Kentucky Christian University

Hollywood goes Latin, Spanish-language cinema in Los Angeles, edited by Maria Elena de las Carreras and Jan-Christopher Horak

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Hollywood goes Latin

bibliographydictionaries

1102798387

edited by Maria Elena de las Carreras and Jan-Christopher Horak

Spanish-language cinema in Los Angeles

In the 1920s, Los Angeles enjoyed a buoyant homegrown Spanish-language culture comprised of local and itinerant stock companies that produced zarzuelas, stage plays, and variety acts. After the introduction of sound films, Spanish-language cinema thrived in the city's downtown theatres, screening throughout the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s in venues such as the Teatro Eléctrico, the California, the Roosevelt, the Mason, the Azteca, the Million Dollar, and the Mayan Theater, among others. With the emergence and growth of Mexican and Argentine sound cinema in the early to mid-1930s, downtown Los Angeles quickly became the undisputed capital of Latin American cinema culture in the United States. Meanwhile, the advent of talkies resulted in the Hollywood studios hiring local and international talent from Latin America and Spain for the production of films in Spanish. Parallel with these productions, a series of Spanish-language films were financed by independent producers. As a result, Los Angeles can be viewed as the most important hub in the United States for the production, distribution, and exhibition of films made in Spanish for Latin American audiences. In April 2017, the International Federation of Film Archives organized a symposium,'Hollywood Goes Latin: Spanish-Language Cinema in Los Angeles,'which brought together scholars and film archivists from all of Latin America, Spain, and the United States to discuss the many issues surrounding the creation of Hollywood's'Cine Hispano.'The papers presented in this two-day symposium are collected and revised here.This is a joint publication of FIAF and UCLA Film & Television Archive

Creating a minority cinema: Spanish-language film exhibition in downtown Los Angeles before World War I / Jan-Christopher Horak -- Hollywood's Spanish-language movies in Buenos Aires, Lima, Montevideo, and Mexico City / Violeta Núñez Gorritti -- The rise and fall of Spanish versions (1929-1931), according to Cinelandia magazine / Esteve Riambau -- Buried in the vaults: the restoration of Hollywood's Spanish-language films / Roberto Green Quintana -- Cita en Hollywood / Juan B. Heinink and Robert G. Dickson -- Carlos Borcosque: learning the ropes in Hollywood (1927-1938) / María Elena de las Carreras -- Ramón Peón: a Cuban in the babel of languages / Luciano Castillo -- Gabriel García Moreno: inventor in Hollywood, innovator in Mexico / María Esperanza Vázquez Bernal and Xóchitl Fernández -- Romualdo Tirado and the pioneers of Spanish-language cinema in Los Angeles / Alejandra Espasande Bouza -- Carlos Gardel's Exito Productions, Inc. A case of Hispanic autonomy? / César Fratantoni -- Guillermo Calles: a Mexican film pioneer in California / Rogelio Agrasánchez Jr. -- José Mojica: the tenor from Jalisco, Mexico, who conquered Hollywood / Rosario Vidal Bonifaz -- Conchita Montenegro in Hollywood: reception and performing style / Núria Bou -- Antonio Moreno: the star who returned to Spain without leaving Hollywood / Mar Díaz Martínez -- Competing against Hollywood: a case study, Contrabando / Eduardo de la Vega Alfaro -- The frustrated career of Celia Villa / Bernd Hausberger