The Pearl (film)

1945 film by Emilio Fernández

La perla

U.S. theatrical release poster

Directed by| Emilio Fernández
Screenplay by| John Steinbeck
Emilio Fernández
Jack Wagner
Based on| The Pearl
by John Steinbeck
Produced by| Oscar Dancigers
Starring| Pedro Armendáriz
María Elena Marqués
Fernando Wagner
Charles Rooner
Cinematography| Gabriel Figueroa
Edited by| Gloria Schoemann
Music by| Antonio Díaz Conde

Production
companies

Águila Films
RKO Radio Pictures
Film Asociados Mexico-Americanos

Distributed by| RKO Radio Pictures
Películas Mexicanas (Peli-Mex)

Release dates

* September 12, 1947 (1947-09-12) (Mexico)
* February 17, 1948 (1948-02-17) (United States)

Running time

| 77 minutes
Countries| Mexico
United States
Languages| 2 versions:
Spanish
English
Budget| $300,000[1]

La perla (The Pearl) is a 1947 Mexican-American film directed by Emilio Fernández. It is based on the 1947 novella The Pearl by John Steinbeck, who also co-wrote the screenplay along with Fernández and Jack Wagner.

In 2002, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

## Plot

[edit]

In a fishing village in La Paz, Mexico, pearl fisherman Kino and his wife Juana are in anguish because their infant son Juanito was stung by a scorpion. The nearest doctor, a foreigner, refuses to treat him without adequate payment and he is taken instead to a curandero. The doctor does not want anything to do with the natives. Later, the doctor and his brother, a loan shark, meet Kino after he finds a valuable pearl and they decide to steal it from him.

One day, Kino stumbles upon a majestic pearl. He immediately grabs it and returns to his wife.

Juana, Kino's wife, is convinced that the pearl only brings bad luck and tries to convince Kino to return it to the sea. But Kino refuses to listen, hoping that the pearl will change their lives once he sells it. To Juana, the pearl represents death but for Kino, it represents freedom. Now that Kino is "rich" he wants to buy a gun and new shoes. He also wants his son to be able to read. Kino believes that if his son acquires knowledge, they will also gain knowledge, which will set them free. The villagers follow the family around with the pearl and play music while attempting to get a look at the pearl. The doctor that had refused to help Juanito tries to get the Pearl from the family by claiming he will help the already healthy infant son in exchange for the much more valuable pearl.

Once Kino and his family head to town, the dealers make him a deal that is not near the total worth for the pearl, and try to convince Kino that the pearl is worthless and the deal is the best he will get. Kino does not accept the deal and decides to go to the city instead. Kino starts drinking with these men who were most likely only with him to get him intoxicated enough to get the pearl. But when the men try and rob him he doesn't have the pearl. His wife had kept the Pearl on her as she knew something would happen to him.

Later on his brother comes to help and helps Kinos family escape through the night. The family is then chased, only confirming the predictions of Juana.

At one point Juana takes the pearl from Kino because she wants to throw it into the ocean. Kino chases after her, and hits her. The two decide that they are going to run away. They try to take a boat but they it tips over before they are able to get very far. As they run away they are followed by two natives and a man on a horse. The wife eventually gets very tired and she wants to be left alone. She does not have shoes and therefore her feet are very bloody. Kino refuses to leave her and she goes with him because he is her husband. Eventually the men have them trapped on a cliff. One of the men fires a shot which kills the baby. At the end Kino and Juana throw the pearl off of the highest ledge to get rid of it.

## Cast

[edit]

* Pedro Armendáriz as Kino
* María Elena Marqués as Juana
* Fernando Wagner as Dealer 1
* Gilberto Gonzálezas Aid 1
* Charles Rooner as Doctor
* Juan García as Aid 2
* Alfonso Bedoya as Godfather
* Raúl Lechuga as Dealer 2
* Max Langler as Peasant

## Reception

[edit]

Spanish-language poster

### Critical response

[edit]

When the film was released, Bosley Crowther, film critic for The New York Times, liked the film, writing, "An exceptional motion picture, both in content and genesis, is the beautiful and disturbing filmization of John Steinbeck's novelette, The Pearl, which reached an appropriate showcase at the Sutton Theatre yesterday. Exceptional it is in genesis by virtue of the fact that it was made in Mexico by a Mexican company with Mexican actors who speak English throughout. And extraordinary it is in content through the benefit of a story of primitive power, told with immaculate integrity through an eloquent camera."[2]

To this day, the film is viewed with very much cultural importance and is highly renowned.

