Lecture

Ilan Stavans

Ilan Stavans: The Riddle of Cantinflas

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  • ABOUT Ilan Stavans

    Ilan Stavans is Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College. His books include The Hispanic Condition, On Borrowed Words, Spanglish, and Love and Language. He is the editor of The Oxford Book of Jewish Stories, The Poetry of Pablo Neruda, the 3-volume set of Isaac Bashevis Singer: Collected Stories, and Becoming Americans: Four Hundred Years of Immigrant Writing.

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To American audiences, he was simply the devoted valet Passepartout in the 1956 film Around the World in 80 Days, but Mario Moreno “Cantinflas” was one of Mexico’s most prolific actors, appearing in more than 50 films. Ilan Stavans, Amherst College professor of Latin American and Latino culture, asserts Cantinflas was not just a popular entertainer but also a verifiable genius whose work redefined Latino humor. Designed as a journey through Cantinflas’s 60-year career with Stavans as guide, this program examines the indelible legacy of Cantinflas through film and archival materials.

Generously sponsored by Maria Bechily and Art Velasquez, president of Azteca Foods

Pictured above, Mario Moreno (Cantinflas).

Media sponsorship provided by ArteyVidaChicago.com and E-Hispanics.com.

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Broader Investigation

Lecture

Herbert Siguenza: From Cantinflas to Culture Clash

Charlie Chaplin called Cantinflas the “greatest comic of all time.” Now, Herbert Siguenza pays tribute exploring Mario Moreno’s beginnings performer under that name in the rough border city of Ciudad, Juárez, from which be became an icon of Mexican cinema.

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