There comes a time when we look back at our lives and realize we didn’t come close to what our youthful dreams desired us to become. There are lots of reasons why things didn’t work out right. Kids in Brooklyn dreamed of being the voice of the Dodgers in 1950. But Vin Scully held onto the job for 67 years. Other times something distracts us. We fall in love and get swept up in our partner’s desires. We don’t follow through with training and just go where life takes us. Tragedy can derail us. Or maybe you didn’t have the talent to make that dream happen. But even with such a change of plans, it doesn’t mean your life was a failure. You have to reassess the reality instead of measuring against the fantasy. El Rebozo de Soledad (Soledad’s Shawl) has a man going through his memories to establish what sort of life he lived.
Dr. Alberto Robles (For Whom The Bell Tolls‘ Arturo de Córdova) returns to the Mexico City where he’d trained to be a doctor. He seems a bit down as he waits to hear if he’s been hired by a high-class clinic. He finds himself thinking back to how after he graduated, he went to the rural town of Santa Cruz to practice. He’s extremely frustrated attempting to apply modern medicine to people who are more trusting of the Catholic Church and Witch Doctors. Making his matters worse is dealing with the local landowner David Acosta (Street Dog‘s Carlos López Moctezuma). He is a rather harsh landlord who favors his livestock over the life of anyone else. When a few of his cows are infected, he has zero desires to put them down to stop the spread. Later during his time, Soledad (Los Olvidados‘ Stella Inda) makes a late-night visit begging for a house call for her sick brother. The doctor reluctantly wakes up early and visits the patient. When he heals her brother, Soledad pays him back by becoming his new assistant. Her being in the office makes Robles a bit unsure about his future plans. Things get really out of control when Acosta wants Soledad.
El Rebozo de Soledad is a fascinating film as it deals with the doctor versus the controlling landlord who think anything on the land belongs to him. The movie is a Western since everyone rides horses and nobody drives around Santa Cruz. There is the impending feeling that a showdown is coming between Dr. Robles and Acosta over Soledad. As a dramatic western, El Rebozo de Soledad give a sense of life in the small village. While it’s not a well-known movie, Stella Inda should be a familiar face if you’ve seen Luis Buñuel’s Los Olvidados. She’s great as the woman who deals with Acosta’s inhumane ways. El Rebozo de Soledad is a fine way to see how the Wild West was depicted on the other side of the border when there aren’t any American cowboys riding around.
The Video is 1.33:1 full frame. The 1080p transfer of the black and white film looks great on the screen. The Audio is Spanish LPCM 2.0 Mono. The levels are fine. The movie has English subtitles.
El Rabozo de Soledad Ensayo en Video del Dr. David Wilt (26:42) has him explain that even though the film features a major director, cast and crew, it has fallen in a bit of obscurity over the decades. He explains the importance of the movie. He gives a bit of background on the Mexican rural dramas that were popular in the ’50s. While Wilt speaks in English, his talk is subtitled in English and Spanish.
Trailers for El Gangster (2:10), El Esqueleto de la Senora Morales (2:18) and Ensaoy de un Crimen (2:56).
MVDvisual presents El Rebozo de Soledad (Soledad’s Shawl). Directed by Robert Gavaldon. Screenplay by Roberto Gavaldon, Estela Inda and Javier Lopez Ferrer. Starring Arturo De Cordova, Pedro Armendariz, Stella Inda, Carlos Lopez Moctezuma and Domingo Soler. Running Time: 115 minutes. Rating: Not Rated. Release Date: July 23, 2024.
