El Inocente(The Innocent Guy) is a classic comedy starring the late Pedro Infante, Silvia Pinal, and Sara Garcia. It was remade in 1968 as Romeo Contra Julieta(Romeo vs. Juliet), with Angelica Maria and Alberto Vasquez. On New Years Eve, Mane(Silvia Pinal) throws a fit in front of her boyfriend and she takes off in her car. Unfortunately, the car stalls and ends up stranded on the highway. A mild mannered mechanic named Gutberto Gaudazar, alias "Cruzi"(Pedro Infante), gives Mane a ride home to her parent's house in Mexico City. She insists that he spend New Years Eve with her and the two get drunk on champagne. Mane passes out on the living room floor and Cruzi hauls her upstairs. Once Cruzi deposits her on her parent's bed, he passes out, too. The following day, Mane's parents come home from a party in Cuernavaca and they find Mane and Cruzi in bed together and they assume that Cruzi raped her! Cruzi's innocent(hence the title)and nobody is on his side. Mane's parents force Cruzi to marry Mane("a shotgun wedding")to save the family's good reputation. What's to become of Cruzi and Mane?
El Inocente is a lot more fresh and original than its remake, Romeo Contra Julieta. Then again, RCJ holds its own weight as a remake. I like the fact that El Inocente has more sight gags than RCJ when Mane's car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. Mane almost shoots a cow and a friendly gringo with a loaded gun!
Gringo: ?Pasar algo? ?Necesita help? ?Ayudar? Oh, OH, MY MISTAKE! GOOD NIGHT!"
Mane: "!Oiga, mister! !Alto ahi! !Ven aca! Come back! I am not...ladrona! !Tonto!"
One problem that I have with El Inocente is that Silvia Pinal is very shrill and whiny at times! For example, Pinal sounds really harsh to the ears when she finds out that she's being forced to marry Cruzi...or when Cruzi drops her onto the floor! In the remake, Maria is much more..."subtle"...when Mane finds out that she's being forced to marry Cruzi. Angelica Maria's Mane isn't as irritating. Actually, Maria's Mane is much more condescending. Still, Silvia Pinal gives a sincere performance and she has chemistry on screen with Pedro Infante. Pinal's version of Mane is different from Maria's. Aside from acting talent, Silvia Pinal was very sensual in her prime. At times, we could see Mane's cleavage and my eyes were glued to the screen! The late Pedro Infante gives a memorable performance as Cruzi. His version of Cruzi was a little more macho than Alberto Vasquez's. I thought Vasquez was much "cooler" as Cruzi.
Manuel Esperon wrote a memorable music score for El Inocente. His score gives the film some heart and soul. Sergio Guerrero also wrote another solid music score for the remake Romeo Contra Julieta. El Inocente and Romeo Contra Julieta are like the 1956 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the 1978 remake: The original and a remake can both be entertaining.
