
GALLERY EXHIBITION

¡HABLADA EN ESPAÑOL! THE LEGACY OF HOLLYWOOD's
SPANISH LANGUAGE CINEMA (1929-1939)
CO-PRESENTED BY
L.A. Cultural Heritage Preservation Society
Cervantes Institute of Los Angeles
and El Pueblo de Los Ángeles Historical Monument
SUPPORT FOR EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS COURTESY OF
City of Los Angeles District 14 and El Pueblo de Los Angeles Park Association.
A gallery exhibition and public programs that celebrate the Hollywood films produced in the Spanish-language
during the 1930s in Los Angeles.
For booking inquiries, contact us!
HOLLYWOOD EN ESPAÑOL
In the late 1920s, during the advent of motion picture sound technologies, Hollywood studios transitioned from making silent film narratives to film talkies. This era was officially launched with the premiere of Warner Bros. Studios’ The Jazz Singer (1927).
Overnight, film actors who had previously mastered the art of physical expression became irrelevant to the needs of a new cinema, where the quality of a good voice was key, and singers in high demand.
By 1929, Hollywood enjoyed a steady stream of international box-office sales, thanks to the appeal of their attractive star system, genre-structured narratives, effective publicity campaigns, and the strategic presence of distribution branches scattered around the world. However, this international appeal presented a major challenge: While the pantomime of the silent era was universally understood, how could Hollywood engage audiences with their talkies if they did not understand English?
Considering the high level of illiteracy at the time, subtitles were not an option, and with dubbing still in its infancy, Hollywood opted for an audacious solution: the making of multilingual film versions. These included Spanish-language productions meant to captivate audiences from Latin America and Spain. The experiment pushed Hollywood's floodgates wide open, allowing a diverse group of artists—from Los Angeles and abroad—to collaborate with the studio system in creating an American cinema en español.
THE EXHIBITION celebrates the overlooked films and actors–including, Antonio Moreno, Ramón Novarro, Lupe Vélez, Lupita Tovar, José Mojica and Carlos Gardel– featured in the American Spanish-language films produced by Hollywood in Los Angeles, Astoria (New York), and Joinville (France).
The materials on display bear witness to a cinema on the brink of extinction that was a daily staple of the vibrant movie-going experience enjoyed by Angelenos throughout the 1930s. Out of the estimated 180 films that comprise this cinema, less than 10% exist in local and international archives, and less than 2% are available for streaming.
¡HABLADA EN ESPAÑOL! is curated by film archivist and researcher Alejandra Espasande-Bouza, who is currently writing a book about the subject. The exhibition displays rarely seen images, ephemera and moving image clips–from private collections and archives–that trace the early presence of local and international artists who were called to work in the Spanish-language films made in Los Angeles following the industry’s transition to sound films in 1929.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The research conducted for the production of this exhibition owes gratitude to the pioneering research work of historians Bob Dickson and Juan Heinick. Additionally, the publications of journalists that interviewed the protagonists of this cinema during the 1920s and 1930s in the US and abroad. Special mention goes to José María Sánchez García, Gabriel Navarro (1894-1950), and
Florentino Hernández Girbal (1902-2002).
SPECIAL THANKS TO
Randy Haberkamp, Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences
Matt Severson and Laura Darlington, Margaret Herrick Library
The wonderful staff at the Margaret Herrick Library
Taylor Morales and Edda Manriquez, Academy Film Archive
Tracey Goessel, Film Preservation Society
Marcela Cassinelli, Fundación Cinemateca Argentina
Carlos Edgar Torres Pérez, Cineteca Nacional México
Kevin Schaeffer, The Walt Disney Studios
Rita Belda, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Zoran Sinobad, Library of Congress
Gonzalo Herralde, Editrama
Kit Parker, Kit Parker Films
CREDITS
Curated by Alejandra Espasande-Bouza
Exhibition design by Fabricio Espasande-Bouza
Graphic design by Carlos Espasande
Photo restoration by Cale Rozett
Photo printing by Guru Printers
Frames by Downtown Framing Outlet
Installation by Always Lucky Studio
Installation assistance by Cesario Tío, Taylor Louden, Yves Marton & James Dawson
VISITORS & COLLABORATORS
SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE
Produced by Mario Hernández
Produced and narrated by Kittykap_90
Produced and narrated by mikeyperaltajr