Una aventura en la noche (1948)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Rolando Aguilar

Writers:

Rolando Aguilar (writer)
Chano Urueta (writer)

Release Date:

9 July 1948 (Mexico)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

A film director and a scriptwriter, ride two mysterious girls in the road, just to find out later that they had died months ago.

Cast

Luis Aguilar	...	Arturo Centella
Miroslava Stern	...	Elena
Carlos Villarías	...	Don Adolfo
Susana Cora	...	Amparo
Arturo Soto Rangel	...	Police detective
Jorge Reyes	...	Fernandito
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Maruja Grifell
Manuel R. Ojeda
José Pardavé
Francisco Reiguera
Carlos Riquelme	...	Adolfito
José Romero
Ceferino Silva

Also Known As:

Adventure in the Night (USA) (dubbed version)

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Mexico

Company:

Azteca Films

Compelling Noir/Romance/Fantasy/Mystery

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Super-popular singer/matinée idol Luis Aguilar is the top-billed (and non-singing) star of Una Aventura en la Noche (sic) (1948), not only a fascinating noir, but one of the weirdest movies ever made. Let me give you the gist of the plot by partly translating the blurb on the back of the DVD: "A classic mystery story. After a spree in the town, two friends pick up two super-beautiful girls with whom they spend a marvelous night. The following evening, the two friends return to the apartment of these sirens. They find it deserted. But they break in anyway and, to their surprise, they find the apartment looking as if it hasn't been occupied for some time. On questioning a neighbor, they discover the two girls were supposedly killed in an automobile accident some months ago. They decide to investigate. Sure enough, they manage to track the girls down and find they are both very much alive. Or are they?" Part noir, part romance, part fantasy, part mystery, the movie only loses its grip midway in a long, boring scene in which Aguilar and Reyes discuss their findings. Aside from this superfluous scene, the movie never loses its grip. Oddly, although top-billed, Aguilar does not have the largest part. That role is admirably filled by Jorge Reyes. Also odd is that Aguilar is not matched with second-billed Miroslava (looking very exotic, as usual), but the attractive, girl-next-door type, Susana Cora. All told, a most compelling tale! Director Rolando Aguilar makes the most of his large-budget sets and hordes of extras, aided by the superbly noirish cinematography of Raul Martinez Solares.