The Naked Angel

Based upon Arthur Schnitzler's Fraulein Else, this melodrama caused sort of a scandal in Argentina in 1946. To begin with, there's no mother pushing the girl towards the rich man. In the second place Olga Zubarry was only 17 when she starred in the film and her naked back in a torrid moment cause quite a stirring. But what today is clearer is the incest and the sexual innuendos going on among the different characters. The father is here a compulsive gambler and it's he the one who pushes her own daughter towards the satyr -here the devil is a sculptor-. The consequences are, of course, a real disaster. What dominates the whole picture is a morbid pace imposed by the then firm hand of Mr. Christensen, the effective music by George Andreani and the camera and cinematography. It was a smash hit from the very beginning ans is still very watchable. abel posadas