El hombre que se quiso matar (1942)

The pusillanimous architect Federico Solá is a thirty years man who life seems determined not to smile: no job, no girlfriend, no friends, one day decides to stand up and stand up to life. ... See full summary »

Director:

Rafael Gil

Writers:

Wenceslao Fernández Flórez (novel), Luis Lucia (adaptation) (as L. Lucia Mingarro)

Stars:

Antonio Casal, Rosita Yarza, Manuel Arbó

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Antonio Casal	...	Federico Solá
Rosita Yarza	...	Irene Argüelles
Manuel Arbó	...	Sr. Argüelles
Xan das Bolas	...	Huésped
José Prada	...	Presidente círculo
Camino Garrigó	...	Patrona
Irene Mas	...	Juanita
Alejandro Nolla	...	Fabricante
José Acuaviva	...	Periodista
Alberto López	...	Jorge
Ángel Alcaraz	...	Bragao
Ramón Giner	...	Catador (as Ramón J. Giner)
Pedro Mascaró	...	Dueño del bar
Jesús Castro Blanco	...	Tendero (as Castro-Blanco)
José Palomerá	...	Portero fábrica

Storyline

The pusillanimous architect Federico Solá is a thirty years man who life seems determined not to smile: no job, no girlfriend, no friends, one day decides to stand up and stand up to life. And he do not think of anything better than to publicly announce his intention to commit suicide during a lecture on the virtues of cement. From that moment on he checked with satisfaction that all doors seem to open for him without much difficulty, as people, knowing the little time remaining for him, just yield to his claims. A new Federico is born and Solá is the man of the moment: "The man who wanted to kill himself."

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Plot Keywords:

suicide attempt | reference to william powell | based on novel | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

16 February 1942 (Spain)

Also Known As:

The Man Who Wanted to Kill Himself

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Compañía Industrial Film Español S.A. (CIFESA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Federico attempts to commit suicide by throwing himself under the tram, he loses his hat, and spends the rest of the day going to some different locations without it, however, when he later returns to his room, he is wearing his hat.

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Connections

Remade as El hombre que se quiso matar (1970)

User Reviews

How to feel free if thinking of commiting suicide

This is a splendid Spanish movie of the fourties. Based on a script by the great writer, one of the funniest, Wenceslao Fernández Flórez. Another adaptation of his novels is for instance "El bosque animado". The plot is about a young man who can't get a job as architect, whose girlfriend split up with him and whose father considers him as a complete loser. He decides to commit suicide but before that, he is going to tell everybody what is his opinion about them. It's a very very very funny movie, with a superb script including memorable quote lines. Despite of being an incredible comedy, it pretends to show a bitter critic of the Spanish society after the Civil War...which could be absolutely translated to nowadays. A must see.