La cruz y la espada

La cruz y la espada
La cruz y la espada
	Poster for the film
Directed by	Frank Strayer
Screenplay by	Paul Schofield; William DuBois
Story by	Miguel de Zárraga
Produced by	John Stone
Starring	José Mojica; Juan Torena; Anita Campillo
Music by	Samuel Kaylin
Production; company	Fox Film Corporation
Distributed by	Fox Film Corporation
Release date	February 1, 1934 (US);
Running time	73 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Spanish

La cruz y la espada is a 1934 American Spanish language drama film directed by Frank Strayer, which stars José Mojica, Juan Torena, and Anita Campillo. The screenplay was written by Paul Schofield and William DuBois from a story by Miguel de Zárraga.

Plot

In the California of the late 1800s, José Antonio Romero hears of the nearby discovery of gold. Wanting to provide his fiancé, Carmela, with all the good things in life, he decides to go hunt for gold. He tells his friend, Francisco, who is a Brother at a nearby mission, of his intentions and the reason. Carmela, who also lives near the mission, is having second thoughts about her relationship with José. When she is kidnapped by bandits, Francisco, who is unaware that she is his friend's fiancé, goes off to her rescue. After freeing her, the two begin to have an attraction for each other. When Francisco realizes she is José's beloved, he begins to distance himself, although he is attracted to her.

Carmela, equally attracted to Francisco, is dismayed to learn that he is a member of the religious order. When one of the miners, Jaime, arrives at the mission and tells Francisco that Estaban, another miner, has been stabbed at the mining camp, Francisco does not hesitate to head out to the camp to render aid. On his return, he is forced to seek shelter in a cave due to a sudden storm. While in the cave, he accidentally discovers a large vein of gold. He struggles with his desire for Carmela, who he fantasizes about living happily ever after if he took the gold, left the religious order, and married her. In the end, his commitment to his religious devotion wins out, and he decides to tell his friend José the gold's location.

However, José has been told by another villager of the seeming infatuation growing between Francisco and Carmela. Consumed by jealousy, José confronts Francisco, accusing him of betraying their friendship. He attacks the Brother with a knife, but in the ensuing fight, Francisco convinces José that nothing untoward occurred between him and Carmela, and José asks for his friend's forgiveness.

Now able to support his fiancé, José asks Francisco to sing at his wedding, which Francisco gladly does.

Cast list

José Mojica as Hermano Francisco
Juan Torena as José Antonio Romero
Anita Campillo as Carmela
Lucio Villegas as Padre Superior
Carmen Rodríguez as Tía Mónica
Paco Moreno as Hermano Pedro
Carlos Montalbán as Esteban
Martín Garralaga as Jaime
Julián Rivero as El Mestizo
F. A. Armenta as the Indian
Rudolph Galante as Vaquero
Soledad Jiménez as Senora Moreno

Production

In December 1933 it was revealed that Miguel de Zárraga, Paul Schofield, and William DuBois were writing the original screenplay for the film. Also announced was that Ernesto Lecuona, José Mojica, and Troy Sanders would be composing music for the film. The picture was the first of several scheduled by Fox Pictures, after a renewed interest in producing Spanish language films for the Latin American market, rather than simply releasing English language films with subtitle.^[2]

References

^ "La cruz y la espada: Detail View". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on April 15, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
^ Don Q (December 1933). "Hollywood". Cine-Mundial. p. 705. Retrieved November 26, 2015.