Cinema
¡Tango!
Luis Moglia Barth · 1933
Synopsis
A young man sees his girlfriend leave him for a richer, older man, and the film follows his misfortunes; Billiken describes him trying to win back the woman he loved. The plot is drawn from tango songs and leaves more room for music than for dialogue. Libertad Lamarque, Tita Merello, Pepe Arias and Luis Sandrini star in it, and Azucena Maizani and Mercedes Simone appear under their own names, with the orchestras of Juan de Dios Filiberto and Osvaldo Fresedo.
Context
The film was released on 27 April 1933 at the Real Cine in Buenos Aires; it cost about 20,000 pesos and was the first production of Argentina Sono Film, according to Infobae. It is regarded as the first Argentine feature film with an optical soundtrack, recorded on the film itself, not the first sound film, two films from 1931 having preceded it. Infobae sees in it the beginning of a decade in which Argentina became the main centre of Spanish-language cinema.
Who it is for
A film in Spanish, more sung than spoken, with the stars and orchestras of the tango of 1933.
Prizes and reception
A success limited by the poor quality of the sound, despite the presence of great tango stars.