Feature film
The Grey Automobile
El automóvil gris
Enrique Rosas · 1919
Synopsis
Mexico City, 1915, in the midst of the revolution. A gang of thieves disguised as soldiers, travelling in a grey automobile, takes advantage of the political disorder to rob the houses of high society; kidnappings and murders are added to the thefts. Inspector Juan Manuel Cabrera, who plays himself, follows the gang from crime to crime until he arrests it. The scenes are shot where the robberies took place, and the fiction is mixed with newsreel footage.
Context
Shooting begins in the last days of March 1919 at the very sites of the crimes, and the film is released in twelve episodes on 11, 12 and 13 December 1919, with immediate success. It incorporates newsreel footage of the gang, filmed by the author in 1915 for a documentary. Shortened versions then circulate, including one with sound added in 1933; the Cineteca Nacional made from it a restoration of three hours and forty minutes.
Who it is for
A long silent film, conceived in twelve episodes, to be watched in parts; between crime fiction and documentary, in the streets of Mexico City in 1915.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as a masterpiece of Mexican silent cinema, of which very little survives; restored and shown with live musical accompaniment.
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