René Cardona

Directing

René Cardona

Born — Died

1905-10-09 — 1988-04-25

Place of birth

Havana, Cuba

Known for

Directing

Credits

100 titles

René Cardona (October 8, 1905 – April 25, 1988) was a Mexican director, actor, producer, screenwriter, and film editor, who was prominent during part of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. René Cardona was born in Havana, Cuba, on October 8, 1905, and began medical school in Cuba, but due to the political problems of the island, he and his family moved to New York City in 1926, where he continued his studies. Economic circumstances experienced by his family caused him to leave his studies. He befriended famous actor Rodolfo Valentino and obtained work as an extra in several films, until 1929 when he produced, wrote, directed and starred in the first Spanish-language film made in Hollywood, S…

Known for

Film credits

1970s · 14 titles

Cyclone poster
5.2

An airplane goes down in the ocean during a storm and a few survivors find refuge on a small tour boat. Swept out to sea, these people slowly starve to death in the hot sun with barely any food or clean water. With no place to turn, the boat survivors resort to cannibalism to stay alive...that is ..until the rescue planes come to pick them up and the man eating sharks decide its time to eat as well.

Cyclone

1978

Crónica roja poster
6.1

After one is arrested - possibly unjustly - for murder, the lives of two brothers spiral out of control.

Crónica roja

1979

The Children of Sanchez poster
6.5

Hall Bartlett directs the rural drama The Children of Sanchez, based on the tome The Children of Sanchez: Autobiography of a Mexican Family written by Oscar Lewis in the '60s. Anthony Quinn stars as the widowed Jesus Sanchez, a poor farmer struggling to provide for his family in Mexico City. Also starring Lupita Ferrer as Consuelo and Stathis Giallelis as Roberto. This is the last film in the 50-year career of international star Dolores del Rio, who plays the Grandma. Jazz-pop performer Chuck Mangione was nominated for a Golden Globe and won a Grammy award for his original musical score.

The Children of Sanchez

1978

El pequeño Robin Hood poster
6.2

Directed by René Cardona, and written by René Cardona Jr., «El Pequeño Robin Hood» is a 1975 Adventure/Comedy/Drama/Family film . René Cardona III and Patricia Aspíllaga are starring, alongside René Cardona, Arturo Cobo, Jorge Russek and Alfredo Wally Barrón.

El pequeño Robin Hood

1975

Fantastic Voyage in a Baloon poster
5.8

1862. Commodore Sir Francis and inventor Douglas initiated on behalf of the Royal Society of London Geography of a balloon ride under the command of Dr. Ferguson, who plans to cross Africa from east to west. But to accomplish this feat will have to overcome numerous adventures in which their lives are at serious risk.

Fantastic Voyage in a Baloon

1975

Guns and Guts poster
5.2

An outlaw and a scorned husband both team up to track down and kill the man that wronged them. Along the way, the two men meet a hired gun that loves money just as much as he loves the company of women, so the two men decide to hire him in order to help them on their mission. However, things become complicated when the man they all seek to kill has risen to become a wealthy sheriff with a small army of gunmen at his disposal.

Guns and Guts

1974

Zindy, the Swamp Boy poster
5.0

The story is about a fugitive who lives apart from society in a jungle area with the company of his grandson

Zindy, the Swamp Boy

1973

Manuel Saldivar, el texano poster
5.6

Cowboy-justice dude has to figure out who the masterminds are behind a string of murders.

Manuel Saldivar, el texano

1972

Jesús, el niño Dios poster
6.4

No synopsis available yet.

Jesús, el niño Dios

1971

El valle de los miserables poster
4.3

In 1909, former judge Cristóbal Zamarripa owns Valle Nacional, a tobacco plantation where he exploits workers with the support of the tyrant Porfirio Díaz, who sends him political prisoners as slaves. The others are lured with the promise of high wages, but end up owing everything to the company store. All are tortured, raped, or killed when they protest. Another landowner whose brother was killed by Zamarripa and who falls in love with one of his daughters is going to be punished, but he flees and becomes a revolutionary.

El valle de los miserables

1975

The Vengeance of the Crying Woman poster
5.6

A masked wrestler joins a professor and his niece searching for an ancient medallion to help children. They face a terrifying mummy and a dangerous gangster who want the treasure for themselves.

