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The Escape (1944 film)
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Wikipedia article
'The Escape' is a 1944 Mexican historical adventure film directed by Norman Foster and starring Esther Fernandez, Ricardo Montalbn, and Carlos Orellana. It is based on the short story 'Boule de suif' by Guy de Maupassant. The sets were designed by the art director Jos Rodrguez Granada.
The film is set during the French Intervention in Mexico. As the Republican forces of Benito Juarez close in on Mexico City, a group of pro-Imperial supporters flee on a stagecoach to the port city of Veracruz. Following the plot of the Maupassant story, the French lieutenant (Montalbn) demands sex from one of the passengers, a young Mexican prostitute (Fernndez), in exchange for allowing the stagecoach to continue its journey. He tries to court her while her fellow passengers pressure her to accept. The ending of the film departs from the Maupassant story and makes the leads fall in love to form a tragic romantic couple.
The film reunited Esther Fernndez and Ricardo Montalbn after the critical and commercial success of 'Santa' (Norman Foster, 1943), another period literary adaptation in which Fernndez starred as a prostitute. Some sources mistakenly claim that Fernndez's success in 'The Escape' got her a contract from the Hollywood studio Paramount Pictures. In fact, 'The Escape' was not as successful as 'Santa' and Fernndez had already been under contract at Paramount in the early 1940s, though she didn't make any movies. Paramount reportedly rehired her to co-star in 'Two Years Before the Mast' based on old screen tests, not her performance in 'The Escape'.
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