View source for Skeleton of Mrs. Morales

{{Short description|1960 Mexican black comedy film by Rogelio A. González}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = El Esqueleto de la señora Morales<br>(The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales)
| image          =
| caption        =
| director       = [[Rogelio A. González]]<ref>Mariano Azuela Güitrón, José Ramón Narváez, Gonzalo J. Uribarri Carpintero (2014). ''Raiz y Conciencia #85''.</ref>
| producer       = [[Sergio Kogán]]
| writer         = {{ubl|[[Luis Alcoriza]]|[[Arthur Machen]] (story)}}
| starring       = {{ubl|[[Arturo de Córdova]]|[[Amparo Rivelles]]|[[Antonio Bravo]]|[[Angelines Fernández]]|[[Luis Aragón]]|[[Guillermo Orea]]|[[Rosenda Monteros]]|[[Elda Peralta]]|{{Interlanguage link multi|Mercedes Pascual (actress)|es|Mercedes Pascual|lt=Mercedes Pascual}}|[[Paz Villegas]]|[[Roberto Meyer]]|[[Jorge Mondragón (actor)|Jorge Mondragón]]|[[Armando Arriola]]}}
| music          = [[Raúl Lavistae]]
| cinematography = Victor Herrera
| editing        =
| distributor    =
| released       = {{Film date|1960|05|26|df=yes}}
| runtime        = '''Theatrical cut:'''<br />92 min.
| country        = [[Mexico]]
| language       = [[Spanish language|Spanish]]
| budget         =
| gross          =
}}
'''''Skeleton of Mrs. Morales''''' (Spanish: '''''El Esqueleto de la señora Morales''''') is a [[1960 in film|1960]] [[List of Mexican films of 1960|Mexican]] [[black comedy film]] based on [[Arthur Machen]]’s 1927 short story "The Islington Mystery". It is regarded by critics as one of the hundred best Mexican films of all time.
In the film, a [[taxidermist]] is unhappily married to a [[religious fanatic]] who maliciously torments him. After the wife breaks his new camera, he poisons her to death and puts her [[Human skeleton|skeleton]] on display.
==Plot==
Pablo Morales ([[Arturo de Córdova]]) is a cheerful taxidermist, who lives with his bitter, crippled, obsessive, and extremely religious wife Gloria ([[Amparo Rivelles]]). Pablo wants to have children, but Gloria does not. Gloria constantly rebuffs his amorous advances, and constantly belittles him by telling him that he stinks of dead animals. Her primary reason for existence seems to be maliciously annoying her husband.
Pablo has been saving money to buy a camera, but Gloria takes the money Pablo was saving and gives it to the church, leading to conflict with the local priest. Gloria falsely accuses Pablo of drunkenness and abuse. Pablo gets his camera, but Gloria maliciously breaks it, which proves to be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
Pablo takes his revenge by [[poisoning]] her. He then dissects Gloria's body and places her skeleton in the front window of his shop. The police and local priest become suspicious and he is put on trial, but he manages to escape man's justice (but not God's).
==Cast==
* [[Arturo de Córdova]] — Dr. Pablo Morales
* [[Amparo Rivelles]] — Gloria de Morales<ref>Mirko Riazzoli (2017). ''A Chronology of the Cinema Volume 1 From the pioneers to 1960''.</ref>
* [[Elda Peralta]]
* {{Interlanguage link multi|Guillermo Orea|es}} — Profesor
* [[Rosenda Monteros]] — Meche
* {{Interlanguage link multi|Luis Aragón|es}} — Elodio
* {{Interlanguage link multi|Mercedes Pascual (actress)|es|Mercedes Pascual|lt=Mercedes Pascual}} — Lourditas Mendiolea
* [[Antonio Bravo]] — Padre Artemio Familiar
* [[Angelines Fernández]] — Clara, sister of Gloria
==Production==
[[Arthur Machen]]'s original 1927 essay, "The Islington Mystery", which can be found in his collection ''The Cosy Room'', was based largely on the case of the famous murderer [[Hawley Harvey Crippen|Dr. Crippen]]. Screenwriter [[Luis Alcoriza]] was influenced by his association with [[Luis Buñuel]].
==Reception==
This film is ranked 19 in the list of the 100 best films of Mexican cinema, in the opinion of 25 film critics and experts on Mexico, published by the magazine ''Somos'' in July 1994.<ref>''[http://cinemexicano.mty.itesm.mx/pelicula1.html Las 100 mejores películas del cine mexicano]''</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0052784|El Esqueleto de la señora Morales}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Rogelio A. González}}
[[Category:Mexican black comedy films]]
[[Category:1960 films]]
[[Category:1960 black comedy films]]
[[Category:1960s Spanish-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Rogelio A. González]]
[[Category:Films based on short fiction]]
[[Category:Films about uxoricide]]
[[Category:1960s Mexican films]]
[[Category:Films about marriage]]
[[Category:Films about poisonings]]
[[Category:Fiction about skeletons]]
[[Category:Spanish-language black comedy films]]
{{1960s-Mexico-film-stub}}