''A Life in the Balance'' is a 1955 American-Mexican

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Harry Horner Harry Horner (July 24, 1910 – December 5, 1994) was an Austro-Hungarian-born American art director who made a successful career in Hollywood as an Oscar-winning art director and as a feature film and television director. Biography Horner was ...

and

Rafael Portillo Rafael Portillo (1916–1995) was a Mexican film director, screenwriter and film editor.Berg p.127 Selected filmography Director * ''The Ghost Falls In Love'' (1953) * ''A Life in the Balance'' (1955) * ''The Aztec Mummy'' (1957) * ''The Curse o ...

and starring

Ricardo Montalban Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname. People Given name *Ricardo de Araújo Pereira, Portugu ...

Anne Bancroft Anne Bancroft (born Anna Maria Louisa Italiano; September 17, 1931 – June 6, 2005) was an American actress. Respected for her acting prowess and versatility, Bancroft received an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, tw ...

and

Lee Marvin Lee Marvin (born Lamont Waltman Marvin Jr.; February 19, 1924August 29, 1987) was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and premature white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. Alth ...

.Cox p.149 It was shot in Mexico, and distributed in the United States by

Twentieth Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Gunther Gerszo.

Plot

Antonio Gomez (

) is a nearly down-and-out musician and widower with an eleven year old boy, Paco ( José Pérez) in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. Trying to support his boy in the face of unemployment and neighbors who want custody of his son, Gomez argues with an ex-girlfriend ( Eva Calvo) over money she owes him. After he leaves, the girlfriend is murdered by the religious-fanatic serial killer terrorizing the city (

), who stabs his young female victims and leaves them with their arms folded. When neighbors report the argument Gomez had with the murdered girl, the police presume they are finally on the trail of the serial killer, and Gomez is their target. Gomez goes out to a pawnshop to buy his son a long-dreamed-of guitar and there meets a young woman (

) with whom he goes looking for his son. What Gomez does not realize is that a police dragnet is closing in on him and that his boy Paco actually witnessed this most recent murder and has been trailing the killer. It's not long, though, before the killer has spotted the boy and kidnaps him. The boy is forced to accompany the killer over the course of a night while the killer is asking God who he should kill next while Paco watches and looks for a way to escape. Hauled in by the police, Antonio and Maria learn what has happened to Paco, and with the help of the police, attempt to locate him and his kidnapper before the psychopath notches up another knife murder.

Cast

as Antonio Gómez *

as María Ibinia *

as The Killer * José Pérez as Paco Gómez *

Rodolfo Acosta Rodolfo Pérez Acosta (July 29, 1920 – November 7, 1974) was a Mexican-American character actor who became known for his roles as Mexican outlaws or American Indians in Hollywood western films. He was sometimes credited as Rudolfo Acosta ...

as Lt. Fernando * Carlos Múzquiz as Capt. Saldana * Jorge Treviño as Sergeant * José Torvay as Andrés Martínez * Eva Calvo as Carla Arlota *

Fanny Schiller Fanny Schiller Hernández (3 August 1901 – 26 September 1971) was a Mexican award-winning character actress and television star, who also acted in operettas and musicals, during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. She won two Ariel Awards for bes ...

as Carmen Martínez * Tamara Garina as Doña Lucrecia *

Pascual García Peña Pascual García Peña (1910–1977) was a Mexican film actor.Agrasánchez, Jr. p.160 He was married to actress Hortensia Santoveña. Selected filmography * '' Madam Temptation'' (1948) * ''The Big Steal'' (1949) * '' Midnight'' (1949) * '' Angel ...

as Porter * Tony Carbajal as Pedro

References

Bibliography

* Cox, James H. ''Muting White Noise: Native American and European American Novel Traditions''. University of Oklahoma Press, 2012.

External links

* 1955 films 1950s serial killer films 1950s thriller films Mexican thriller films American thriller films Films based on short fiction Films based on works by Georges Simenon Films directed by Harry Horner Films directed by Rafael Portillo Films shot in Mexico 20th Century Fox films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films American black-and-white films Mexican black-and-white films 1950s Mexican films {{1950s-thriller-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

Bibliography

External links