Pearl, The (1947)
Director: Emilio Fernández
Starring: Pedro Armendáriz, María Elena Marqués
Honors:
Golden Globe for Best Cinematography
An adaptation of the John Steinbeck novella, this
Mexican-American picture would become one of Mexican cinema’s greatest praised productions
during the nation’s golden age of movie making. Directed by the acclaimed
filmmaker Emilio Fernández, The Pearl
manifested his creative influences from cinematic pioneers from across the
world. Its result was the most praise feature film out of Mexico during its
time, produced in two languages it would become a historically celebrated
picture on both sides of the Mexican-American border.
The Pearl is Mexican-American drama of a poor diver who discovers a
valuable pearl with hopes of bringing his family wealth and prosperity, only to
unleash the ugly greed by those who covet his new found treasure. In a poor off
the coast of Mexican a meager diver, Quino (Pedro Armendáriz), discovers a
grand pearl which he dreams will free he and his wife, Juana (María Elena
Marqués), from poverty. Greedy trade dealers wishing to take the treasure for
their own attempt to swindle and steal the pearl from Quino, sending the poor
diver with his wife with infant son in hand running for their lives. Suffering
through the hardships of the wilderness, Quino eventually kill is attackers,
but not before losing his son during the scuffle. Returning to their home feeling
the pearl had brought nothing but death and despair, Quino and Juana hurl the
pearl into the ocean, ridding them of the prize that charged their lives for
the worse.
The story is simple with simple characters, a flat villain, lacking
and stiff dialogue, and less than inspiring performances. However the
filmmaking is wonderfully constructed, shot on location in Mexico the picture is
shot and assembled in a manner that harkens to the stylized filmmaking of
Russian director Sergei Eisenstein. Playing with shadows, silhouettes, extreme
low angles, and emphasis on actions captured in still close ups, this film
feels more connected to the pioneers of European and Russian cinema than the
style more commonly seen in nearby Hollywood that permeated the all theaters of
North America at the time. Because of this the picture feels much more intimate
and emotional while being bringing with it a grander feel despite its rather
meager budget.
Heavily influenced by the filmmaking of Sergei Eisenstein,
director Emilio Fernández brought a much more unique feel to his craft,
elevating the quality of Mexican cinema. Having worked for a time in Hollywood
in various positions, including as stunt double for Douglas Fairbanks and as
the fabled model for the famed Oscar stature, Fernández was introduced to
Eisenstein’s work. At this impressionable time in his life Eisenstein directed
and released Que viva Mexico!, a
feature the Russian born director produced in Mexico while Fernández was
learning the craft in Hollywood, capturing his imagination with this very unique
style. He would take back to his homeland these stylistic visions, molding
himself in in a similar manner, becoming a master on filmmaking in Mexico, with
the The Pearl becoming the breakout
internationally.
As much as this picture was Emilio Fernandez’s vision, the
picture was under the creative control of author John Steinbeck. Originally
serialized for the magazine “Women’s Home Journal” the story was not officially
published until after the release of the motion picture. Steinbeck was attached
to the production from the very beginning, penning the screenplay to adapt his
own work for the silver screen. Inspired by the pearl rich region along the
Mexican coast Steinbeck, whose name was attached above the title, would arrive
on set in the middle of production causing brief delays in production with his
sometimes unwanted input on the picture.
Simultaneously shot in English and Spanish the film was
among the very first Mexican produced features with a wide release in the
United States, with distribution by RKO. Bi-lingual Mexican American stars
Pedro Armendáriz and María Elena Marqúes carry the load of performing in
English and Spanish. Making the film play well in both markets portraying the
husband and wife fighting to stay alive and save their treasure. Their
performances are somewhat lacking, but that can be attributed to the poor,
unnatural dialogue from the script. They deliver lines as if nearly out of
breathe ent to equate to the awe like state of the two, but it comes off overly-dramatic many times. Their best performances come when absolutely no
dialogue is given, allowing the universal understanding of expression and body
language to do the speaking. Both actor and actress were big stars for the Mexican
cinema during their country’s golden age, with Armendáriz’s career spanning
across the boarder into Hollywood, becoming a favorite of director John Ford’s
westerns.
The relatively short feature film released to generally
positive critical praise with The Pearl
winning multiple Ariel Awards, the Mexican equivalent to the Oscars, including
Best Director and Best Actor. State side the film was praised from its look as
the film was awarded a Golden Globe in cinematography. For Emilio Fernández The Pearl cemented him the greatest
director in Mexican cinema as the film played well internationally, including
competing in the 1947’s Venice Film Festival. His style would set new standards
for the Mexican industry as his depiction of Mexican culture, music, and
dancing in the The Pearl would become
the generic styling of Mexican culture depicted in movies for years to come.
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