''The Black Crown'' (French: ''La Couronne noire'', Spanish: ''La corona negra'') is a 1951 French-Spanish

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...

directed by

Luis Saslavsky Luis Saslavsky (April 21, 1903 – March 20, 1995) was an Argentine film director, screenwriter and film producer, and one of the influential directors in the Cinema of Argentina of the classic era. Personal life Saskavsky was born in Rosario, Sa ...

and starring

María Félix María de los Ángeles Félix Güereña (; 8 April 1914 – 8 April 2002) was a Mexican actress and singer. Along with Pedro Armendáriz and Dolores del Río, she was one of the most successful figures of Latin American cinema in the 1940s an ...

Rossano Brazzi Rossano Brazzi (18 September 1916 – 24 December 1994) was an Italian actor. Biography Brazzi was born in Bologna, Italy, the son of Maria Ghedini and Adelmo Brazzi, an employee of the Rizzoli shoe factory. He was named after Rossano Vene ...

and

Vittorio Gassman Vittorio Gassman (; born Gassmann; 1 September 1922 – 29 June 2000), popularly known as , was an Italian actor, director and screenwriter. He is considered one of the greatest Italian actors, whose career includes both important productions ...

. It is based on the story ''

La Vénus d'Ille ''La Vénus d'Ille'' (, "The Venus of Ille") is a short story by Prosper Mérimée. It was written in 1835 and published in 1837. It tells the story of a statue of Venus that comes to life and kills the son of its owner, whom it believes to be i ...

'' by

Prosper Mérimée Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, and one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, and a ...

Synopsis

In the city of Tangier, a woman named Mara (María Félix) suffers from amnesia after murdering her husband, who was about to demand a divorce for having caught her in illicit love affairs with a lover (Vittorio Gassman), who only loves her. interested in finding the place where some precious jewels are hidden. Disoriented, the woman runs away from her and finds the help of Andrés, who falls in love with her and tries to get her memory back. Although her patron saint sees in the tarot cards that a black crown that portends death revolves around the mysterious woman, Andrés ignores her and goes with her to the hotel where the clues indicate that he was staying with her. Mara is kidnapped by her former lover and locked in a gym on her property, but being amnesiac she can't tell him where she hid her husband's jewelry.

Cast

as Mara Russell *

as Andrés *

as Mauricio *

José María Lado José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

as Sr. Russel * Antonia Plana as Señora Russel * Avelino Santana *

Julia Caba Alba Julia Caba Alba (31 July 1902 – 14 November 1988) was a Spanish actress who appeared in more than a hundred films and television series during her career. She was a noted character actress.Mira p.83 Her sister was the actress Irene Caba Alba. ...

as Flora *

Manuel Arbó Manuel Arbó (18 July 1898 – 25 May 1973) was a Spanish film actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1915 and 1970. Selected filmography * '' Drácula'' (1931, Spanish version) * ''There Were Thirteen'' (1931, Spanish-language ...

as Orlando *

Antonia Herrero Antonia Herrero (c. 27 November 1897 – 11 April 1978) was an Argentine film actress born in Spain. She began acting in theater at Spain and moved to Argentina where she acted in the Argentine cinema between 1944 and 1973. Antonia Herrero was ...

* Félix Fernández as El jardinero *

Concha López Silva Concha and Concho means "shell" in the Spanish and Portuguese languages. The word can also refer to: Places * Concho, Arizona, a frontier town now functioning as a retirement community in Apache County * Concho, Oklahoma * Concho County, Texas * ...

Casimiro Hurtado Casimiro may refer to: *Casimiro (given name) Casimiro is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Casimiro de Abreu (1839–1860), Brazilian poet, novelist and playwright * Casimiro Alegre (1741–1825), Argentine militia officer a ...

as El conde Ludovico * Carmen Moreno *

Francisco Pierrá Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...

as Pío * Dayna *

Santiago Rivero Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

as Don Enrique *

María Cañete Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

as Ana *

Mariano Alcón Mariano is a masculine name from the Romance languages, corresponding to the feminine Mariana. It is an Italian, Spanish and Portuguese variant of the Roman Marianus which derived from Marius, and Marius derived from the Roman god Mars (see also ...

María Francés María Candelaria Francés García (2 February 1887– 9 December 1987), better known as María Francés, was a Spanish stage, film and television actress.D'Lugo p.98 Selected filmography * ''Anguish'' (1947) * '' The Vila Family'' (1950) * '' ...

as María *

Domingo Rivas Domingo Rivas (29 March 1933 – 29 August 2020) was a Venezuelan racing cyclist. He competed in the three events at the 1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an interna ...

as Abogado de Mauricio *

Diana Salcedo Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997 ...

* Piéral as Pablo, the dwarf *

Arturo Bragaglia Arturo Bragaglia (7 January 1893 – 21 January 1962) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1938 to 1961. Selected filmography References External links * 1893 births 1962 deaths Italian male f ...

References

Bibliography

* Cynthia Tompkins & David William Foster. Notable Twentieth-century Latin American Women: A Biographical Dictionary''. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001.

External links

* 1951 films 1951 drama films Spanish drama films 1950s Spanish-language films Films based on works by Prosper Mérimée Films directed by Luis Saslavsky Films with screenplays by Jean Cocteau Films scored by Juan Quintero Muñoz Films based on short fiction French black-and-white films Spanish black-and-white films 1950s Spanish films French drama films Spanish-language French films {{1950s-Spain-film-stub