Santa Claus (1959)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Santa claus |
| Country of production | Mexico |
| original language | Spanish |
| Publishing year | 1959 |
| length | 94 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | René Cardona |
| script |
Adolfo Torres Portillo René Cardona |
| production | Guillermo Calderón |
| music | Antonio Díaz Conde |
| camera | Raúl Martínez Solares |
| cut | Jorge Bustos |
| occupation | |
| |
Santa Claus is a 1959 Mexican Christmas film directed by René Cardona .
action
Santa Claus prepares for the new Christmas in his castle in space. Children from all over the world help him in the toy land to implement the wishes of the children and build toys. Meanwhile , Lucifer commands a devil to defeat Santa Claus and see that all the children of the earth do bad things. The devil succeeds on earth in pulling three little boys to his side. You are throwing stones at a Santa Claus figure in a shop window.
Two children on earth have special wishes: Little Rico grows up in a wealthy household and already has all the toys a child could want. His dearest wish - which Santa Claus reads from his dreams - is to spend Christmas with his parents, who all too often leave him alone. Little Lupita, on the other hand, grows up in great poverty. She wants a doll for Christmas. The devil thinks he can get her to his side too and makes her steal a doll in a market, but Lupita quickly realizes her mistake and brings the doll back.
From the magician Merlin , Santa Claus gets sleep powder, dream powder and a flower that makes him disappear. He receives the golden key from the blacksmith, which can unlock all doors. He loads his sled with the presents for the children, raises his toy reindeer and flies to earth. He knows that he has to be back at the castle before sunrise or his reindeer will turn to dust.
The devil causes him some difficulties on earth: he moves a chimney and makes a door lock glow. However, Santa Claus can outsmart him and still get into the houses. Rico is alone on Christmas Eve and Santa Claus uses the dream powder to make him wake up while he believes himself in a dream. Santa Claus reveals himself to Rico and makes it clear to him that his parents love him. Shortly afterwards, he gives the parents a souvenir cocktail that makes them go home to their son and celebrate Christmas together. The three bad boys whom the devil has stirred up against Santa Claus, this gives coal, whereupon they fall out. The devil is now pursuing Santa Claus alone. He cuts up the sack with the sleeping powder and the disappearing flower and chases a dog on Santa Claus on the next descent. Santa Claus takes refuge in a tree and, thanks to Merlin's help, escapes from there before the devil can set the police, fire brigade and the owners of the property on him. Shortly before daybreak, Santa Claus manages to bring little Lupita the doll she wants, which her parents see as a miracle. Santa Claus finally returns to his castle in space in time and knows that he has made the children of the earth happy.
production
Santa Claus was filmed at the Estudios Churubusco Azteca in Mexico. The film constructions come from Francisco Marco Chillet . The Christmas carols that can be heard in the film include Silent Night, Holy Night, and Jingle Bells . At the beginning of the film, the helpers are introduced by Santa Claus, with the children of each country singing a song. The contribution of the children from Germany is The Shepherdess and the Cuckoo (“A shepherd girl grazed, two lambs by the hand”) by Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim .
Santa Claus had its world premiere at the San Francisco International Film Festival , which ran from November 11th to 24th, 1959. The film was released in Mexican cinemas on November 26, 1959. K. Gordon Murray released the film in October 1960 on the US market, where he acted as the narrator in the film. In the US version, some names have been changed, so the boy Rico is called Billy, while the devil Precio became Pitch in the US version. In German-speaking countries, the film was shown for the first time on Tele 5 as part of the series The worst films of all time .
Awards
In 1959, René Cardona won the Golden Gate Award for Best International Family Film for Santa Claus at the San Francisco International Film Festival.
Web links
- Santa Claus in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ World List of Future International Meetings . Part 2. Reference Department, Library of Congress 1959, p. 33.
- ↑ Santa Claus on history.sffs.org