Cruz Diablo
1934 film by Fernando de Fuentes
Cruz Diablo is a 1934 Mexican film directed by Fernando de Fuentes. The New York Times called it "one of the best films that ever crossed the Rio Grande".
Plot
The film takes place in 16th century New Spain where a masked swordsman, Cruz Diablo, steals from rich people to give to the poor and in doing so marks people with a cross on their foreheads. Cruz Diablo and Inspector Diego will try to prevent Marcela, the daughter of the Count of Luna, from marrying an old marquis by Diego pretending to be the Count. The young woman is actually in love with Captain Carlos, who is imprisoned and tortured to prevent him from marrying Marcela. Captain Carlos' mother goes mad and tells Cruz Diablo what happened.
Production
Cruz Diablo was filmed in the studios of the Compañía Nacional Productora, then located on Paseo de la Reforma, during six weeks starting on September 13, 1934, at a cost of 200,000 pesos. The production was in charge of Paul H. Bush and the Mex-Art company. The script was by director De Fuentes based on a plot by Uruguayan writer Vicente Orona. Editing was by Fernando de Fuentes, Fernando C. Tamayo and Harry Foster, musical direction by Max Urban, sound by Roberto Rodríguez and Joselito Rodríguez, set design by Jorge Fernández, photography by Alex Phillips, wardrobe by Vicente Tostado and A.X. Peña, make-up by Tillillado and costumes by A.X. Peña.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Cruz Diablo” is 1934 film by Fernando de Fuentes. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Cruz, Diablo and film, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1934 film by Fernando de Fuentes” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q984284. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1934.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cruz Diablo” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.