Feature film
La serpiente roja
Ernesto Caparrós · 1937
Synopsis
In London, the Chinese detective Chan Li Po investigates a series of mysterious crimes committed in the home of a wealthy family, in search of their perpetrator. The film adapts the first episode of Félix B. Caignet's radio serial, itself inspired by the Charlie Chan films, and gives the role of the detective to Aníbal de Mar, his voice on the radio, alongside Pituka de Foronda and Carlos Badías.
Context
Caignet's serial, launched in 1934 on a Havana station and broadcast for about ten years, had made Chan Li Po famous throughout the island; the film banks on this success. Produced by the Noticiario Royal News and Félix O'Shea, photographed by Laureano Rodríguez Gavaldá and Ricardo Delgado, with sound by Alejandro Caparrós, it was released on 19 July 1937 at both the Payret and the Radio Cine. The encyclopedia of Cuban audiovisual media regards it as the country's first sound fiction feature film.
Who it is for
A crime film in Spanish, eighty minutes long; the action takes place in London, not in Cuba.
Prizes and reception
No prize; the film benefits from the popularity of the radio serial from which it is adapted.
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