Gran casino (1947)

	Also Known As: Le Grand Casino
	Year of first release: 1947
	Director: Luis Buñuel
	Actors: Jorge Negrete, Libertad Lamarque, José Baviera, Mercedes Barba
	Country: MEX
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 05.12.2014, DVD, OV Spanish
Synopsis: After the mysterious disappearance of an oil field owner, José Enrique Irigoyen, two workers are hired. Gerardo (Negrete) endorses the team management and sees he is blocked due to Fabio, the casino owner (Baviera), who would like to get control of the oil fields. Soon, the owner's sister Mercedes Irigoyen (Lamarque) arrives from Argentina, and, believing that Gerardo killed her brother to keep the wells for himself, she starts working as a singer under a false name in the same casino her brother disappeared, in order to find out what exactly happened.
Review: The idea and the desertic location is a kind of classical for a Western, but there is no cowboy here. Every turn in the story is announced well in advance so that there is no surprise. Negrete is presented as the charismatic and fine guy especially with light and camera effects. There are several songs locating the movie far from the Western. I knew from Buñuel only Los olvidados from his Mexican period and the rather his French period involving Michel Piccoli and Fernando Rey. I may have to come back to these to show the best of Luis Buñuel.
Rating: 4 /10