the deeds are perfectly designed . Musical score by Manuel Parada responds appropriately to the ambient , originating a careful atmosphere . Evocative and luminous cinematography in black and white by cameraman Juan Marimé , though a perfect remastering is necessary . There appears notorious main and secondary actors , such as : Maria Piazza , Luz Márquez , José Marco , Antonio Prieto , Porfiria Sanchíz , Erasmo Pascual , all of them acting to perfection .

Of course , Joselito steals the show as the singer boy . Spanish film studios were looking for a new child star to follow the steps of Pablito Calvo, and make popular and populist folkloric movies and they found Joselito . After the international success of El Pequeño Ruiseñor , and following successful films such as ¨La Saeta Del Ruiseñor¨ , ¨Bello Recuerdo¨ , ¨Los Dos Golfillos¨, which were big box-office hits in Spain during Franco's dictatorship he became Spain's most famous child actor , outstanding his highly expressive face and eyes , enormous eyes and innocent, angelical face . In his films he often sings Flamenco Cante , Saetas , Soleadas and other Folkloric songs . After several movies and records, and already a big star as a singer and an actor in Europe, the next move was trying to triumph in America, so Joselito went to Mexico where he filmed various projects, starting by ¨El Caballo Blanco¨ , ¨Aventuras de Joselito en América¨ (1960), which paired him with Mexican child star 'Cesáreo Quezadas Pulgarcito to grant local box-office . His success even reached around the world , in fact he was discovered as a singer by Luis Mariano, who got him to perform in France, pretending he was 9 at the moment of his debut, when he actually was 13 . However, life was not too glamorous for Joselito, as he was treated almost as a sideshow act by his managers, not allowing him to become an ordinary teenager , and even locking him in his room between rehearsals so he couldn't meet girls . He was forced to keep his childlike image up to 1969 (when he was in his mid-twenties) in ¨Loca Juventud¨ , ¨Falso Heredero¨ and when he appeared in his last film , ¨Prisionero En La Ciudad¨ (1969). But, as his voice had long broken, he was not successful anymore . Retired from acting at early age to become a drifter , even working as a mercenary . Disappearing from public life until it was discovered much later that he had become a heroin addict and even worked as a mercenary in Africa . An attempt of a comeback as an adult proved unsuccessful, as the tastes of the audience had changed, and his voice didn't resemble the one he had as a kid, so Joselito definitely retired from show business to his home in Utiel (Valencia), where he, now clean and sober, lives a quiet life far from movie and recording studios. Nowadays , he has reappeared doing brief TV interventions and cinema , such as : ¨Torrente¨ and ¨Spanish movie¨ .

The filmmaker Antonio Del Amo as well as the notorious Suevia Films-Cesáreo González Producciones Cinematográficas succeeding in this picture , obtaining an achievement enough, but less than other films , managing perfectly to the performers and taking advantage of them , giving the best of his acting . Rating : Acceptable and passable for its worthwhile mingle of drama , music , comedy , sentimentalism and goodness.
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These kids can't kid me.
dbdumonteil19 April 2007
"Los dos golfillos" ,Joselito Jimenez's seventh film tried new tacks with some success: its prologue and its ending have elements of film noir -which explains why the film returns to black and white whereas all the six others (except for the very first) were in color:violent scenes (for the time)were not suitable for a very young audience;it also features some humor,an element which is totally absent in Joselito's former movies.

The script writers made a mixture of elements they found in Dickens ("Oliver Twist" ),Victor Hugo ("Les MIsérables" ) and Charlie Chaplin. Joselito's repertoire is more various and includes operetta,waltz and even Sidney Bechet .

The screenplay also borrows from Joselito's previous blockbuster "escucha mi cancion": the stolen child ,the stolen child from a wealthy family that is.They even use the same actress Luz Marquez.

The ending,which for once was not a happy end ,makes "los dos golfillos" the most reactionary and finally the most unpleasant flick of the Joselito saga.The wealthy family receives the two kids in their home.But only the "true" son of the family can survive.The other one,the boy from the dregs of society must die!This obnoxious "moral" is representative of the Spanish dictatorship.Joselito keeps on repeating his dying pal "you 're my brother,you're part of the family" ,but the boy knows (or should know) that his place is nowhere.And there is not even a priest to comfort him in his last hour!
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