Mexican Golden Age Cinema

I feel the need to mention an important trigger of my addiction to movies. Mexican cinema from the 30's- 50's. This was its golden age, when Mexican cinema produced many glorious movies like Vámonos con Pancho Villa, El Rey Del Barrio, La Perla, Salón México, Los Olvidados and the trilogy of Pepe el Toro among many others.

Stars

During this era, the industry produced many unforgettable stars that are now part of Mexican Popular Culture. People like: María Félix, Mario Moreno "Cantinflas", Pedro Armendáriz, Andrea Palma, Jorge Negrete, Sara García, Fernando and Andrés Soler, Joaquín Pardavé, Arturo de Córdova, Dolores del Río and Tin Tán.

Directors

The range of directors was wide. Among many favourites included: Raúl de Anda, Juan Bustillo Oro, Luis Buñuel, Emilio Fernandez, Fernando de Fuentes, Alberto Gout, Juan Orol, Ismael Rodriguez, Migule Zacarías and many more.

Topics
Mexican cinema of this type was characterised by stories around women being forced into prostitution usually by poverty to later find redemption; family issues like children straying from moral values (usually the youngest one), contrasting the lives of the poor against the rich, death, and often Mexico City itself playing the role of a soul devouring giant. Quite a lot of Mexican movies, contrary to what many may believe aren't or weren't particularly cheerful. They were and still are often gritty and depressive. Oddly enough, that's one of the main reasons why I love dramatic, atmospheric and gritty films. I come from the Mexican school of gloom and doom.