MIGUEL ZACARÍAS, CREADOR DE ESTRELLAS
(book in Spanish)
This book was written and edited by Rogelio Agrasnchez
Jr. It is a monograph about Miguel Zacarías Nogaim (1905-2006), Mexican of Lebanese descent, a pioneer of sound film. The author had access to primary sources for his research: several interviews with Mr. Zacarías and some of his relatives; original screenplays, family documents and photographs, etc.
The idea of writing this book came up after the finding of one of Zacarías's lost films, 'Payasadas de la vida' (1934), which Agrasanchez's father recovered and made available in video format.
Miguel Zacarías was the son of a Lebanese businessman, who settled in Mexico with his wife and formed a family. Raised in a refined cultural environment, young Miguel Zacarías learnt to love music, literature and philosophy; in time, he became a writer and poet.
His social and economic position allowed him to travel the world and to study abroad. Fluent in eight languages, he felt at ease wherever he would go.
Reluctant to follow his father's steps in business, Zacarías befriended a group of young intellectuals, some of them initiators of the Mexican film industry. By 1932, he became involved in his first cinematic project: 'Sobre las olas', based on the life of Juventino Rosas, a Mexican composer whose vals 'Sobre las olas' has often been attributed to European composers.
Soon, Miguel Zacarías became known for his splendid screenplays, as well as for his ability to bring out the talent of actors. He was the one who gave María Félix her first acting lessons, and the first filmmaker in casting her for a movie ('El peñón de las ánimas', 1942).
His movie 'Una carta de amor' (1943), starring Jorge Negrete and Gloria Marín, is considered among the best Mexican films ever made.
By the early 1940s, he became a film producer. Zacarías developed an uncanny ability to make movies that were of superior quality, appealing, and profitable. He was always in the middle of the eternal conflict in cinema: tight budget against personal creativity (as his son Miguel Jr, put it: "My father had to write with one hand, and to pay with the other hand"). And he made the best of it. Movies like 'Me he de comer esa tuna' (1944), starring Jorge Negrete, Antonio Badú and María Elena Marqués were big box-office hits.
In love with Latin American literature, Zacarías adapted three famous works to film. The first one, 'Flor de durazno' (1945), by the novelist Hugo Wast, included in its cast Esther Fernández, Eduardo Arozamena and Emma Roldán. Next came 'La vorágine' (1948), based on the novel by José Eustasio Rivera. This film is now lost; a conflict with Rivera's estate, forced the producers to burn the original negative of the film after three years of commercial exploitation. Its stars were Armando Calvo, René Cardona and Alicia Caro. Another production was 'Tierra baja' (1949), based on the play by Ángel Guimerá; the film starred Pedro Armendáriz and Zully Moreno. It is, like 'Flor de durazno', an underrated masterpiece.
Highly appreciated by fans of Mexican cinema during the Golden Age, family dramas were also put into films by Zacarías. These classics became an excellent vehicle for showcasing the performances for actors. Movies like 'El dolor de los hijos' and 'Soledad', both made in 1948, earned the recognition of critics to its actors.
Zacarías directed most of the stars of Mexican cinema in several occasions: Jorge Negrete, Pedro Infante, Libertad Lamarque, María Félix, Sarita Montiel, etc. Doña Libertad Lamarque once said that one of his favorite performances was in 'La loca', a film produced and directed by Zacarías.
Comedy was a genre dear to Zacarias. Early in his career, he directed Leopoldo 'Chato' Ortín in four of his best films, which formed the series 'Los enredos de papá'. The wit and charm of those old movies are still alive and much appreciated by today's audiences. Other famous comedians, like Gaspar Henaine 'Capulina' (also of Lebanese descent), Eulalio González 'Piporro', and playboy/comedian Mauricio Garcés (another member of the Lebanese-Mexican community), also starred in several films produced by Zacarías.
Biblical subjects were also relevant to Zacarias. He produced and directed a series of three movies on the life and passion of Jesus Christ, as well as a version of the Adam and Eve story.
The last movie he directed was about Guty Cárdenas, a famous Mexican composer of popular songs who had an untimely and tragic death in the 1930s.
After retiring from the film industry, in the late 1980s, don Miguel Zacarias continued writing essays, novels, poetry, and even a few screenplays, in the hope of directing again.
He passed away at age 101, leaving behind an impressive cultural legacy.
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All contents © Agrasánchez Film Archive