Muñecas de medianoche (1979)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Rafael Portillo

Writers:

Víctor Manuel Castro (writer)
Francisco Cavazos (writer)

Release Date:

27 December 1979 (Mexico)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Female Nudity

Cast

Irina Areu
Diana Arriaga
Alfredo Wally Barrón
Víctor Manuel Castro
Angélica Chain
Enrique Cuenca
Humberto Elizondo
Leandro M. Espinosa
Angélica Fernández
Andrés García
Mayte Gerald
Pompín Iglesias
Rafael Inclán
Princesa Lea
Carolina Magaña
Sasha Montenegro
Pancho Pantera
Gabriela Ríos
Roberto G. Rivera
Jorge Rivero
Alberto Rojas
Rosella
Carmen Salinas
Shandira
Rebeca Silva
Armando Silvestre
Alfredo Solares
Alma Thelma
Manuel 'Loco' Valdés
Isela Vega

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

Cinematográfica Calderón S.A.

A Mexican version of SOME LIKE IT HOT.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

1979 was a year that would be forever considered BIG in Movie history, and the film of Muñecas De medianoche was one of the many Films that were released in that year, in which this film was to be one of the four that would make Sasha Montenegro a household name, of which the other two were Bellas De Noche and Las Ficheras, while Noche De Cabaret and Las Cariñosas were also huge films for her as well as Pedigrina. This film was made with a great cast and a fantastic setting, in which the film is considered a classic of all time, although in the U.S it would be considered as an NC17 film for its time, due to it showing Actresses in full Nude settings.

The film begins with a Cabaret setting that is also a Dance-floor setting with a Disco light floor that reminds many of Saturday Night Fever, when the music is Tropical and that of Puerto Rico's Rafael Fernandez, with the music in the whole film being that of this by then passed on composer, and it being performed by a great Orchestra named La Sonora Santanera. The story is really based on a man of wealth who is told by doctors that he has Cancer and is dying, when his best friend is a salesman who helps him try to con the Insurance companies about a fake suicide. When it is discovered that our hero is not dying he finds out that the man who is an American that they talked to is a Mafiosi, with strange accidents occurring to them once they try to sneak their way out of this mess. In the end the two have to disguise themselves as women and rent an apartment in a section of el Distrito Federal so they can hide out, and a Brasilera blonde befriends them with her giving our hero a job as an assistant to a Dancer at a Cabaret that is named "Las Muñecas". The hero is played by Jorge Rivero and his friend is played by Rafael Inclan, in which the dancer is Sasha Montenegro and is named Gina, and she first comes out in the film doing an amazing dance in a pool of water, with Vegas type Girls dancing around her as well as almost all naked Guys. The amazing thing about the story is that of how Inclan suddenly turns transvestite and comfortable as a Gay man, with " El Loco" Valdez whom is the father of Cristian Castro playing the role of the mad lover falling for the woman who is really Inclan. Sasha's character tells our hero that she started failing as a Model, and the Commercial was that of a Brandy where as she never drank any alcohol before she was totally drunk after three tries in the making of this Commercial where she was dressed up as Maria Antoinette; in which she is on the floor and throwing the glass that she drinks on the floor and shattering it, when then she raspberries. It turns out that the American Mafiosi is fooling Sasha's character in being an Italian and wanting to marry her, but in reality she wants to find a Rudolf Valentino and be with him, so from then onwards out hero tries to find a way in being Valentino for her. In the end he sneaks into her room and makes love to Sasha's character, but then he reveals to her that he is her assistant, and the poor girl becomes furious and gets out of bed stark naked, but then he tells her the story and the next day confronts the American who was not a Mafiosi at all but a true Con Man and that those strange accidents were just coincidences.

There are side stories that are as grand as this one, with Carmen Salinas playing the role of a former Girl of the Cabaret who is an alcoholic and is the best friend of the owner of the Cabaret who took over from her late husband; in which the role that Carmen Salinas does in this film always being the same as in so many others, but in different settings of Cabarets. One other story is that of the owner of the Cabaret and Andres Garcia who plays himself, with him doing everything to win her heart and finally winning her but after almost falling to his death from a window via him doing Glass Cleaning; of which although she tells Garcia that he was bad in bed, she tells him later on that he was, in which that is how the film ends. As for Gina and our hero they end up together in his real house, and Rafael Inclan's character continues on the farce of him being Gay and a woman when he runs away from "El Flaco " Valdez who wants to finally become intament to the woman who he supposedly thinks is for real.