El Esqueleto de la señora Morales
| El Esqueleto de la señora Morales (The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales) | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Rogelio A. González |
| Produced by | Sergio Kogán |
| Written by |
Luis Alcoriza Arthur Machen (story) |
| Starring |
Arturo de Córdova Amparo Rivelles Antonio Bravo Angelines Fernández Luis Aragón Guillermo Orea Rosenda Monteros Elda Peralta Mercedes Pascual Paz Villegas Roberto Meyer Jorge Mondragón Armando Arriola |
| Music by | Raúl Lavistae |
| Cinematography | Victor Herrera |
Release dates | 26 May 1960 |
Running time |
Theatrical cut: 92 min. |
| Country | Mexico |
| Language | Spanish |
El Esqueleto de la señora Morales (English: The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales) is a 1960 Mexican black comedy film based on Arthur Machen's 1927 short story "The Islington Mystery". It is regarded by critics as one of the ten best Mexican films of all time.
Plot
Pablo Morales (Arturo de Cordova) is a cheerful taxidermist, who lives with his bitter obsessive wife Gloria (Amparo Rivelles), who is extremely religious. Pablo wants to have children, but Gloria does not. Gloria constantly rejects to sleep with his husband, enjoying to offend him by telling that he sticks to dead animals. She enjoys annoying him. Pablo saves money because he has an enthusiasm to buy a camera, but Gloria takes the money Pablo was saving and gives it to the church and pretends he was beating her. Pablo gets his camera, but Gloria breaks it. This aggression was the straw that broke the camel's back. He takes his revenge by poisoning her. He then dissects Gloria's body and places her skeleton in the front window of his shop. The police and local priest become suspicious and he is put on trial but he manages to escape justice.
Production
Arthur Machen's original 1927 essay, "The Islington Mystery" which can be found in his collection The Cosy Room was based largely on the case of the famous murderer Dr. Crippen. Screenwriter Luis Alcoriza was influenced by his association with Luis Buñuel.
Reception
This film is ranked 19 in the list of the 100 best films of Mexican cinema, in the opinion of 25 film critics and experts on Mexico, published by the magazine Somos in July 1994.[1]