‘Esmeralda’ Is Marrying Type, and Then Some

Forget about “Don~a Flor and Her Two Husbands”--one of whom was a ghost anyway. The heroine of Jaime Humberto Hermosillo’s exhilarating romantic comedy “Esmeralda Comes by Night” has five husbands and is about to marry her sixth.

Neither gold digger nor wanton, Esmeralda (Maria Rojo) is a loving, devoutly religious woman who wouldn’t dream of having an affair out of wedlock. A registered nurse in Mexico City, Esmeralda is a nurturing type who simply carries out her work to what she considers its logical, natural end. She loves her husbands, her sex life keeps a permanent smile on her face, and her work allows her to juggle an extraordinarily complex schedule.

Even so, Esmeralda probably should have quit while she was ahead. Her first four spouses more or less seem to know about one another, but not No. 5, Pedro (Ernesto Laguardia), a handsome law student 10 years her junior. When he finds out about the other husbands he storms Esmeralda’s sixth wedding ceremony, presses bigamy charges, and Esmeralda winds up in a police station. There she’s questioned exhaustively by Victor (Claudio Obregon), a windy, moralizing chief inspector who nevertheless finds himself increasingly distracted by this radiant, attractive woman showing off her stunning legs.

Best known in the U.S. for “Don~a Herlinda and Her Son,” a comedy about a mother and her gay son coming to terms, Hermosillo has a sensibility much like that of Pedro Almodovar. However, his humor tends to be lighter than that of Almodovar; his idols are Lubitsch, Cukor and other masters of sophisticated Hollywood comedy. The giddy fantasy that is “Esmeralda” uses laughter to deflate sexual hypocrisy, the double standard (as manifested in a macho Latino culture in particular) and dares to suggest that in her own way its heroine is as moral as she is sexual.

As the film moves ahead, with Esmeralda becoming an instant media star and feminist heroine, it also flashes back, under the chief inspector’s questioning, to allow her to tell us about all those husbands.

No. 1 is Jaime (Alberto Estrella), a virile would-be rock star/taxi driver whom Esmeralda adores for their spectacular sex life; No. 2 is Don Virginio (Roberto Cobo), a famous poet she married on his deathbed only to restore him to health with her passion; No. 3 is Jorge Luis (Humberto Pin~eda), a distinguished young neurosurgeon who marries her to disguise his relationship with a live-in male lover, Armando (Arturo Villasen~or), from his regal mother (Doria Beatriz). No. 4 is Antonio (Pedro Armendariz Jr.), a world-famous Italian opera star. Esmeralda met No. 5 while he was recuperating from a neck injury.

Most of the film takes place in the police station, and if there are times that “Esmeralda” flags under a torrent of dialogue, it generates sufficient goodwill to sustain these static moments. At other times Hermosillo is more inspired, cleverly turning Victor, his stenographer Lucita (Martha Navarro) and his young assistant Antonio (Manuel Garcia) into on-the-spot observers within Esmeralda’s frequently steamy flashbacks, thus allowing us to see them--and ourselves--as voyeurs. Early on, Lucita and Antonio gradually become Esmeralda’s allies, and the entire film is enlivened by Tito Vasconcelos in an amusing clutch of both male and female roles.

“Esmeralda” is a warm, embracing movie and has a heartening inclusiveness; its splendid large cast spans a wide range of ages, showing to advantage a raft of veteran as well as younger actors. Last seen in the U.S. in “Danzon,” Rojo, a major star of the Mexican stage as well as its cinema and frequent Hermosillo collaborator, is clearly having the time of her life playing a lovely woman who gets away with a Marilyn Monroe wardrobe while freely admitting she’s 42. Indeed, it was she who brought famed Mexican writer Elena Poniatowska’s short story, upon which the film is based, to Hermosillo’s attention in the first place. “Esmeralda Comes by Night” would be a treat any time of the day.

* MPAA rating: R, for strong sexuality, nudity and language. Times guidelines: Although not graphic, the sex leaves little to the imagination, and there is male frontal nudity.

‘Esmeralda Comes by Night’

Maria Rojo: Esmeralda

Claudio Obregon: Victor, the chief inspector

Martha Navarro: Lucita, the stenographer

Tito Vasconcelos: Josefa/Josefo

A Fine Line Features presentation of a co-productions of Resonancia Productura, Monarca Productions and the Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografica. Director Jaime Humberto Hermosillo. Executive producers Carlos Taibo, Salvador de la Fuente, Fernando Camara Sanchez. Screenplay by Hermosillo; from a story by Elena Poniatowska. Cinematographer Xavier Perez Grobet. Editors Sebastian Garza, Hermosillo. Costumes Federico Castillo. Music Omar Guzman. Art director Lourdes Almeida. In Spanish with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour, 46 minutes.

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* Exclusively at the Westside Pavilion, 10800 W. Pico Blvd., (310) 475-0202; Palace Theater, 630 S. Broadway, downtown L.A., (213) 624-6272; and the Los Feliz 3, 1822 N. Vermont Ave., (323) 664-2169.