In the deliriously entertaining Night Falls (La Noche Avanza) (1952), Pedro Armendáriz plays Marcos, a celebrity jai alai champion who is a bully, a compulsive liar and an insufferable braggart. Marcos is such an obnoxious asshole that, in the opening of the film, he even kicks a dog; stay to the end of La Noche Avanza for cinema’s greatest canine revenge.
Marcos is a ladykiller who treats his women horribly – the luscious singer he humiliates with his open dalliances (Eva Martino), the aging heiress he leeches off and scorns (Anita Blanch) and the innocent youngster he knocks up and abandons (Rebeca Iturbide). Martino, who only made nine films, is a knockout in a black strapless dress.
Marcos is about to skip out on all his girlfriend messiness and catch a flight to a profitable new jai alai season in Havana. But the disgraced young woman’s brother (Carlos Múzquiz) concocts a trap for Marcos, by blackmailing him into throwing a match for a ruthless and unforgiving gambling tycoon; something goes wrong for Marcos and he must come up with enough money to let him buy his life and his escape. To do that, he leads the murderous crime lord’s dim henchmen on an all-night desperate race. Will he make his plane? (Remember, this is a noir.)
In a uniquely Mexican touch of noir torture, waterboarding is performed with tequila.
Marcos is probably the most despicable role in Armendáriz’s storied career as a Mexican leading man, and Armendáriz plays him without his trademark mustache.
Night Falls was directed by Roberto Gavaldón, the Mexican director most well-known for film noir, especially for his La Otra.
Night Falls is the only jai alai movie I’ve ever seen. The tall and sturdy Armendáriz has an odd build for a jai alai player, but he credibly pulls off the few shots in which he, not a double, is serving on the court.
I saw Night Falls at the 2020 Noir City as part of its Fiesta of Mexican Noir. is not currently streamable and very hard to find. It is not available to stream, but you find the DVD (search for La Noche Avanza).
