
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
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
5.2An 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
No synopsis available yet.
The Torment
1937
6.2Son 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
6.8Pitch, 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
6.1After one is arrested - possibly unjustly - for murder, the lives of two brothers spiral out of control.
Crónica roja
1979
Film credits
1980s · 2 titles
1970s · 17 titles
5.2An 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
6.1After one is arrested - possibly unjustly - for murder, the lives of two brothers spiral out of control.
Crónica roja
1979
5.81862. 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
6.2Directed 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
6.5Hall 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
5.2An 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
5.0The 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
4.3In 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
5.6A 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
6.4No synopsis available yet.
Jesús, el niño Dios
1971
5.8Famed 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
5.6Cowboy-justice dude has to figure out who the masterminds are behind a string of murders.
Manuel Saldivar, el texano
1972
5.3'Prisión de Mujeres' is a film by Fernando A. Rivero that narrates a harsh reality: the strength of women in a prison, how they lose their dignity and do not stop for anything.
Prisión de mujeres
1977
6.7Career-thief hides from the police by joining a convent.
La hermana Trinquete
1970
5.7The wife of a philandering husband tries to engineer a situation in which she can photograph him in a compromising position in order to file for divorce. Meanwhile, subplots.
La disputa
1974
6.0No synopsis available yet.
El Llanto de los Pobres
1978
7.0No synopsis available yet.
La Folle de Chaillot
1976
1960s · 11 titles
5.5In 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
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
5.3No synopsis available yet.
La vida de Pedro Infante
1966
7.5Pili 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
5.0El Santo and his loyal friends will try to disarm a dangerous criminal organization.
Santo vs. the King of Crime
1962
6.9No synopsis available yet.
Un par de robachicos
1967
5.4The love affairs of two couples, modern parents a couple of troubled teens.
El día de la boda
1968
Adventure film about two sisters looking revenge against the man who murdered their father.
Adventures of the X Sisters
1963
6.7Peasant woman leads a regiment during the final days of the Mexican Revolution. Also, romantic entanglements.
Juana Gallo
1961
6.6Two clumsy and absent-minded spies (Capulina and Chespirito) are hired to save the world from a nuclear attack.
Operación carambola
1968
Western with romance subplot.
La leyenda del bandido
1967
1950s · 6 titles
6.2Son 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
6.0Mexican feature film
Milagros de San Martín de Porres
1959
5.8A clumsy investigator must unravel a deadly mystery when a passenger is killed during a long-distance rail journey.
El genial Detective Peter Pérez
1952
4.7Three married couples gather to celebrate the eighteenth anniversary of their marriage mourning the absence of a friend who was best man at all three weddings.
The Three Perfect Wives
1953
Young gunslinger gets his hero on. #2 in a series ("El Puma.")
La ley del más rápido
1959
8.0Martine is a young woman plagued both by poverty and by uncaring, problem parents who in no way can provide the kind of nurturing that Martine needs during her adolescent years. As a result of her family situation, Martine runs away from home and gets involved with a group of teens and young adults from the wrong side of the moral tracks.
Night Dance Hall
1959
1940s · 15 titles
6.0During 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
6.7No synopsis available yet.
Unidos por el eje
1942
6.3A 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
6.0Unassuming 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
5.6Plantation owner is way too much into his peasant girls. It causes problems.
Mala yerba
1940
6.5It 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
5.8Martina, 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
6.0Priest 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
6.2Divorciadas 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
5.8No synopsis available yet.
El misterioso señor Marquina
1942
6.4Romantic triangle during the Mexican Revolution.
Si me han de matar mañana
1947
5.6Based 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
6.2The 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
6.7A woman with a dubious reputation causes problems in an aristocratic marriage.
El abanico de Lady Windermere
1944
6.9No synopsis available yet.
Soy charro de Rancho Grande
1947
1930s · 8 titles
No synopsis available yet.
The Torment
1937
6.0Two good friends — the owner and general manager of a ranch — fall in love with the same girl at the same time. The owner tries to 'buy' the girl without knowing she is in love with the manager.
Allá en el Rancho Grande
1936
5.5An agent of the anti-drug brigade is captured and ends up addicted to marijuana, which causes him to enter the mafia.
Marihuana (El monstruo verde)
1936
6.3A tragicomic piece based on a novella by Manuel Ibo Alfaro.
Malditas sean las mujeres
1936
5.4Based on the brief life of the Mexican composer of the famous waltz, "Over the Waves" ("Sobre las Olas"), Juventino Rosas.