The Vengeance of the Crying Woman

1974

Santo vs. the Head Hunters poster
5.8

Famed wrestler/secret agent El Santo must venture deep into the Amazon jungle to rescue a girl who is set to be sacrificed under the full moon by the Jibaro Indians.

Santo vs. the Head Hunters

1971

La mula de Cullen Baker poster
5.7

A young Cullen Baker rides his mule throughout the old west with his father, when bandits attack them, killing his father. Cullen becomes a loner, again riding a mule through the west and getting into trouble wherever he goes. When a soldier shows him the Colt Dragon revolver, a newly invented six shooter, he becomes obsessed with obtaining this gun as a means to empower himself. After murdering two soldiers and taking their revolvers, Cullen proceeds to rob banks and shoot down anyone who dares confront him.

La mula de Cullen Baker

1971

La casta divina poster
6.7

Chronicle Caste War in Yucatan held in the nineteenth century, where the land and the people were the property of the landowners, who called themselves " divine caste ". On one hand, General Salvador Alvarado organized the revolution; on the other, the landowners hire Colonel Ortiz Argumedo to organized the defense of their autonomy. Don Wilfrido, one of the masters, do not hesitate to send his son to fight to maintain their wealth and privileges.

La casta divina

1977

1960s · 11 titles

The Brainiac poster
5.5

In 1661 Mexico, Baron Vitelius is executed for witchcraft. 300 years later, during a comet's return, he resurfaces as a brain-eating monster seeking revenge on the Inquisitors' descendants.

The Brainiac

1962

Juana Gallo poster
6.7

Peasant woman leads a regiment during the final days of the Mexican Revolution. Also, romantic entanglements.

Juana Gallo

1961

Un novio para dos hermanas poster
7.5

Pili and uncle Angel travel to Mexico to see Mili dancing at her debut in a theater in the capital. When Mili finds out the bad economic situation of her uncle, she decides to seek work. Meanwhile, Pili works in a department store and meets Rodolfo, the grandson of Mrs. Caceres, owner of the store, which she takes for the chauffeur of the lady. In turn, Ms. Caceres hires Mili to dance at her party, where she meets and falls for Rodolfo. Rodolfo, who does not know of the existence of a twin sister, is convinced that the girl in the party is Pili. And the sisters do not know they are in love with the same man, which will lead to an unexpected conflict.

Un novio para dos hermanas

1967

No artwork available
4.2

Prison colony on an island: the staff Doctor has some neuroses he's trying to overcome, and his "weakness" makes him vulnerable to exploitation by a sociopathic prisoner.

El deseo llega de noche

1969

La vida de Pedro Infante poster
5.3

No synopsis available yet.

La vida de Pedro Infante

1966

La Bandida poster
5.0

During a lull in the Mexican Revolution when Francisco Madero became president and attempted to implement land reforms, two former revolutionaries are pitted against each other for the love of the same woman.

La Bandida

1963

Santo vs. the King of Crime poster
5.0

El Santo and his loyal friends will try to disarm a dangerous criminal organization.

Santo vs. the King of Crime

1962

Un par de robachicos poster
6.9

No synopsis available yet.

Un par de robachicos

1967

Operación carambola poster
6.6

Two clumsy and absent-minded spies (Capulina and Chespirito) are hired to save the world from a nuclear attack.

Operación carambola

1968

El matrimonio es como el demonio poster
6.8

The story of a Playboy bachelor who does not know the good that is, until he is married. Slowly, the man discovers that having a woman is not easy, but sometimes ... being faithful recomended. After sympathetic experiences and funny situations, he realizes that there are two uncorrectable errors committed by the man in your life: Being born and married!

El matrimonio es como el demonio

1967

El día de la boda poster
5.4

The love affairs of two couples, modern parents a couple of troubled teens.

El día de la boda

1968

1950s · 8 titles

1940s · 17 titles

Asesinato en los estudios poster
6.0

During the filming of a movie an actor has to be attacked with blanks but dies because they were real bullets.

Asesinato en los estudios

1946

Unidos por el eje poster
6.7

No synopsis available yet.

Unidos por el eje

1942

La vorágine: abismos de amor poster
6.5

It narrates the adventures of the poet Arturo Cova and his lover Alicia, a story of passion and revenge framed in the plain lands and the Amazon jungle where the two lovers scape from society, and which exposes throughout its plot the harsh living conditions of settlers and Indians enslaved during the rubber rush.

