Aventurera

This 1950 offering is a prime example of the distinctly Mexican genre known as cabaretera, which seems to be an equal mix of noir, soap opera, and razzle-dazzle musical (imagine Edgar G. Ulmer, Douglas Sirk, and Busby Berkeley joining forces and you'll have some idea of what to expect here). Alberto Gout's Aventurera stars the glamorous Ninon Sevilla as Elena, a virtuous young woman who goes to Ciudad Juarez in search of a respectable job and somehow winds up working in a cabaret that doubles as a brothel. Possessing hitherto unknown musical genius, our heroine quickly rises to become the star of the floorshow, yet her refusal to entertain the establishment's sleazier clients leads to all sorts of emotional and labor-management strife. Eventually, the vicious madam hires a thug to disfigure Elena, but she escapes, gets mixed up in a bank robbery, evades the law, and winds up in Mexico City, where she finds success as a singer/dancer…and romance with a rich handsome lawyer. But can Elena keep her sordid past buried until she slips into a wedding gown? Aventurera has enough energy and plot twists to fuel a dozen movies; it also has lapses in logic, but these are more than compensated for by the astonishing musical sequences that seem to come out of a different movie altogether (especially the extravagant “In a Persian Market” harem-inspired dance). Contemporary non-Mexican audiences will inevitably peg this film as undiluted camp, yet for sheer entertainment value, this hugely popular film delivers the goods. Boasting a decent transfer, the DVD also includes a video introduction by Michael Donnelly. Recommended. (P. Hall)