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El profe
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Wikipedia article
'El profe' (aka 'The Professor') is a 1971 Mexican comedy film directed by Miguel M. DelgadoLomas Garca, p. 218 and starring Cantinflas, Marga Lpez and Vctor Alcocer.Garca Riera, p. 148
Plot
Scrates Garca (Cantinflas) is a primary school teacher who is assigned by the principal of the school he works in to administer another school located in the town of El Romeral, as he is the only teacher from that school who is single.
When Scrates arrives at the train station in the nearby town of San Bartolo, nobody receives him there. In El Romeral Scrates instead meets an 'arriero' who is going to the town in his cart and takes Scrates to El Romeral. When he arrives in town, he is received by the townspeople, including the municipal president (or mayor), Lucas Campuzano (Eduardo MacGregor) and Don Margarito Vzquez (Vctor Alcocer), the town's 'cacique' (political boss). The municipal president presents Scrates to the important people, but his and Don Margaritos personalities immediately clash. However he easily befriends the priest and Doa Hortensia (Marga Lpez), also taking an immediate infatuation with her. Campuzano asks Scrates to address to the people a few words, but while he gave his speech the floor of the platform he was in collapses. Doa Hortensia also hosts him. He asks where his school is to inspect it, only to discover that it is in ruins.
Scrates presence comes as a blessing to the towns people; he shows that his devotion to his students is much deeper than obvious, as he learns of the bad life conditions of some of them. He convinces a drunkard man (Ramn Valds) to stop trying to forget the loss of his lands due to tricks of Don Margarito by drinking and for his wife (Angelines Fernndez) to cease mistreating her son. He also makes an extremely slothful woman change her ways and raises money with his students to fix the school after experiencing the indifference of the towns men. However, he also finds some setbacks with a rebellious and defiant boy named Felipe. He also deals with certain obstacles, such as the eviction from their school since the owner wants to turn it to a saloon and theres no contract to prove otherwise. This forces him to create an open-field school, with columns of reeds, all caused by Don Margarito and covered by the municipal president.
Meanwhile, Scrates and Hortensia begin a romance. Scrates asks Hortensia for some photos; she sees it as a friendship deal and brings them, with Scrates telling her that the photos are for his wallet. Grateful, Scrates decides to serenade Hortensia with his students. Then, Scrates takes his students to a field trip and, despite the apparent inexperience of Scrates to camp (despite wearing a boy scout uniform), manages to make his students more loyal to him, to the point that they to dismantle the saloon that was put in place of the school, unleashing a fight in which Scrates finally rescues his students. As a result of the fight, Don Margarito and his men burn Scrates's improvised open-field school. A frustrated Scrates at first decides to leave the town, but the love of Hortensia and the loyalty of his students make him change his mind.
The announcement that the Governor (Arturo de Crdova) will make a visit to the town represents a salvation for Scrates and the townspeople themselves. Don Margarito and his henchmen kidnap Scrates to force the people to remain silent, but his students, with a remorseful Felipes help manage to rescue him after convincing Felipe to reveal his whereabouts (as Felipe's father is one of Don Margarito's henchmen), in a small hut, and Scrates gives the Governor documents that reveal the dirty maneuvers that Don Margarito made with the mayor to illegally take the land from the peasants. After this, Scrates asks the Governor to build a school; the Governor grants his request. The film ends in front of the new school, with Scrates and Hortensia walking together as the students sing to them.
Cast
*Cantinflas as Professor Scrates Garca (as Cantinflas)
*Marga Lpez as Hortensia
*Vctor Alcocer as Don Margarito Vzquez
*David Bravo as Fermn
*Ral Martnez as Pedro Gonzlez (as Raul A. Martinez)
*Eduardo MacGregor as Lucas Campuzano, municipal president
*Luciano Hernndez de la Vega as Father Gonzalo
*Ren Dupeyrn as Martn (as Ren Dupeyrn Unda)
*Gerardo del Castillo as Don Zenaido (as Gerardo del Castillo Jr.)
*Eduardo Lpez Rojas as Espiridin Cascajo
*Rogelio Gaona as Carmelo (as Rogelio Gaona Guerra)
*Len Barroso as School Principal
*Claudio Sorel as Felipe's father, henchman of Don Margarito (as Victor Sorel)
*Arturo de Crdova as Governor
*Jos Luis Caro as Married Professor (uncredited)
*Jorge Casanova as Married Professor (uncredited)
*Margarita Delgado as Doa Sara, Carmelo's mother (uncredited)
*Jos Dupeyrn as Zenaido's henchman (uncredited)
*Angelines Fernndez as Martn's mother (uncredited)
*Regino Herrera as Villager (uncredited)
*Margarito Luna as Peasant with donkey (uncredited)
*Ins Murillo as Fermn's mother (uncredited)
*Rubn Mrquez as Married Professor (uncredited)
*Ramn Valds as Martn's father (uncredited)
References
Bibliography
*Lomas Garca, Carlos. 'rase una vez la escuela: Los ecos de la escuela en las voces de la literatura'. Grao, 2007.
*Garca Riera, Emilio. 'Historia documental del cine mexicano: 19591960'. University of Guadalajara, 1994.
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