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 Entertainment | April 2007 
Collection, Festival to Honor Icon
 Ramón Rentería - El Paso Times
| | José Pedro Infante Cruz, known to his adoring fans as Pedro Infante, is regarded as the greatest idol in Mexican cinema. He has appeared in more than 60 films. (El Paso Times) |
Denise Chávez's novel "Loving Pedro Infante" describes the phenomenon in very blunt terms:
"If you're Mejicana or Mejicano and don't know who Pedro Infante is, you should be tied to a hot stove with yucca rope and beaten with sharp dry corn husks as you stand in a vat of soggy fideos."
Skip the fideos bath.
Home Warner Video has just released "The Pedro Infante Collection," 23 individual classic movies on DVD ($14.98 each) for the first time in the United States.
The collection came out just in time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the death of the icon of Mexican culture.
The Border Book Festival will have a "A Puro Pedro Party," an homage to the Mexican screen idol and singer with a film screening, Infante memorabilia, art and music and a reading by Chávez. The festival will be from 3 to 8 p.m Sunday at the Mesilla Community Center in Mesilla.
Infante rose from a humble carpenter and became Mexico's most beloved singer and screen idol. All of Mexico cried when he was killed April 15, 1957, in an airplane crash. He was 39.
Now, you can breathe a collective sigh of admiration with Mexico, kick backÊand watch Infante over and over again.
He was a handsome Mejicano with a romantic voice as smooth and mellow as premium tequila.
Infante starred in more than 60 films from 1939 until his death and recorded 366 songs between 1943 and 1956. His fame and stardom has been unmatched by any other Mexican movie star.
The collection includes box office hits such as "Pepe El Toro" and "Cuidado Con El." Other videos include "Ustedes Los Ricos" and "Asi era Pedro Infante," a documentary-style film about his funeral andÊcinema highlights.
The movies have English subtitles, obviously designed to reach a wider audience.
Rita Wilson, a librarian at the University of Texas at San Antonio, fell in love with Infante's voice while listening to the radio in Ecuador in 1984. She later collected his films and created one of the most factual Web pages devoted to Infante and his work.
Why is Pedro Infante so enduring?
"I suppose it's mostly that undefinable quality called charisma," Wilson said. "He had a beautiful, expressive voice. He was a natural actor who made contact with the common person. He seemed to be a combination of Errol Flynn, Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra."
Fans will absolutely love this wonderful treasure-trove of Pedro Infante memories. And if you're not yet a fan, you might want to sample a few of the DVDs, get hooked and avoid getting soaked in fideos.
Ramón Rentería may be reached at rrenteria@elpasotimes.com. |
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