El Suavecito

It’s a case of the gangster vs. the gentleman. In Fernando Méndez’ El Suavecito, superstar Victor Parra deftly wrings vulnerability and confusion out of a scumbag of a character named Roberto Ramírez, aka El Suavecito, a small-time criminal and Zoot suit-donned pachuco whose no-good, lascivious lifestyle is hurting his chances at romance with his beloved next-door neighbor Lupita (Aurora Segura). Repelled by Roberto’s womanizing, boorish behavior and criminal tendencies, Lupita strikes up a friendship with a handsome and kindhearted taxi driver, Carlos Martínez (Dagoberto Rodríguez), whose presence shortly triggers Roberto’s jealousy. After a few superficial and unsuccessful attempts at getting rid of Lupita’s new suitor, Roberto concocts a plan to lure Carlos into his gang and set him up for arrest. That is, unless the tables turn on him. The final chase around a bus station serves as a crescendo of noir visual output, but the entire film oozes a sense of noir grittiness and volatility, especially in contrast to the humble devotion of Roberto’s loving mother (María Amelia de Torres) and Lupita’s wheelchair-bound father (Eduardo Arozamena).