Pierre Bruno Hugo Fontana, otherwise known as Hugo del Carril (30 November 1912 – 13 August 1989 in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

), was an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

film actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), ...

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

and tango singer of the classic era.

Early life

Born in

, del Carril was the son of parents of a rich economic position, his mother Orsolina Bertani was born in Argentina (daughter of the Italian Anarchist Orsini Bertani), but his father Hugo Fontana was an Italian

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, born in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

. But in spite of the comforts and the comfortable life they led, his parents separated and young Hugo was left in the charge of a family friend.

Career

Del Carril originally began as a popular personality on Argentine radio, and parlayed that into a film career that began in late 1936. He was an immediate hit, and developed into one of Argentina's major film stars. He made some 50 film appearances as an actor between then and his retirement in 1976 but he turned to directing in 1949 and simultaneously directed, acted and produced many of his films becoming one of the industries highest earners of the period. In 1952 he directed the widely acclaimed Argentine film, '' Las Aguas Bajan Turbias'' known as "River of Blood" in English. He also composed the " Peronist March" (''Marcha Peronista''), which served as the anthem of the

Peronist Peronism, also called justicialism,. The Justicialist Party is the main Peronist party in Argentina, it derives its name from the concept of social justice., name=, group= is an Argentine political movement based on the ideas and legacy of A ...

movement. Del Carril was himself a committed Peronist and was briefly blacklisted and sent into exile in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

following Peron's overthrow in 1955.Rist p.202 His 1961 film '' Esta tierra es mía'' was entered into the

2nd Moscow International Film Festival The 2nd Moscow International Film Festival was held from 9 to 23 July 1961. The Grand Prix was shared between the Japanese film ''The Naked Island'' directed by Kaneto Shindo and the Soviet film '' Clear Skies'' directed by Grigori Chukhrai. Ju ...

Filmography

Actor

*El canto cuenta su historia (1976) *La malavida (1973) *Siempre fuimos compañeros (1973) *'' Amalio Reyes, un hombre'' (1970) *¡Viva la vida! (1969) *''El día que me quieras'' (1969) *Buenas noches, Buenos Aires (1964) *La sentencia (1964) *La calesita (1963) * Esta tierra es mía (1961) *Amorina (1961) *Buenos días, Buenos Aires (corto - 1960) *Culpable (1960) * '' The White Land'' (1959) * Más allá del olvido (1956) * El último perro (1956) *Vida nocturna (1955) *Las aguas bajan turbias (1952) *Surcos de sangre (1950) *El último payador (1950) * '' A Story of the Nineties'' (1949) * ''

My Poor Beloved Mother ''My Poor Beloved Mother'' (Spanish:''Pobre mi madre querida'') is a 1948 Argentine drama film directed by Homero Manzi and Ralph Pappier and starring Hugo del Carril, Emma Gramatica, and Aída Luz.Plazaola p.156 It was based on a tango of the sa ...

'' (1948) * ''

Buenos Aires Sings ''Buenos Aires Sings'' (Spanish:''Buenos Aires canta'') is a 1947 Argentine musical film directed by Antonio Solano and starring Niní Marshall, Hugo del Carril and Azucena Maizani.Etchelet p.351 The film is part of the tradition of tango films. C ...

'' (1947) *La cumparsita (1947) * '' The Associate'' (1946) * '' The Circus Cavalcade'' (1945) *Los dos rivales (1944) *La piel de zapa (1943) *Pasión imposible (1943) *Amor último modelo (1942) * '' Story of a Poor Young Man'' (1942) * '' When the Heart Sings'' (1941) * '' By the Light of a Star'' (1941) * '' The Song of the Suburbs'' (1941) *Confesión (1940) *'' The Tango Star'' (1940) *Gente bien (1939) * '' The Life of Carlos Gardel'' (1939) *La vida es un tango (1939) * ''

Honeysuckle Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae, native to northern latitudes in North America and Eurasia. Approximately 180 species of honeysuckle have been identified in both con ...

'' (1938) * ''

Three Argentines in Paris ''Three Argentines in Paris'' (Spanish:''Tres anclados en París'') is a 1938 Argentine musical comedy film directed by Manuel Romero and starring Florencio Parravicini, Tito Lusiardo and Irma Córdoba.Bethell p.468 The film's sets were designe ...

'' (1938) *La vuelta de Rocha (1937) * ''

The Boys Didn't Wear Hair Gel Before ''The Boys Didn't Wear Hair Gel Before'' (Spanish:''Los muchachos de antes no usaban gomina'') is a 1937 Argentine historical drama film directed and written by Manuel Romero and starring Florencio Parravicini, Mecha Ortiz and Santiago Arrieta.Ri ...

'' (1937)

Director

*Yo maté a Facundo (1975) *Buenas noches, Buenos Aires (1964) *La sentencia (1964) *La calesita (1963) * Esta tierra es mía (1961) *Amorina (1961) *Culpable (1960) * '' The White Land'' (1959) *Una cita con la vida (1958) * Más allá del olvido (1956) * La Quintrala, doña Catalina de los Ríos y Lisperguer (1955) * Las aguas bajan turbias (1952) *Surcos de sangre (1950) * '' A Story of the Nineties'' (1949)

Screenwriter

*Yo maté a Facundo (1975) *Historia del 900 (1949)

Producer

*Buenas noches, Buenos Aires (1964) *La sentencia (1964) *La calesita (1963) *Las tierras blancas (1959) *Una cita con la vida (1958) * Más allá del olvido (1956) *La Quintrala, doña Catalina de los Ríos y Lisperguer (1955) *Surcos de sangre (1950) *Historia del 900 (1949)

Bibliography

* Finkielman, Jorge. ''The Film Industry in Argentina: An Illustrated Cultural History''. McFarland, 2003. * Rist, Peter H. ''Historical Dictionary of South American Cinema''. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carril, Hugo 1912 births 1989 deaths People from Buenos Aires Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine male film actors 20th-century Argentine male actors Argentine film directors Argentine film producers Tango singers Male tango film actors Tango film directors 20th-century Argentine male singers