Over the Waves
1933
6.0A 1932 film.
Hand to Hand
1932
6.0In a small city, talented María was trained as a singer by blind composer Joaquín. They both dream of making it big in the capital but, when they finally make the move, they find that success is not achieved without struggles.
Una luz en mi camino
1939
6.3No synopsis available yet.
Honrarás a tus padres
1937
Behind the camera
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
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
6.2Son 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
6.2Son 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
6.8Pitch, 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
6.8Pitch, 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
5.5A surgeon transplants the heart of an ape into his ailing son with horrific results.
Night of the Bloody Apes
1969
5.5A surgeon transplants the heart of an ape into his ailing son with horrific results.
Night of the Bloody Apes
1969
5.9A 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
5.4When 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
6.2Directed 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
4.8A 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
4.9Gloria 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
8.0El 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
6.7No synopsis available yet.
Unidos por el eje
1942
6.3At the end of an unhappy romance, a Mexico City cabdriver decides he's fed up with big-city classism and hypocrisy, and goes home to his ranch. Soon, a group of city-folk are stranded on his property and dependent on him for help and sustenance.
El Hijo Del Pueblo
1974
6.3At the end of an unhappy romance, a Mexico City cabdriver decides he's fed up with big-city classism and hypocrisy, and goes home to his ranch. Soon, a group of city-folk are stranded on his property and dependent on him for help and sustenance.
El Hijo Del Pueblo
1974
4.9When 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
6.2A woman travels to her past life with the help of Santo's past life regression machine
Santo in the Treasure of Dracula
1969
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Gema
1950
5.0One of Zapata's field marshals runs afoul of dictator Huerta's stooges in his home town.
Lauro Puñales
1969
5.2An archaeologist believes a Mexican woman is the reincarnation of an Aztec princess.
The Living Idol
1957
6.6Mama thinks one of her sons is going into the priesthood... but he wants to join the army instead. Naughty uncle from Paris help him get out from under Mom's thumb.
Dos cadetes
1938
4.7An Italian taxicab driver is used as a "breeding man" to save the inheritance of a wealthy family in Mexico.
Una noche embarazosa
1977
4.3A cabaret dancer helps an injured man, and the two fall in love, unaware that together they will face a tragedy.
Port of Temptation
1951
4.3A cabaret dancer helps an injured man, and the two fall in love, unaware that together they will face a tragedy.
Port of Temptation
1951
6.4In 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
6.0Two 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
7.3A young boy born extraordinarily small must rescue his older brothers from a wicked ogre.
Tom Thumb
1958
7.3A young boy born extraordinarily small must rescue his older brothers from a wicked ogre.
Tom Thumb
1958
5.8Young woman loses her secretarial job, so she tries to become a bill-collector.
Vuelva el sábado
1951
5.8Famed 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
5.8No synopsis available yet.
La Guerra de los Pasteles
1979
5.8Famed 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
5.8After a group of violent lepers escapes from a sanitarium, - robbing several farms, residents of the town demand the the sheriff - take action. Meanwhile, a local criminal joins forces with the lepers - to commit even more robberies. As the disfigured madmen keep the - entire town indoors with its reign of terror, the sheriff has no - choice but to call on the only man who can help--legendary wrestling - superhero, Santo!
Santo vs. the Riders of Terror
1970
5.8After a group of violent lepers escapes from a sanitarium, - robbing several farms, residents of the town demand the the sheriff - take action. Meanwhile, a local criminal joins forces with the lepers - to commit even more robberies. As the disfigured madmen keep the - entire town indoors with its reign of terror, the sheriff has no - choice but to call on the only man who can help--legendary wrestling - superhero, Santo!
Santo vs. the Riders of Terror
1970
5.5Idealistic young teacher takes a post in a small, backwoods town and dedicates her life to schooling the village's children.
La maestra inolvidable
1969
4.3Someone who wears a blue mask, is squat and has giant hands are killing people and stealing jewelry and money. The witnesses are afraid to talk, despite the detective understands that the clues point to his friend Blue Demon. This is actually an evil plan hatched by the Count and a fighter called ' The Cossack ', taking revenge on Blue. In both the real Blue Demon campaign starts with his secretary and a detective to unravel the mystery.
Noche de muerte
1975
5.6Cowboy-justice dude has to figure out who the masterminds are behind a string of murders.
Manuel Saldivar, el texano
1972
6.4Sequel to Maria Pistolas. Comic-tomgirl member of Villa's army has boy trouble.
El corrido de María Pistolas
1964


