Beauties of Mexican Cinema book

Beauties of Mexican Cinema was the third illustrated, bilingual volume edited and published by the Agrasánchez Film Archive. Its author is Rogelio Agrasánchez Jr.

This volume pays homage to the actresses whose beauty and talent enriched Mexican movies between 1930 and 1970s. Some of them had outstanding cinematic careers in Mexico and beyond its borders. Names like Lupe Vélez, Dolores del Río, María Félix and Katy Jurado are indelibly written in the history of cinema. Some others are icons of cult movies: Lorena and Tere Velázquez, Amedée Chabot, Kitty de Hoyos, Maura Monti.

The 'Beauties of Mexican Cinema' structure allows the reader to make a pleasant tour along the history of movies made in Mexico. Its introduction gives a general view on the evolution of the aesthetic types and the roles assigned to pretty actresses from the beginning of Mexican cinema to the late sixties.

Along three beautifully illustrated chapters, Agrasánchez takes us to the golden years of Mexican cinema, recounting the lives and careers of its female stars:

Chapter I (Charming Ladies), includes the classic beauties of the 1940s. Lupe Vélez, Gloria Marín, Dolores del Río, Esther Fernández, Andrea Palma, María Elena Marqués, Elsa Aguirre, Mapy Cortés, María Félix, Libertad Lamarque, Sofía Álvarez, Rita Macedo, Chula Prieto, Columba Domínguez, Carmen Montejo, María Antonieta Pons, Leonora Amar, Alma Rosa Aguirre.
Chapter II (Beauty Pageant), includes the dazzling young ladies of the fifties: Evangelina Elizondo, Ninón Sevilla, Leticia Palma, Meche Barba, Silvia Pinal, Miroslava Stern, Sarita Montiel, Rosita Arenas, Rebeca Iturbide, Martha Roth, Katy Jurado, Amalia Aguilar, Christianne Martel, Lilia Prado, Marga López, Emilia Guiú, Irasema Dilián, María Victoria, Ariadne Welter, Martha Mijares, Rosita Quintana, Alma Delia Fuentes, Lilia del Valle, Rosita Fornés, Rosa Carmina, Yolanda Montez Tongolele, Yolanda Varela, Rosario Granados, Ana Bertha Lepe.
Chapter III (Dangerous Babes), includes the playful and seductive bombshells of the sixties: Ana Luisa Peluffo, Elvira Quintana, Tere Velázquez, Kitty de Hoyos, Ofelia Montesco, Sonia Furió, Lorena Velázquez, Elizabeth Campbell, Amedée Chabot, Maura Monti, Maricruz Olivier, Angélica María, Barbara Angely, Fanny Cano.

Brief biographies, quotes from the actresses themselves and from critics or journalists, tell us about the dreams and realities of the 61 actresses portrayed in the book.

Evocative and gorgeous images invite us to enter the enchanted world of movies. Many of these beauties are still capable of filling the silver screen with their charm, glittering eyes, velvety skins and breathtaking bodies.

As a bonus, there is a "photo album" with images of many more beauties of Mexican cinema.

This book contains a list of awards given to the young and talented actresses between 1940 and 1970.

published by the Agrasánchez Film Archive in 2002
limited edition for collectors
available in hardcover (no jacket) and softcover
Bilingual, Spanish-English
ISBN: 968-5077-11-8
8½" x 11½"
260 pp.
more than 250 illustrations, most of them b&w; some in full color. Numerous full-page images and some double-page photographs.
on the cover: Ana Bertha Lepe