Emilio Fernández

Victims of Sin

Victims of Sin

A treasure of Mexico’s cinematic golden age, this deliriously plotted blend of gritty crime film, heart-tugging maternal melodrama, and mambo musical is a dazzling showcase for iconic star Ninón Sevilla. She brings fierce charisma and fiery strength to her role as a rumbera—a female nightclub dancer—who gives up everything to raise an abandoned boy, whom she must protect from his ruthless gangster father. Directed at a dizzying pace by filmmaking titan Emilio Fernández, and shot in stylish chiaroscuro by renowned cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa amid smoky dance halls and atmospherically seedy underworld haunts, Victims of Sin is a ferociously entertaining female-powered noir pulsing with the intoxicating rhythms of some of Latin America’s most legendary musical stars.

Film Info

  • Mexico
  • 1951
  • 84 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 1.37:1
  • Spanish
  • Spine #1222

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • New interview with filmmaker and archivist Viviana Garcia Besné
  • New interview with cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto on the work of Gabriel Figueroa
  • Archival documentary on cine de rumberas, featuring interviews with actor Ninón Sevilla
  • Trailer
  • New English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: An essay by scholar Jacqueline Avila

    New cover by Lauren Tamaki

Purchase Options

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • New interview with filmmaker and archivist Viviana Garcia Besné
  • New interview with cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto on the work of Gabriel Figueroa
  • Archival documentary on cine de rumberas, featuring interviews with actor Ninón Sevilla
  • Trailer
  • New English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: An essay by scholar Jacqueline Avila

    New cover by Lauren Tamaki
Victims of Sin
Cast
Ninón Sevilla
Violeta
Tito Junco
Santiago
Rodolfo Acosta
Rodolfo
Rita Montaner
Rita
Ismael Pérez
Juanito
Margarita Ceballos
Rosa
Arturo Soto Rangel
Prison director
Francisco Reiguera
Don Gonzalo
Credits
Director
Emilio Fernández
Script by
Emilio Fernández
Script by
Mauricio Magdaleno
Produced by
Guillermo Calderón
Produced by
Pedro A. Calderón
Cinematography by
Gabriel Figueroa
Editing by
Gloria Schoemann
Production design by
Manuel Fontanals
Score and music direction by
Antonio Díaz Conde
Musical performances by
Ninón Sevilla
Musical performances by
Rita Montaner
Musical performances by
Pedro Vargas
Musical performances by
Pérez Prado and His Orchestra
Choreography by
Ninón Sevilla
Choreography by
Jorge Harrison
Production manager
César Pérez Luis
Production manager
Enrique Hernández

Current

Victims of Sin: Dancing in the Dark
Victims of Sin: Dancing in the Dark

A masterpiece from the golden age of Mexican cinema, Emilio Fernández’s film is a prime example of the cabaretera film, an offshoot of the popular “prostitute melodrama” genre.

By Jacqueline Avila