Alla En El Rancho Grande Film Difficulty Ranking: 2
The Mexican Golden Age of Cinema started with Alla En El Rancho Grande which became the first Mexican blockbuster in 1936. It established the film industry in Mexico and introduced one of the most popular genres in Mexican film history: la comedia ranchera – essentially the cowboy musical – which reinforced Mexican identity at home and abroad.
From: Mexico, North America
Watch: YouTube, JustWatch, IMDb
Next: Enamorada, Maria Candelaria, The Pearl
Alla En El Rancho Grande – Breakdown
1936 was a big year for the Mexican film industry. It saw the release of the country’s first ever blockbuster which put Mexico on the film world map. But how did this film break through and kick off the Mexican Golden Age of Cinema? Two external factors were crucial: revolutionary fatigue and timing.
1. Revolutionary Fatigue
In Mexico, the revolution had been running more hot than cold since 1910. The chaos did not end with Pancho Villa’s surrender in 1920. Multiple revolutionary politicians fought over power for the best part of the next two decades, and a violent religious rebellion (the Cristero War) split the heart of the country in the late 1920s.
In 1934 Lazaro Cardenas won the general election and outmaneuvered Elias Calles – the man holding the strings of power for the previous 6 years – to take control of Mexico. Cardenas is one of Mexico’s most popular leaders for establishing wide-spread land reform and nationalizing the Mexican oil industry (Pemex). Less known is that his administration founded the Filmoteca de la UNAM and incentivized domestic film production with tax breaks and grants. Cardenas and his administration saw film as an opportunity to strengthen national identity. After years of revolutionary uncertainty, the country needed to restore national pride to re-unite the country. Alla En El Rancho Grande was just the film to do this. It hearkened back to the ‘simple’ pre-revolutionary days, re-establishing the iconic charro dress and popularizing Mexican ranchera music.
2. Timing
Whilst the film-making wheels were turning in Mexico with the new initiatives from the Cardenas administration, the film centers in the U.S. and Europe were on the road to World War II. Film production in the U.S. and Europe were de-prioritized for the war effort, reducing competition for Mexican films to reach more cinema-goers domestically and abroad. This helped spike the immense popularity of Alla En El Rancho Grande and was the spark that lit up the Golden Age of Mexican cinema.
Building a National Identity
Alla En El Rancho Grande, still had to win the popularity of the Mexican public. So what made this the film to do it?
Similar to Hollywood musicals, Alla En El Rancho Grande built a fictional utopian vision of a romanticized past (in this case, pre-revolutionary Mexico). It features self sufficient haciendas run by benevolent landowners that take care of their workers (even if they are idly drunk all day, everyday) and problems that are sung away in spontaneous song. This conservative romanticized past ran against the progressive revolutionary reform of Lazaro Cardenas. It evoked nostalgia for ‘simpler pre-revolutionary’ days which helped create a post-revolutionary calm. In turbulent times, nostalgia thrives.
The romanticized past was crucial in building national identity. It popularized the ranchera style; charro dress for men and china poblana style dresses for women, and built on this visual style through the songs, especially the guitar playing and rap-battle style singing. These tokens of the Mexican past became signifiers for Mexico throughout the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema and beyond, creating a style and culture that are still used today to express Mexican pride at home and abroad.
What Next?
For something different from the same director behind this film, check out Vamonos con Pancho Villa. Unlike Alla en el Rancho Grande, which tries to blur the memory of revolutionary violence, this one brings the brutality of the war all back without censorship.
For more comedias rancheras, explore the filmography of Pedro Infante and Jorge Negrete (Dos tipos de cuidado and Los tres Garcia). These two prolific singers, made huge names for themselves through their musicals at the height of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, following Tito Guizar’s lead.
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