EL PROFE QUEZADA NOS DICE 1.24.26 TWO MEXICAN FILM GREATS

During the 1940s and 1950s, two of the well-known Mexican actors of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema that I would see on the big screen at the Cine Azteca in the Barrio El Azteca were Arturo de Córdova and René Cardona.  The Cine Azteca was located at 311 Lincoln Street and was situated in the heart of the historic barrio.  It is estimated that the building was constructed with an expansive high facade and a Mission Revival parapet during the 1920s and named the Teatro Nacional, and was used for vaudeville Mexican shows.  In the 1930s, when movies became popular, it became known as the Cine Azteca and showed Mexican movies.  American movies were consequently added to the program but on a limited basis.  The ticket booth was located in the center entrance.  If you are standing in front of the theater, to your left was the concession stand with a big glass window.  And to the sides of the entrance, the movie posters were located in glass frames showing the current features and the coming attractions.  Sadly, the building since has been demolished to make room for a parking lot.

Mamá took my older brother and sister and I to the movies every Friday.  It was the popular form of entertainment.  We walked from our house at 402 San Pablo Avenue down to Lincoln Street, turn left, and then continue for two and a half blocks to the theater.  She paid ten cents for each of us and a quarter for her.  The projection room was located right in the middle of the balcony.  I got to know all the actors and actresses, and besides Arturo de Córdova and René Cardona, I enjoyed watching Pedro Infante, Dolores del Río, Jorge Negrete, Emilioi Tuero, María Félix, Fernando Solere, Yolanda Montes (la Tongolele), Joaquín Pardavé, Sara García, Gloria Marín, Antonieta Pons, Luis Aguilar, Carlos López Moctezuma, Libertad Lamarque, and many more.

These two famous and popular actors, Arturo de Córdova and René Cardona, had a special meaning to me, and more importantly, a personal connection to my father, Pedro de Quezada.  Later on, when Papá joined the U.S. Navy during World War II, he deleted the “de” from his name.  Very early in my life, he would tell me many stories about his friendship with them in Mexico City.  Before he met my mother, who was living with her godparents in a big multi-story house in Mexico City, and part of the house was used as a bed and breakfast guesthouse.  Papá worked as the private chauffeur of Dr. Manuel Galicia, a well-known physician who practiced medicine in Laredo and across the Río Grande in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, as well as in Mexico City.  And, when they were in Mexico City, they stayed in my mother’s godparents’ house.

 

The relationship between Papá and Dr. Manuel Galicia was much more than employee and employer.  According to Papá, they became intimate friends and enjoyed hobnobbing with the Mexican movie stars.  Papá was  always very proud of his two inscribed photographs that Arturo de Córdova and René Cardona gave him as a token of their appreciation and friendship.  All three of them were contemporaries, having been born in the early decade of the twentieth century.  Arturo de Córdova was born in Merida, Yucatan, while René Cardona was born in Cuba but emigrated to the United States at a very early age.  Both achieved their success in movies, while the former acted in action and adventure movies and became a major movie star in Latin American and Spain, he also made four American movies: For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), Frenchman’s Creek (1944), Incendiary Blonde (1945), and New Orleans (1947).  The latter, besides a stellar acting career, he also became a director, producer, screenwriter, and editor.  And both of them received national accolades for their achievement in the Mexican movie industry.

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Copyright 2026 by Gilberto Quezada.