### Accolades

[edit]

#### Venice Film Festival \- 1947

[edit]

* Emilio Fernández "Golden Lion"

#### Premio Ariel \- 1948

[edit]

Awarded

* Emilio Fernández "Golden Ariel"
* Pedro Armendáriz (actor)
* Juan García (supporting actor)
* Gabriel Figueroa (photography)

Nominated

* Gilberto Diego González (supporting actor)
* María Elena Marqués (actress)
* Gloria Schoemann (editing)
* Antonio Díaz Conde (score)
* Emilio Fernández (screenplay)
* Emilio Fernández (director)

#### Golden Globe \- 1949

[edit]

* Gabriel Figueroa (photography)

#### Madrid Film Festival - 1949

[edit]

* Gabriel Figueroa (photography)

|

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "RKO Mex Studios". Variety. 26 December 1945. p. 19.
2. ^ Crother, Bosley. The New York Times, film review, February 18, 1948. Accessed: June 29, 2013.

## External links

[edit]

* The Pearl at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
* The Pearl at IMDb
* The Pearl at AllMovie
* The Pearl at Rotten Tomatoes
* La Perla at the Cinema of Mexico site of ITESM (in Spanish)
* La perla informational site at Classic Film Guide
* La perla film scene on YouTube

* v
* t
* e

John Steinbeck

Novels and
novellas|

* Cup of Gold (1929)
* The Red Pony (1933)
* To a God Unknown (1933)
* Tortilla Flat (1935)
* In Dubious Battle (1936)
* Of Mice and Men (1937)
* The Grapes of Wrath (1939)
* The Moon Is Down (1942)
* Cannery Row (1945)
* The Wayward Bus (1947)
* The Pearl (1947)
* Burning Bright (1950)
* East of Eden (1952)
* Sweet Thursday (1954)
* The Short Reign of Pippin IV: A Fabrication (1957)
* The Winter of Our Discontent (1961)
* The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights (1976)

Short story
collections|

* The Pastures of Heaven (1932)
* The White Quail (1935)
* The Long Valley (1938)

Screenplays|

* The Forgotten Village (1941)
* Lifeboat (1944)
* The Pearl (1947)
* The Red Pony (1949)
* Viva Zapata! (1952)

Adaptations|

| Of Mice and Men|

* 1937 play
* 1939 film
* 1969 opera
* 1992 film
* Best Laid Plans (2012 film)

|

The Grapes of Wrath|

* 1940 film
* 1988 play
* 2007 opera

The Red Pony|

* 1949 film
* score
* 1973 film

Other|

* Tortilla Flat (1942 film)
* The Moon Is Down (1943 film)
* La perla (The Pearl) (1947 film)
* East of Eden (1955 film)
* The Wayward Bus (1957 film)
* East of Eden (1981 miniseries)
* Cannery Row (1982 film)
* The Winter of Our Discontent (1983 film)
* In Dubious Battle (2016 film)

Non-fiction|

* The Harvest Gypsies (1936)
* Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research (1941)
* Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team (1942)
* A Russian Journal (1948)
* The Log from the Sea of Cortez (1951)
* Once There Was a War (1958)
* Travels with Charley (1962)
* America and Americans (1966)
* Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters (1969)
* Steinbeck in Vietnam (2012)

Legacy|

* National Steinbeck Center
* Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies
* John Steinbeck Award
* John Steinbeck Award for Fiction

Related|

* Elaine Anderson Steinbeck (third wife)
* Thomas Steinbeck (son)
* John Steinbeck IV (son)
* Salinas boyhood home
* Monte Sereno home
* Pacific Biological Laboratories
* Ed Ricketts
* Western Flyer (boat)
* Personal stamp (Pigasus)
* Cathy Ames (character)
* An Impression of John Steinbeck: Writer (1969 documentary)

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Emilio Fernández

* I'm a Real Mexican (1942)
* Wild Flower (1943)
* María Candelaria (1943)
* Las Abandonadas (1944)
* Bugambilia (1945)
* The Pearl (1945)
* Pepita Jiménez (1946)
* Enamorada (1946)
* The Fugitive (1947)
* Río Escondido (1948)
* Maclovia (1948)
* Pueblerina (1948)
* Salón México (1949)
* The Unloved Woman (1949)
* Duel in the Mountains (1950)
* The Torch (1950)
* Un día de vida (1950)
* Víctimas del Pecado (1951)
* Maria Islands (1951)
* Forever Yours (1952)
* Acapulco (1952)
* When the Fog Lifts (1952)
* Rosanna (1953)
* Reportaje (1953)
* The White Rose (1954)
* Una cita de amor (1958)
* Pueblito (1962)
* A Faithful Soldier of Pancho Villa (1967)
* La Choca (1974)
* Zona Roja (1976)

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