YAMBAO (1957)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *drama*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *metaphysical*

YAMBAO, issued in some markets as CRY OF THE BEWITCHED, was a Mexican-Cuban collaboration shot in Cuba and starring popular Cuban-born Mexican actress Ninon Sevilla as the title character. Taking place in the early years of Mexico's first horror-boom, the script had a chance to produce an original take on the Cuban customs of the Santeria religion, which had barely if at all been portrayed in commercial cinema.

Short take: because Sevilla was popular for her singing and dancing, YAMBAO is dominated by such scenes, whether by Sevilla or by various collections of Cuban sugar-cane workers. Thus, the movie tries more to bewitch the viewer with terpsichorean rhythms than with lore about Cuban witchcraft.

The action commences in Cuba back in 1850, on a sugar plantation owned by Jorge (Ramon Gay) and his wife Beatriz. They maintain a benign and enlightened hold over their slaves, who show no desire to revolt against anything but the scourge of local witchcraft. Jorge does not believe in magic, and he resents that the authority of his family was impugned fifteen years ago, when the locals tried to execute a suspected witch Caridad. Everyone on the island believes Caridad is dead, but they're still leery of her granddaughter Yambao (Sevilla)-- except for a few of the young blades, who would like to lure her to the wedding altar.

However, long ago young Yambao fell in love with the married master, and that may be one reason that she has helped her ancient grandmother hide in a cave, to shield Caridad from another attempt on her life. At Yambao's insistence, Caridad puts a love-spell on Jorge, though its first effect is to make the master deathly sick. Beatriz is obliged to accept Yambao's help in curing Jorge, though Yambao's ritual has the long-range effect of enthralling Jorge.

Though Jorge falls in love with the vixen, it's not clear how far they go-- and in any case, Beatriz, who's been expecting since the film's beginning, dispels the magic when her child is born, shocking Jorge back to his normal personality. The rest of the story shows how Yambao's fortunes decline, and though she's somewhat sympathetic in that she did it all for love, she's still a figurative "monster" who must be destroyed.

I grade the mythicity here as "fair" largely because YAMBAO, in creating a sympathetic love-witch, makes an interesting contrast with the totally negative image of a sexy female native seen in the 1942 Hollywood exotica, WHITE CARGO.