Why ‘The King of the Neighborhood’ is One of the Best Comedies of All Time
El Rey del Barrio (Gilberto Martinez Solares, 1950)
Legends, legends everywhere!
When you try to pick out a piece of Latin American cinema that’s made an everlasting mark and influenced what comedy itself became for decades to come, El Rey del Barrio exemplifies that better than any other. Germán Valdés and his iconic character Tin Tan became household names of impossible-to-grasp fame across an entire continent, and gave other super stars like Cantinflas a run for their money. Never mind having his name spoken next to the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.
The Valdés brothers defined comedy for generations (yes, plural!). Germán with Tin Tan, and then later Ramón with the endearing character of Don Ramón, the grumpy single father who often played opposite to Chespirito in the massively successful sitcom ‘El Chavo del Ocho’ from 1973 to 1980. For us Millennials who grew up in Latin America, there’s no more beloved TV show than El Chavo. It set the standard for what passes as family-friendly, accessible entertainment for the masses. I personally cannot separate my childhood from this show. I can trace actual core memories of moral clarity as a kid that stem from watching its episodes.
This film captures a moment during the Mexican Golden Age of cinema that has cascaded through eras into the future.
In “El Rey del Barrio,” Tin Tan (Germán Valdés) pretends to be a railroad worker during the day, when in reality he’s a conman running a small crew of thieves out of a local bar. He uses the money from each theft to help his neighbors at the vecindad pay for healthcare and food, and to help himself raise his son Pepito. But it all turns upside down when Tin Tan pursues his lovely neighbor Carmelita, falling for each other and setting Tin Tan in a path of redemption, or at least an attempt at it.
As all comedy is built around irony, you really gotta admire the moral irony of this film and how well it establishes the themes. The movie opens with Tin Tan waking up after having a nightmare where’s he’s accused of being a thief, then get’s ready to go to his seemingly normal railway job and walk his son Pepito out to head to school. Then, it’s established that he’s a generous member of his community with Tin Tan offering to monetarily help his crush, Carmelita, while she’s out of a job. Finally, it’s revealed that he’s actually indeed a conman with a crew of thugs working out of a pulperia. This is the first five minutes of the film.
Now, Tin Tan is terrible at thieving. He’s nothing but an incompetent klutz who is better at being good than at being bad, but somehow so insistent in playing to his worse angels. But, how could he not? In this Mexico City of the 1950s it’s the bad who run the show and hoard all the wealth. And they are just as incompetent and gullible as the rest of us. If they can do it, why can’t he? Carmelita (played so sweetly by Silvia Pinal, the mother of 80s Mexican pop superstar Alejandra Guzman) and Pepito are Tin Tan’s moral center, the reason his goes out to steal every day, but also the reason he never crosses a line. The lack of violence in this film in contrast to American comedies of the time (think… ‘Some Like it Hot’) is painfully self-evident.
At the end of the day, this is a story about a failed Robin Hood, floudering to steal from the rich because he is simply too good, even if it’s the only way to aid his neighbors and friends. This is #EatTheRich 1950 style and for that reason, it will remain forever relevant and universal. This is brilliantly encapsulated in a single moment towards the end of the film, after Pepito discusses a learning moment from school with Tin Tan: that all thieves (rateros) are the worst that society can offer. The guilt is so swift that in a drunken stupor, Tin Tan breaks the fourth wall and addresses the audience directly, looking straight into the lens, and calling every single one of us thieves.
You can watch El Rey del Barrio for free with ads on YouTube thanks to TV Azteca.