Aug 311939
 
two reels

Journalists and romantic couple Carlos (Tomas Perrin Jr.) and Lola (Elena Dā€™Orgaz) investigate the murder of a woman whose heart was cut out, implying she was a sacrifice. Their investigation leads them to the foremost expert on the Aztecs, Dr. Gallardo (Carlos Orellanda) of the museum. Heā€™s also secretly a member of an Aztec cult and has discovered ancient writings that state that the Aztec god, and thus, the Aztec race, can be resurrected by sacrificing four chosen virgins. Gallardoā€™s assistant Cantinflas (Mario Moreno), as well as museum watchman Medel (Manuel Medel) are unaware of what their boss is up to and find themselves weaving in and out of trouble.

El signo de la muerte brings to mind El superloco from two years earlier, as both are horror comedies where the horror elements are unrelated to the comedy ones. However, in this case, the horror takes precedence (slightly), which is odd as the lead is Cantinflas. Cantinflas was a major star in Mexico, the biggest in comedy for several decades, who came from the Vaudeville-like tent shows that traveled the countryside. His persona was that of a lower class, nonsense-talking jester who would deflate the pompous and mighty. This was his forth film, of around fifty, and he was still developing the character, so heā€™s toned down a bit here, though he still speaks in circles. His routine was thought to be iconically Mexican, and so, not understandable to those from other cultures. That fits for me as I donā€™t find him funny, but I also donā€™t find him annoying, unlike many Vaudeville-turned-movie comics in the US, so maybe I understand enough. Medel was set as his adversary in multiple films as well as on stage, playing another member of the lower classes, but one not so clever.

In El signo de la muerte the two of them wander about, often together, trying to best each other in this and that. They do connect to the rest of the film as far as their characters knowing the others and working close to the big events, but they arenā€™t a major part of the story. They arenā€™t trying to solve the mystery, or join with the villains, or aid the heroes. Theyā€™re just there. And normally their joking does not include the major players in the story, so the story stops, they do their gags, the story starts up again, then stops again for them to do more gags.

The horror side of things is weakened by the constant starting and stopping that kills the atmosphere, but when it can get going itā€™s pretty strong stuff for 1939. We see the dagger plunge into a girlā€™s chest and blood flow, as well as the exposed breasts of one of the sacrifices when her dress is ripped down (apparently only some sacrifices need to be topless). It gives a nice kick to the proceedings. Carlos is a bit bland, but the Aztecs are quite colorful, so over all it works.

Though with the Aztecs weā€™re getting into some troubling stereotypes that get weirder the more you look into them. The cult is very pulpy, with bare-chested men waving spears around. They are the equivalent to Native Americans waiving tomahawks and saying in broken English to ā€œScalp ā€˜em some white men.ā€ But this wasnā€™t done with blind prejudice. At the time in Mexico, the president and those supporting him were trying to craft a Mexican identity, while also breaking promises made in the revolution. That identity was a merging of the European culture that had invaded and the destroyed civilizations of indigenous peoples. So there was a big movement to connect the government to average Mexicans to Aztecs that they generally had no relationship to. Director Chano Uruta was critical of the government and of claiming this ancient heritage. Thus, Gallardo is a very white looking actor, claiming to be an Aztec, and it goes very wrong, and the Aztecs show up in the most stereotypical, cheap form he could come up with. I donā€™t know enough about Mexican politics to figure what this all means, but itā€™s interesting.