
Salón México. 1948. Mexico. Directed by Emilio Fernández. Screenplay by Mauricio Magdaleno, Emilio Fernández. Cinematography by Gabriel Figueroa. With Marga López, Miguel Inclán, Rodolfo Acosta. DCP. In Spanish; English subtitles. 95 min.
In the late 1940s, as the corruption of the Alemán government became evident, Mexican cinema took a turn toward big-city noir, as did Emilio Fernández, with this drama in the popular cabaretera genre. But in Fernández’s hands, even the sordid Mexico City dance hall in which the self-sacrificing heroine (Marga López) works to support her virtuous younger sister becomes a glorious symbol of Mexican communal solidarity, as the cabaret girl joins with an idealistic policeman (Miguel Inclán, in a rare sympathetic role) to defeat a brutal gangster (Rodolfo Acosta).