Los legionarios

"Los legionarios" is the fourth film featuring Marco Antonio Campos and Gaspar Henaine as Viruta and Capulina. It is also noteworthy for being Chespirito's film debut as a screenwriter. Another interesting aspect about this film is that Viruta and Capulina are billed after rumbera star María Antonieta Pons, the film's female lead. Pons portrays Sheila, a beautiful Arab noblewoman whose abductor is her former fiancé, a prince named Omar who owns a harem. He wants to marry her but she rejects and will only accept if he gets rid of his harem. Viruta and Capulina are deserters of the Foreign Legion and disguise themselves as odalisques in order to escape but are mistakenly taken for slaves and sold to Omar's harem...

This film is certainly entertaining. It has a good plot and funny dialogue and sets that are both accurate and lush. Donna Behar, a Lebanese singer, gives a strong and competent performance as one of Omar's odalisques. Her singing is perhaps one of the most mesmerizing moments in the entire history of Mexican cinema. She beautifully sings "Paloma cu-cu-rru-cu-cu" (the song that Lola Beltrán later popularized) in both Spanish and Arabic (for which she composed the lyrics). Bárbara Codina also gives a great and believable performance as Farida, Omar's scorned odalisque who hates Sheila.