La vorágine: abismos de amor

1949

Cartas Marcadas poster
6.5

A tale of intrigue and deceit concerning two young lovers who, despite the fact that their relationship was originally founded on greed, soon discover that their feelings for one and other have grown more genuine than they ever expected.

Cartas Marcadas

1948

El misterioso señor Marquina poster
5.8

No synopsis available yet.

El misterioso señor Marquina

1942

El secreto del sacerdote poster
6.0

Priest Jesus knows a dark secret that was passed onto him during confession. When the town mayor threatens the integrity of some people, it is up to the priest to take action or remain silent.

El secreto del sacerdote

1941

La casa del rencor poster
5.8

Martina, a sorrowful woman, is the sole inhabitant of an abandoned and eerie house, where a couple arrives on a stormy night seeking shelter. Martina tells them how what was once a happy hacienda turned into a hell filled with resentment when Doña Adelaida—the master’s second wife—and her son Hugo came to live there; the despotism and cruelty of both ultimately destroyed the entire family.

La casa del rencor

1941

Mala yerba poster
5.6

Plantation owner is way too much into his peasant girls. It causes problems.

Mala yerba

1940

El príncipe del desierto poster
6.3

A girl meets a young boy in Arabia who falls in love with her. When they grow up, he goes to Mexico while hiding the fact that he is a prince.

El príncipe del desierto

1947

The Rock of Souls poster
6.2

The love between María Ángela and Fernando is impossible because there's an ancient history of hate between their families. His father killed hers, and other family members have killed each other for years. When María Ángela's grandfather finds she's in love with Fernando, he frames the young man and forces her to marry Manuel. Maria Ángela finds that Manuel doesn't love her and together plan her escape with Fernando. But things go wrong and the lovers find their destiny in The Spirit's Canyon.

The Rock of Souls

1943

Divorciadas poster
6.2

Divorciadas tells the story of three women: Cristina, recently divorced after refusing to endure her husband's lack of love, especially following the death of their young son; Carmen, divorced for many years and living on the fortune left to her by her late husband, leading a free and unconventional life; and Juanita, an employee at the courthouse where she meets Cristina, married but long abandoned by her husband.

Divorciadas

1943

Con su amable permiso poster
6.0

Unassuming elderly gent is installed as Mayor, by a cabal of financiers that expect to use him as a cat's paw.

Con su amable permiso

1940

Si me han de matar mañana poster
6.4

Romantic triangle during the Mexican Revolution.

Si me han de matar mañana

1947

Soy charro de Rancho Grande poster
6.9

No synopsis available yet.

Soy charro de Rancho Grande

1947

Soledad poster
5.9

Soledad, a maid born in Argentina, works at a Mexican farm. The son of her employer will deceive her, pretending to marry her and leaving her pregnant. When she finds out that she has been tricked, she runs away from the farm. During her flight she meets a group of artists that'll change her life.

Soledad

1947

El conde de Montecristo poster
5.6

Based on the famous novel by Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo tells the story of a man who is unjustly imprisoned alongside an old man, who before dying reveals the location of a buried treasure. When the man manages to escape from his miserable cell, he changes his identity, becoming the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo, an identity he uses to take revenge on those who betrayed him and sent him to prison.

El conde de Montecristo

1942

Ave sin nido poster
5.3

Husband, sterile wife, fertile mistress, daughter.

Ave sin nido

1943

1930s · 6 titles

Behind the camera

No artwork available
NR

After a young gambler forges his judge father's signature to cover a debt, a blackmailer threatens his family, and a killing throws suspicion on the young man.

Sombras habaneras

1929

No artwork available
NR

After a young gambler forges his judge father's signature to cover a debt, a blackmailer threatens his family, and a killing throws suspicion on the young man.

Sombras habaneras

1929

Santa Claus poster
6.8

Pitch, the mean-spirited devil, is trying to ruin Christmas. Santa Claus teams up with Merlin the Magician and the children of the world in order to save the day!

Santa Claus

1959

Santa Claus poster
6.8

Pitch, the mean-spirited devil, is trying to ruin Christmas. Santa Claus teams up with Merlin the Magician and the children of the world in order to save the day!

Santa Claus

1959

Survive! poster
5.9

A Uruguayan rugby team crashes in the Andes Mountains and has to survive the extremely cold temperatures and rough climate. As some of the people die, the survivors are forced to make a terrible decision between starvation and cannibalism.

Survive!

1976

Night of the Bloody Apes poster
5.5

A surgeon transplants the heart of an ape into his ailing son with horrific results.

