Directing
Fernando A. Rivero
Born 1908-02-09 · Mexico City, Mexico
Fernando A. Rivero (Mexico City, February 9th 1902 – April 20th 1975) was a Mexican set designer, film director, painter, actor, and writer, regarded as a foundational figure—“the father” of Mexican film scenographers. He studied architecture but left the program for financial reasons, worked at the jewelry shop El Nuevo Mundo, emigrated to the United States in 1927 to work as a draftsman for advertising companies and newspapers, and returned to Mexico in 1931. After inheriting money upon his grandfather’s death, he founded the Compañía Anunciadora Mexicana; a later press note also states he was orphaned at age four and adopted by relatives, and that he began professionally in advertising, following the example of his father, Pedro Rivero Noriega. In 1931 he declared his company bankrupt and entered the film industry as a set designer on Santa (1931), continuing as a scenographer throughout his career on 34 films and occasionally appearing on screen (including roles as a “corpse” and a “suicide” in early-1930s productions). He worked for a period in Argentina and Spain, but the Spanish Civil War forced his return to Mexico in 1937, arriving aboard the ship “Durango” and rejoining the industry with La paloma (1937). Rivero also described and tested a movable-set system of his own invention—designed to free camera and actor movement by separating lighting rigging from set walls—and later announced a business renting these “sets movibles”; he was also among the technicians who co-founded the Unión de Trabajadores de los Estudios Cinematográficos de México (UTECM) in 1933. He debuted as a director in 1938 with El beso mortal—a film adapted from Paul Gury’s play that drew controversy for its focus on venereal disease—and he went on to direct 20 films, closing that directing filmography in 1952 while continuing set-design work. His directing output included Cantinflas short films (1939–1940), documentaries, and features such as La posada sangrienta and Seda, sangre y sol (1941), Los miserables and Mi reino por un torero (1943), La casa embrujada and Nosotros (1944), Perdida (1949), and La extraña pasajera (1952). After leaving cinema, he returned to advertising work as a draftsman.
Acting credits
5.6Santa is a beautiful and very humble young girl living in Chimalistac, a small and quiet spot south of the 1930's Mexico City. After Santa is cheated by arrogant soldier Marcelino, she's rejected by her family and friends and expelled of Chimalistac. Santa finds shelter in a whorehouse and becomes a cinic and bitter woman, mistreated by bullfighter "Jarameno" and silently loved by blind pianist Hipólito.
Santa
1932
6.7Colonel Carrasco's wife Marta leaves him taking his young son. The child, Juan, grows into an admirable and well-mannered young man. Having been promoted to a higher rank of power amidst the Mexican Revolution, the indulgent and corrupt Colonel accepts a bribe to free a revolutionary, Felipe Martinez, from his prison. Martinez has been sentenced to execution at the hands of a firing squad. Carrasco asks to have the revolutionary replaced by absolutely anyone. In a twist of fate, that anyone turns out to be his own long lost son Juan. Upon receiving this news, Marta races to the prison and explains the predicament to Carrasco. He subsequently desperately attempts to prevent the gunning down of his son by his very own government officials.
Prisoner 13
1933
6.3No synopsis available yet.
Desecration
1934
Behind the camera
5.5Blind nightclub pianist takes in a young singer/entertainer when she hits bottom... but once she gets stable and starts thinking about maybe a boyfriend, his unspoken intentions start to surface.
Coqueta
1949
5.5Blind nightclub pianist takes in a young singer/entertainer when she hits bottom... but once she gets stable and starts thinking about maybe a boyfriend, his unspoken intentions start to surface.
Coqueta
1949
6.7Ex-con rebuilds his life after being discharged from prison.
El pecado de ser pobre
1950
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
6.3A 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
6.1Magician Fu Manchu must find a way out of a supposed haunted house.
The Bewitched House
1949
6.6During a long train trip, the Police has discovered jewelries in the personal bag of an actress, but she turns out to be innocent.
La extraña pasajera
1953
6.3Adapted from "Le mortel baiser", a stage play by French writer Loïc Le Gouriadec (also known as Paul Gury). The story follows Cecilia, the daughter of a wealthy and conservative family, who is about to marry the son of the town's mayor. When a physician specializing in venereal diseases arrives in town, he examines Cecilia's fiancé and informs him that he is still suffering from syphilis, which has advanced significantly since he contracted it years earlier.
El beso mortal
1938
6.0Local oligarch has the hots for a small-town schoolteacher; to escape from the problems he causes them, she and her boyfriend both move to Mexico City... but they lose contact with each other, and complications.
Good night my love
1951
5.6Adaptation of a Spanish operetta about a love triangle between two fisherman and a human female.
Marina
1945
6.0A 1932 film.
Hand to Hand
1932
6.0In Cordoba, Spain, a girl singer and her mother are falsely accused of stealing a donkey. They are saved by a famous painter who becomes infatuated with the girl and asks her to be his model for a painting. Things get complicated when a Mexican bullfighter arrives in town and falls for the same girl.
La morena de mi copla
1946
5.6An ex-convict struggling to start anew faces relentless pursuit by a remorseless cop while protecting an orphan amid the 1832 Paris student uprisings.
Los miserables
1943
7.4Cantinflas Ruletero is one of his most famous short films, where the great comedian acts as a taxi driver, making his passengers work without taking them to their destination.
Cantinflas Ruletero
1940
5.8Journalist meets an unforgettable woman, tracks her down and discovers all her tragic past.
La noche es nuestra
1952
6.3The tragic romance between a woman with a dubious past and a young thief who reforms his life for love.
Nosotros
1945
6.7No synopsis available yet.
Dinero maldito
1949
6.7We see a young Mario Moreno making us laugh while he trying to fight against an opponent on a ring.
Cantinflas boxeador
1940
3.8Mexican romantic musical.
Mujeres en mi Vida
1950
3.8Mexican romantic musical.
Mujeres en mi Vida
1950
7.4He shows us a poor Cantinflas like a rat that walks with a sad hatter and ends up in a bar where he will have a clash with the dangerous bandit "Ojo Tapado" (Covered Eye).
Jengibre contra Dinamita
1939
7.7Her stepfather rapes her and she runs away to home. After that, she's exploited by a series of men, and...
Perdida
1950
7.7Her stepfather rapes her and she runs away to home. After that, she's exploited by a series of men, and...
Perdida
1950
6.6A burglar and a bar girl fall in love and decide to go straight, but complications.
Los amantes
1951