L'offrande

By 1963 the Hollywood censorship crowd was on its last legs but it still had enough kick left to spoil this low budget film about Tijuana street kids. From the too sanitized strippers who do not strip to the foul mouthed urchins who do not curse (the strongest epithet is "cheapskate") but who are cute as all hell this picture feels much closer to "The Bowery Boys Go South Of The Border" than it does to realistic looks at urban youth made at roughly the same time, like, for example, "The Young Savages" which also features Rafael Lopez, the actor who plays Chuy and who gives by far the best of the kid performances.

Because of the general sanitization of the youngsters I found myself preferring the story of Paul Langton's big but defective hearted gambler and his almost Altmanesque involvement with Barbara Luna's hard working "stripper". Perhaps because they were adults and thus somewhat able to elude the choking grasp of the Hays Office or perhaps because Langton and Luna give the most nuanced performances I wish director Boris Sagal had delved deeper into their relationship and soft peddled the adorable, too G rated urchins. Alas, it's 80% cuddly barrio boys and 20% Mr. Jones and Juanita.

Give it a C plus.

PS...I will say that Phil Lathrop's camera and Karl Brainerd and Bruce MacDonald's sets manage to capture the look, if not the feel, of early 60s TJ.