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“THE
LIFE, MUSIC AND TIMES OF CARLOS GARDEL”
GARDEL…“GENUINE” SUPERSTAR OF THE 20TH CENTURY…
CARLOS
GARDEL (1890-1935) WHO WAS BORN ON DECEMBER 11, 1890, IN TOULOUSE, FRANCE AND
WHO DIED IN A PLANE ACCIDENT ON THE 24TH OF JUNE, 1935, IN MEDELLIN,
COLOMBIA, HOLDS A UNIQUE PLACE IN THE POPULAR CULTURE OF LATIN AMERICA.
FROM
VERY MODEST BEGINNINGS HE ROSE TO BECOME THE FIRST “GENUINE” SUPERSTAR OF
THE 20TH CENTURY. IN HIS
LATE TEENS HE WON LOCAL FAME IN THE “BARRIOS” OF BUENOS AIRES, SINGING IN
CAFES AND POLITICAL CLUBS. IN 1910 IN COLLABORATION WITH JOSE RAZZANO, HE FORMED
PART OF THE “MOST CELEBRATED” SINGING DUO
OF
HIS TIME , IN ARGENTINA AND URUGUAY, SPECIALIZING IN FOLK MUSIC.
BUT IT WAS IN 1920’S, AFTER HE SWITCHED TO TANGO SINGING,
THAT
HIS GENIUS BECAME APPARENT.
The
TANGO WAS THEN AT THE HEIGHT OF ITS POPULARITY
AND THE TANGO SONGS THAT GARDEL WROTE AND SANG , HAVE BECOME “CLASSICS
OF THE GENRE”. THE MAGIC OF HIS SINGING-ON RECORDS…
(HE
RECORDED MORE THAN 1.400 SONGS) ON THE RADIO AND IN THEATERS, EARNED HIM AN
INMENSE FOLLOWING IN ARGENTINA, URUGUAY AND BRASIL AND HE MADE TRIUMPHANT
APPEARANCES
IN
CABARETS AND THEATERS IN BARCELONA, MADRID AND PARIS.
HE
BEGAN MAKING MOVIES IN THE EARLY 1930’S, WITH “PARAMOUNT PICTURES”,
QUICKLY ESTABLISHING HIMSELF AS “THE MOST POPULAR
STAR
OF THE SPANISH-LANGUAGE CINEMA”. HIS
FILMS WERE SHOT IN
PARIS
AND NEW YORK AND AT THE TIME OF HIS TRAGIC DEATH,
“PARAMOUNT”
WAS PLANNING TO TAKE HIM TO HOLLYWOOD AND LAUNCHED HIM AS A MAJOR STAR OF
THE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE SCREEN.
GARDEL
WAS REGARDED, IN HIS OWN TIME, AS A STRANGELY SYMBOLIC PERSONALITY, REFLECTING
THE URBAN CULTURE OF BUENOS AIRES.
HIS
MEMORY LATER BECAME THE FOCUS OF AN INTENSE POPULAR “CULT” WHICH IS STILL IN EVIDENCE TODAY…ON THE 50TH
ANNIVERSARY
OF
CARLOS GARDEL’S DEATH, IN JUNE OF 1985, THE ARGENTINE CONGRESS OPENED EACH
EVENING SESSION , THROUGHOUT THE
MONTH OF JUNE, WITH ONE OF GARDEL’S SONGS…A COMMEMORATIVE POSTAGE STAMP WAS
ISSUED AND RAUL ALFONSIN, PRESIDENT OF ARGENTINA, ATTENDED A SPECIAL FUNCTION,
IN GARDEL’S HONOR.
“THE
LIFE, MUSIC AND TIMES OF CARLOS GARDEL” BY SIMON COLLIER
BASED
ON THIS BOOK WRITTEN BY THE NOTED ENGLISH
AUTHOR SIMON COLLIER AND CONSIDERED
TO BE “THE MOST COMPLETE STUDY ON THE LIFE OF THE “ZORZAL”,
PEPE CROW WROTE THE “SCREENPLAY” TO MAKE AN AMBITIOUS FILM ABOUT THE
LIFE OF THIS “LEGEND” WHICH WILL GIVE HIM THE WORLD RECOGNITION THAT HE
DESERVES.
IN
1988, ALONG WITH ROSITA MORENO, (THE
BEAUTIFUL FEMALE COMPANION OF GARDEL IN
HIS LAST TWO FILMS “TANGO BAR”
AND
“EL
DIA QUE ME QUIERAS”)
WE FOUNDED THE FIRST COMMITTEE
TO GIVE A STAR AT THE HOLLYWOOD “WALK OF FAME” TO CARLOS GARDEL.
EVERY
24TH OF JUNE WE GATHERED AT
THE CORNER OF VINE AND SUNSET, IN HOLLYWOOD, TO ASK FOR THIS AWARD TO THE
“MOST DESERVING STAR OF THE 20TH CENTURY” IN THE SPANISH LANGUAGE
AND FOR THIS PURPOSE WE HAVE RAISED MORE THAN 15.000 SIGNATURES.
ROSITA
MORENO DIED
IN 1993 WITHOUT FULLFILING HER WISHES TO
SEE
THE “PLACING OF THE STAR”…WE KEEP ON GATHERING IN THE SAME CORNER YEAR BY
YEAR BUT THE HOLLYWOOD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
AND MR. JOHNNY GRANT, ITS HONORARY MEMBER, HAVE IGNORED OUR PETITION… NO ONE KNOWS WHY BUT WHEN I SPOKE TO MR. GRANT,
HE
TOLD ME THAT “HOLLYWOOD IS NOT GIVING ANYMORE STARS TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE
“PASSED AWAY”…A VERY SENSELESS ANSWER…
ANYWAY…WE
HOPE THAN WHEN WE RELEASE THE FILM “GARDEL…
GARDEL…”
THE OPINION OF THE HOLLYWOOD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
WILL
BE DIFFERENT. MEANWHILE WE ARE
PREPARING TO LAUNCH A BIG EFFORT THROUGH THE INTERNET TO FILE MORE PETITIONS FOR
THIS PURPOSE…AND WE HOPE THAT IN
THE 21ST CENTURY WE WILL
HAVE THE “STAR TO GARDEL” FINALLY
AWARDED….IF YOU WANT TO JOIN IN OUR EFFORTS PLEASE WRITE TO
PEPE CROW
pepecrow@cs.com