Mexicanos al grito de guerra (1943)

Mexicanos al grito de guerra
Directed by Álvaro Gálvez y Fuentes and Ismael Rodríguez
Written by Álvaro Gálvez y Fuentes, Joselito Rodríguez and Elvira de la Mora
1943/Mexico
Producciones Rodríguez Hermanos
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Mexicans, at the cry of war,/ make ready the steel and the bridle,/ and may the Earth tremble at its centers/ at the resounding roar of the cannon! — Mexican National Anthem [/box]

Made at the height of Mexican cinema’s Golden Age, this is a nice telling of the origin of the country’s national anthem during its fight against France to keep its independence.

Lt. Luis Sandoval (Mexican heartthrob Pedro Infante) is a patriot and student of Jaime Nunó, who in a burst of inspiration writes a poem for a competition to come up with a national anthem.  Later a composer puts the words to music.  The song wins the competition but is almost totally ignored, its premier being snubbed by corrupt President Santa Anna.  Later the common people bring the song to national hero Benito Juarez, who embraces it.  When the French take the advantage of Mexico’s inability to pay off its huge foreign debt to install Emperor Maximilian, Juarez and his supporters go into battle against them and the song rallies his troops to victory.

Running parallel to this story is Luis’s choice of his country over his father, a supporter of the French, and his love for the niece of the French Amassador.

The film is full of pride and sentiment and is very competently made.  The battle sequence at the end is stirring and Infante is appealing and convincing. It made a nice companion piece to Warner Brother’s film Juarez (1939), starring Paul Muni, Bette Davis, and Brian Ahern.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1esOZqQmHpw

The Mexican Army takes up their national anthem at the Battle of Pueblo (no subtitles but this is almost entirely action)