AnMaster.com

Alexkid

Mexico marks century of comic Cantinflas' birth
E. EDUARDO CASTILLO
(The Associated Press)



06:41:33AM (DST) Thursday, 8.11.11.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — It is hard to think of a Mexican Everyman without turning to Cantinflas, the tattered, droopy-pants character created by comic Mario Moreno in the "tent theaters" of Mexico's slums in the 1930s.

With the approach of Friday's centenary of his birth, he has been celebrated as a touchstone of Mexican national identity, fondly remembered for his convoluted doublespeak and clever underdog persona he portrayed for neary six decades until his death in 1993.

He is best known in the rest of the world for his turn as David Niven's resourceful valet in "Around the World in Eighty Days," but the pencil-mustached Cantinflas contributed something much deeper in Mexico.

While leading man Pedro Infante represented Mexico's self-image as a brave, good-looking, velvet-voiced hero, Cantinflas reflected the poorer side of Mexico that gets by on its wits.

Mexican writer Jorge G. Castaneda wrote in his latest book, "Tomorrow or the next day: The Mystery of Mexicans," that Cantinflas reflected a deep-seated trait in Mexico to avoid conflict.

"Cantinflas managed to run away from any trouble, and get his way based on pure palaver and loquaciousness, the use of double entendres and euphemisms ... sometimes verging on the incomprehensible," Castaneda wrote.

___

Associated Press writer Edwin Tamara contributed to this report.

----------------------------------------------------------------
At this time there is no specific link(s) for further information.
It's good to let the world know about Cantinflas.

__________________
Yeah...Do That.