Friday, October 16, 2020

Cavermango.

Remember that guy Tarzan? Grew up around apes deep in the jungle and later became a normal man of sorts because of a woman teaching him the way? Well this movie I’m to speak of is kind of like that, but much different. Also set differently as well. Remember that fairy tale Sleeping Beauty? There’s an element of that story featured in this movie and its title derives from it as well. A combination of Tarzan and Sleeping Beauty? What a wonderful movie cocktail that only the great Don Gilberto Martinez Solares could mix up for us schmucks awaiting to drown our sorrows & escape reality for a little while. 



In El Bello Durmiente ("The Beautiful Dreamer"), a group of scientists have come across a cave and inside they find a caveman (German Valdes "Tin Tan") in suspended animation. We then flashback to the caveman’s life and he was quite the quirky man.. A quirky caveman to be exact. His name is Triquitran (often spelled as “TrikiTran” by beloved fans of the movie) and along with his fellow cave people; he lives an ordinary life walking amongst the dinosaurs and clobbering other cavemen with a big wooden club. Triquitran is out hunting for food (small animals to be exact) and instead of finding a rabbit to devour, he comes across a beautiful cavegirl named Jade (Lilia Del Valle). Jade tries to get away from Triquitran at first; but ends up hurting her foot and he “heals” it with the Sana Sana Colita de Rana and they then propose their love for each other with a kiss (rubbing against each other’s noses). When Triquitran's rival Tracata (Wolf Ruvinskis) tries to steal Jade away from him, he right away loses her with a baseball pitch (a rock actually) to the head by a raging Triquitran. No one or anything will steal his bride to be from him. 


When Triquitran’s village claim he is to marry a woman from the neighboring village because the Volcano Gods told them so; he is hesitant considering he only wants to be with Jade, but it turns out she is the the woman he is to marry and all seems well from there! They then marry and while the celebration happens, an envious Tracata serves Triquitran a drink with a sleeping potion in it. Triquitran grows tired & ends up falling asleep and this is when Tracata successfully steals Jade from him! And just when things couldn’t get any worse; the Volcano among all the villages erupts and causes everyone and everything around them to go extinct, except of course the sleeping/blessed Triquitran. After Triquitran is found by the scientists, he awakens by the aroma of scientist Yolanda, who just happens to be eerily similar looking to his beloved Jade. Triquitran runs amok after awakening and eventually Yolanda teaches him the ways of the normal man & life in general. 



El Bello Durmiente is quite the beloved Tin Tan movie, but then again many of his movies are beloved, especially the ones he made with Gilberto Martinez Solares. This one however is often remembered by a lot of people and it’s pretty obvious why since the movie is about a silly caveman and you cannot forget something like that at all. The sets & props for the movie are goofy & fun, especially the rubber dinosaurs and we see plenty of those dinosaurs in the movie. Some fight each other to death, some dance to the song “Cavermango” as well. In the famous dance/song scene, Jade mentions to Triquitran that his song is in the styles of Frank Sinatra. Triquitran denies this of course. 


Tin Tan’s Triquitran costume is goofy as hell, but you can’t refuse it at all. His wooden club is grand and his hair that sticks up at times will you have amused silly. Wolf Ruvinskis plays the rival of Tin Tan yet again in this movie and as always he does an amazing, believable job. Even as a jealous air-headed caveman. Leading lady Lilia Del Valle will have you glued to the screen since she’s absolutely gorgeous, especially when she’s dressed as Jade the cavegirl. There’s a scene when Triquitran crashes a costume party and it’s an absolute hoot with everyone around wearing unique costumes. Triquitran fits in just fine at the party since everyone thinks he is wearing a very-detailed costume and is probably drunk. He even runs into a chick in a cavegirl costume, just as good-looking as Jade. There’s just something about this cavegirl look that is simply very appealing to eyes of men such as myself..


El Bello Durmiente is a fun movie that’ll bring joy when viewed as many times you do. It is a movie that doesn’t ever get dull and never fails to entertain. From beginning to end you’ll enjoy the quirks & charm Tin Tan has always brought to his movies along with the rest of the cast of the movie. El Bello Durmiente is a must see for classic Mexican movie buffs. Missing out on it would be a complete mistake. It’s readily available on DVD, so you must buy it ASAP.