It deals with a mine engineer , Rossano Brazzi , who meets an amnesic woman called Mara , Maria Felix , and falls for her . She is a widow who married a wealthy man : Jose Maria Lado whom Mara transports at a coffin to bury him . Later on , Mara meets her prior lover , Vittorio Gassman , who believes she does not want to tell where the robbed jewels from her late hubby are hidden .Things go wrong when she remembers, step by step , her dark past and records continue to resurface . ÑLa corona negra es aquella que formada por buitres acompaña a los muertos : The Black Crown is formed by vultures that accompain the dead people : Jean Cocteau.
This is a Film Noir with thrills , fights , suspense , twists , surrealist scenes and a brief intrigue about some stolen precious stones as well as the place where were concealed . Based on a story by the prestigious Jean Cocteau , the film is full of weird dreams , surrealist , abstract images in his usual style , including bizarre hands appearing at the sunny desert and vultures stalking the dead people . The movie is frankly well , though overlong , as runtime 1 hr 45 min . Paced by various flasbacks from different sight points , recreating faithfully Tanger of the 50s , combining ordinary exteriors along with staged interior . It has a great international cast with big name stars . The Mexican Maria Felix provides a decent acting as a Femme Fatal who suffers amnesia and little by little finds out her past .Rossano Brazzi plays a honest engineer who helps and falls for the mysterious woman with unexpected consequences. Vittorio Gassman , whose former work was Arroz Amargo , plays a swindler who is convinced that Mara's amnesia is all a set-up .Support cast is pretty good as Manuel Arbo , Casimiro Hurtado , Santana , Antonio Plana , and the ordinary Spanish secondaries as Julia Caba Alba , Santiago Rivero and Felix Fernandez .
Very good cinematography in black and white by Antonio L Ballesteros in Noir style with lights and shades . Shot on location ,Tanger , Morocco and Ballesteros studios . Atmospheric and evocative musical score by maestro Juan Quintero. Well and lavishly produced by Cesareo Gonzalez , Suevia films . The motion picture was well directed by Luis Saslavski , though it failed at boxoffice and considered to be one of the strangest Spanish films .Argentina-born Luis Saslavski film debut was 1935 Crimen a las 3 and La Fuga . Directing melodramas for Libertad Lamarque as Puerta Cerrada . Subsequently , he adapts Calderon de la Barca in La Dama Duende , making in Europe several films as La nieve estaba sucia , Las Lobas , Historia de una noche , the musical : El balcon de la luna with Folkloric stars : Lola Flores , Carmen Sevilla , Paquita Rico and the comedies Las mujeres los prefieren tontos , la industria del matrimonio , El faustino criollo , among others .Rating : 7/10, essential and indispensable seeing for Spanish cinema aficionados .