Night of the Bloody Apes

1969

Night of the Bloody Apes poster
5.5

A surgeon transplants the heart of an ape into his ailing son with horrific results.

Night of the Bloody Apes

1969

El puma poster
6.2

Son of a ranching family returns home after studying in the city for a law degree. He sides with the peons in a labor dispute and his father disowns him; he sets up a law office in another town. First of three movies in a masked-avenger series.

El puma

1959

El puma poster
6.2

Son of a ranching family returns home after studying in the city for a law degree. He sides with the peons in a labor dispute and his father disowns him; he sets up a law office in another town. First of three movies in a masked-avenger series.

El puma

1959

La maestra inolvidable poster
5.5

Idealistic young teacher takes a post in a small, backwoods town and dedicates her life to schooling the village's children.

La maestra inolvidable

1969

Island of Lost Souls poster
6.1

Rene Cardona directs the film version of Jose Leon Sanchez's best-selling novel, which relates the author's 20 years of imprisonment on an island ruled by brutality. When a sadistic man declares himself the boss of an island pueblo, an innocent husband and wife become the victims of his selfish rule. Once the evil man's deeds reach the authorities on the mainland, however, he sinks further into madness and declares "his" island its own republic.

Island of Lost Souls

1974

Island of Lost Souls poster
6.1

Rene Cardona directs the film version of Jose Leon Sanchez's best-selling novel, which relates the author's 20 years of imprisonment on an island ruled by brutality. When a sadistic man declares himself the boss of an island pueblo, an innocent husband and wife become the victims of his selfish rule. Once the evil man's deeds reach the authorities on the mainland, however, he sinks further into madness and declares "his" island its own republic.

Island of Lost Souls

1974

La Guerra de los Pasteles poster
5.8

No synopsis available yet.

La Guerra de los Pasteles

1979

Unidos por el eje poster
6.7

No synopsis available yet.

Unidos por el eje

1942

Gema poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Gema

1950

El pequeño Robin Hood poster
6.2

Directed by René Cardona, and written by René Cardona Jr., «El Pequeño Robin Hood» is a 1975 Adventure/Comedy/Drama/Family film . René Cardona III and Patricia Aspíllaga are starring, alongside René Cardona, Arturo Cobo, Jorge Russek and Alfredo Wally Barrón.

El pequeño Robin Hood

1975

The Bat Woman poster
5.4

When a mad scientist begins kidnapping wrestlers and extracting their spinal fluid to create a race of Gill Men, two cops call in Batwoman to investigate. But when her mission leaves the scientist horrifically scarred, he seeks revenge.

The Bat Woman

1968

No artwork available
6.3

No synopsis available yet.

Los Sheriffs De La Frontera

1965

Lauro Puñales poster
5.0

One of Zapata's field marshals runs afoul of dictator Huerta's stooges in his home town.

Lauro Puñales

1969

Capulina vs. the Vampires poster
6.8

Delivery boy answers a call to take some food to that huge spooky mansion on the hill behind the cemetery.

Capulina vs. the Vampires

1971

Capulina vs. the Vampires poster
6.8

Delivery boy answers a call to take some food to that huge spooky mansion on the hill behind the cemetery.

Capulina vs. the Vampires

1971

Doctor of Doom poster
4.8

A mad scientist terrorizes a city by kidnapping young women with his ape-man Gomar and then using them as subjects in sadistic brain transplant experiments. A female wrestler whose sister was one of the victims swears vengeance against the Mad Doctor.

Doctor of Doom

1963

El museo del crimen poster
5.8

Stage magician/amateur detective helps police to solve a murder.

El museo del crimen

1945

El museo del crimen poster
5.8

Stage magician/amateur detective helps police to solve a murder.

El museo del crimen

1945

El museo del crimen poster
5.8

Stage magician/amateur detective helps police to solve a murder.

El museo del crimen

1945

El jinete justiciero en retando a la muerte poster
5.7

Guy gets mugged on horseback and left for dead; farmgal nurses him back to health and when he's on his feet again, he puts a domino on and swings into J J action.

