“El último cuplé” (1957): un desafío femenino en el cine del franquismo

Abstract

This work aims to study the movie El ultimo cuple (1957, Juan de Orduna), box office success that recovered the eroticism in the national cinematography. After the fortune earned with a radio program on cuples, Orduna, who had previously directed propagandistic works for the Regime, decided to shoot this personal story about a cuple singer. The film is part of the timid opening of the first Francoism, but it predates the modernization of the sixties. Although generally considered moralistic, we believe that it defies the feminine ideal and the Francoist censorship.The main character is a strong and single working woman, who has romantic relationships outside her social class with both older and younger men. She drinks and gambles, and her behavior is openly seductive. Her clothes and makeup challenge the conventional modesty attributed to the ladies and the songs she interprets increase her sensuality. Strongly censured, it is nevertheless an example of the limits that some women crossed during the dictatorship and of the winds of change that were beginning to blow, at least in the public taste. The “Destape” had begun its journey. For this study, we will use the method of Textual Analysis or Text Theory.