The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (1955)

The delirious journey of a mental disordered man, who is obsessed in making the perfect crime.

Director:

Luis Buñuel

Writers:

Luis Buñuel (screenplay & adaptation), Eduardo Ugarte (screenplay & adaptation)

Stars:

Ernesto Alonso, Miroslava, Rita Macedo

1 win & 8 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Miroslava	...	Lavinia
Ernesto Alonso	...	Archibaldo de la Cruz
Rita Macedo	...	Patricia Terrazas
Ariadne Welter	...	Carlota Cervantes (as Ariadna Welter)
Andrea Palma	...	Mrs. Cervantes
Rodolfo Landa	...	Alejandro Rivas
José María Linares-Rivas	...	Willy Corduran (as J.M. Linares Rivas)
Leonor Llausás	...	The Governess
Eva Calvo	...	Señora de la Cruz, Archibaldo's mother
Enrique Díaz Indiano	...	Señor de la Cruz, Archibaldo's father (as Enrique Indiano)
Carlos Riquelme	...	The Commissioner
Chabela Durán	...	Sister Trinidad
Carlos Martínez Baena	...	Priest (as Carlos M. Baena)
Manuel Dondé	...	Colonel at wedding
Armando Velasco	...	Judge

Storyline

With a strange and powerful obsession stemming from a pampered childhood during the tumultuous years of the Mexican Revolution, the affluent bachelor and suave ceramist, Archibaldo de la Cruz, oscillates effortlessly between fantasy and reality, desire and hallucination. Compelled to taste again and again the delicious fruit of depravity that triggers an intense dark satisfaction, Archibaldo won't shy away from using one of his many shave-ready straight razors, bent on going to great lengths to quench his lust. Undoubtedly, death encircles the scheming Archibaldo, and the targets are always innocent women; however, is he truly capable of murder?

---

Plot Keywords:

dark comedy | murder confession | coincidence | mental patient | childhood memory | 

---

Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie was shot in the middle of a big economic crisis for the Mexican cinema. Production was about to be shot down a few times and the famous scene with the mannequin being cremated was filmed only once because they couldn't afford another mannequin.

---

Connections

Featured in Miroslava (1993)

User Reviews

Lesser Bunuel

Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz, The (1955)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Luis Bunuel film that sounds more interesting than it turns out to be. As a young child, Archibaldo is told of a magical magic box that when turned on will kill. As an adult, Archibaldo comes across this box again and this times plans to use it to help him become a serial killer. There's a lot of black humor scattered throughout the film but very little of it made me laugh. The opening segments bashing the rich were funny but the film slowly falls apart in the middle and never regains any speed. The story is a very good one but the director does very little with it, which is a shame because this should have been a whole lot better.

Details

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

19 May 1955 (Mexico)

Also Known As:

The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz

Filming Locations:

Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alianza Cinematográfica Española

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1