El jinete justiciero en retando a la muerte

1966

El enmascarado de plata poster
5.7

This cult-classic was Director Rene Cardona's attempt to capitalize on the popularity of professional wrestling and on of its biggest stars of the 1950's, known as "El Santo". However it is not about wrestling. It chronicles the adventures of a crime-fighting duo known as El Enmascadero de la Plata ( The Silver Mask), and his adolescent sidekick Pecas (Freckles), as they take on a murderous Mad Doctor and an evil gang-leader called El Lobo

El enmascarado de plata

1954

Santo in the Vengeance of the Mummy poster
4.9

When Santo accompanies a troupe of archaeologists in the search for Aztec artifacts, they find the Mummy of an Aztec who leaves a warning to those who tamper with his resting place. The adventurers ignore the warning, and before long, the Mummy starts bumping them off one-by-one with his bow & arrow.

Santo in the Vengeance of the Mummy

1971

Duelo en El Dorado poster
5.6

Saloon-owner's a hard guy and none too law-abiding; his twelve year old son comes to live with him and he starts changing his ways... but his past is likely to catch up with him.

Duelo en El Dorado

1969

Una noche embarazosa poster
4.7

An Italian taxicab driver is used as a "breeding man" to save the inheritance of a wealthy family in Mexico.

Una noche embarazosa

1977

Wrestling Women vs. the Aztec Mummy poster
4.9

Gloria Venus and Golden Rubi are tag-team Luchadoras, helping a scientist on a quest to discover an ancient Aztec treasure, but the fiendish Prince Fugiyata wants to get there first. Both are in for a surprise, as the treasure is guarded by Xochitl, the Aztec Mummy Sorcerer, who can turn into a bat at will.

Wrestling Women vs. the Aztec Mummy

1964

El Hijo De Gabino Barrera poster
6.0

Gabino's son tries to find out why his father was murdered.

El Hijo De Gabino Barrera

1965

The Vampire and Sex poster
8.0

El vampire y el sexy (or Santo in the Treasure of Dracula in its censored version) is a 1968 Mexican film starring El Santo and directed by René Cardona. ​The Vampire and Sex was filmed as the adult version of Santo in the Treasure of Dracula. While the censored family version was distributed in 1969, the uncensored version was not shown to the public until 2011 when it was discovered.

The Vampire and Sex

1969

Adventures of Joselito and Tom Thumb poster
5.4

Joselito lives with his grandmother in a fishing village. His father went to America long ago to make a fortune. One day, the boy decides to travel there to meet him. He takes courage and embarks on a fragile boat and miraculously is saved at sea by a vessel that leads him to Mexico where he meets Tom Thumb, a little newsboy who lives many adventures and helps him in the search.

Adventures of Joselito and Tom Thumb

1960

Cartas Marcadas poster
6.5

A tale of intrigue and deceit concerning two young lovers who, despite the fact that their relationship was originally founded on greed, soon discover that their feelings for one and other have grown more genuine than they ever expected.

Cartas Marcadas

1948

Cartas Marcadas poster
6.5

A tale of intrigue and deceit concerning two young lovers who, despite the fact that their relationship was originally founded on greed, soon discover that their feelings for one and other have grown more genuine than they ever expected.

Cartas Marcadas

1948

Vuelva el sábado poster
5.8

Young woman loses her secretarial job, so she tries to become a bill-collector.

Vuelva el sábado

1951

The Panther Women poster
5.5

The Panther women are worshipers of Satan and perform rituals in their honor and sacrifice. The fighters will face them up and down the ring.

The Panther Women

1967

Ahí viene Vidal Tenorio poster
6.0

Two military goons slaughter a young man's parents and siblings. A few years later, the same guys rape and murder his wife, then use their young son for target practice. Enough is enough.

Ahí viene Vidal Tenorio

1949

Yo quiero ser mala poster
6.4

In this Romantic-Comedy from Director Rene Cardona, Actress Maria Elena Marques plays a hard-living woman named Leticia, who suffers from a recently broken heart after being deceived by her ex-boyfriend. Soured on anything to do with love and while drinking away her sorrows, she sets out to marry the very first man she sees. This man just happens to be a nice guy named Roberto, (Abel Salazar). Although the pair's mutual attraction to each other is obvious, Roberto has no idea what he is in for, and he soon proposes. Not long after the marriage, Leticia starts to take advantage of both Roberto and her new Father-in-Law (played by Oscar Pulido), who shows kindness towards the girl. Predictably, marital bliss soon turns into discord, and the couple agree to divorce after a year passes. Their love-hate relationship and pending break-up provides a perfect backdrop for several comedic situations before the two realize that they are actually in love.

Yo quiero ser mala

1950