Editing María Félix (section)

== Career ==

=== First years ===
[[File:María Félix 1951.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Félix in ''[[The Black Crown (film)|The Black Crown]]'' (1951)]]

One afternoon after work when walking down the street in Mexico City, director and filmmaker Fernando Palacios approached her asking if she wanted to make films. Her response was:{{citation needed|date=June 2019}}

{{blockquote|''"When I want to, it will be through the big door."''}}

Palacios finally persuaded her to break into films. Becoming her "[[Pygmalion (mythology)|Pygmalion]]", he began to train her and present her in film circles. She made her first appearance in the "White and Black Ballroom" of the Mexico City Country Club where some of the great Mexican film stars of the era ([[Esther Fernández]], [[Lupe Vélez]], [[Andrea Palma (actress)|Andrea Palma]]) gathered. Eventually she was taken to [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]], to the [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] Studios, where she met [[Cecil B. DeMille]], who offered to launch her film career in Hollywood, but Félix was not interested. She preferred to begin her career in her own country. Finally, thanks to Palacios, she was offered the female lead role in a film by Grovas Productions: ''[[El Peñón de las Ánimas]]'', directed by [[Miguel Zacarías]].{{sfn|Félix|1993|loc=Vol. 1, pp. 80-2}}

In the film ''El Peñón de las Ánimas'', Félix starred opposite the popular Mexican actor and singer [[Jorge Negrete]]. María Félix and Jorge Negrete got off to a bad relationship during the filming because he had asked that his girlfriend, the actress [[Gloria Marín]], be given the lead role. For this reason, the shooting of the film was difficult and led to a direct confrontation between Félix and Negrete. That confrontation helped to cement the reputation of Félix as a tough and arrogant woman.

In her second film, ''María Eugenia'', Félix would be projected in a role out of her temperamental film personality. However, the film is remembered as the only film where Félix appeared in swimwear. The same happened with the film ''La china poblana'' (1943), where Félix claimed to have paid a debt of gratitude to her discoverer Fernando Palacios, who directed the film.{{sfn|Félix|1993|loc=Vol. 2, pp. 21-2}} Nobody has heard from this film (the second color film of the Mexican cinema), so it is considered lost. She called both films "her beginner sins".

[[File:MariaFelix-sexy.png|thumb|left|200px|Felix]]

Félix was known as ''La Doña'' for her role in the film ''[[Doña Bárbara (1943 film)|Doña Bárbara]]'' (1943), based on [[Doña Bárbara|the novel]] by the Venezuelan writer [[Rómulo Gallegos]]. For the film, another actress ([[Isabela Corona]]) was already hired, but when Gallegos first saw Félix, he was charmed by her and said: "Here is my Doña Bárbara!" The film was filmed in Venezuela with Mexican and Venezuelan actors. ''Doña Bárbara'' was to be the start of her major collaborations with the Mexican film director [[Fernando de Fuentes]]. Félix and de Fuentes filmed together another two films: ''[[La Mujer sin Alma]]'' (1944) and ''La Devoradora'' (1946). As María Félix herself said, ''"With these films, I became the number one enemy of the Mexican family morals."''

{{blockquote|''Somehow, I seduced the public, even those who criticize the conduct of my characters in the films. My legend began to take shape without moving a finger. The public imagination did everything for me.''{{sfn|Félix|1993|loc=Vol. 2, p. 27}}}}

Without her stereotyped role of a "femme fatale", María Félix filmed two sophisticated films: ''El monje blanco'' (1945), directed by [[Julio Bracho]], and ''Vertigo'' (1946), directed by Antonio Momplet. Both characters required a great dramatic intensity.

Under the direction of [[Emilio Fernández]], María Félix made three successful films: ''[[Enamorada (film)|Enamorada]]'' (1946), ''[[Río Escondido (1948 film)|Río Escondido]]'' (1947), and ''[[Maclovia (1948 film)|Maclovia]]'' (1948). The relationship between Félix and Fernández was cordial and smooth, despite the strong and famous temperament of the film director. In ''Enamorada'', María Félix found her perfect film partner, the actor [[Pedro Armendáriz]]. The films of María Félix with Fernández and his team (writer Mauricio Magdaleno, photographer [[Gabriel Figueroa]], and Armendáriz) had strong presence in several international film festivals. In turn, they gave María Félix her first [[Ariel Award for Best Actress|Ariel Award]] for ''Enamorada'' and ''Río Escondido''.

Between the films with Fernández, María Félix also worked with [[Roberto Gavaldón]], another director who showcased some of her best performances. Their first collaboration was in ''La diosa arrodillada'' (1947) with [[Arturo de Córdova]]. Thanks to these films, María Félix's fame crossed the Atlantic.

In 1948 she was contracted by the Spanish film producer Cesáreo González. In this manner María Félix began her film adventure in Europe. She made only one more film in Mexico (''[[Doña Diabla]]'', 1949) until her return in 1952.

=== Europe ===
[[File:María Félix in La mujer de todos city theater 1948.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Marquee listing Félix's film, ''La mujer de todos'', at Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen in [[Amsterdam]] at the City Theater in March 1948]]
Félix debuted in the European cinema in Spain, with the film ''[[Mare Nostrum (1948 film)|Mare Nostrum]]'' (1948), directed by [[Rafael Gil]]. With Gil as director, she made another two films in 1950: ''Una mujer cualquiera'' and ''La noche del sábado''. In 1951, she filmed the French-Spanish production ''La Couronne Noire'' directed by [[Luis Saslavsky]] based on a story by [[Jean Cocteau]]. She debuted in Italy with the film ''Incantesimo Tragico'' (1951). In the same year, she filmed ''[[Messalina (1951 film)|Messalina]]'' (1951), directed by [[Carmine Gallone]]. During the shooting of the film, Félix suffered an emotional shock: her father died of a heart attack in [[Navojoa]].

In 1952, Félix traveled to Argentina, where she filmed ''[[La pasión desnuda]]'' of the Argentine filmmaker [[Luis César Amadori]]. In the same year, Félix returned to Mexico. She concluded her working relationship with Cesáreo González with the film ''[[Camelia (1954 film)|Camelia]]'' filmed in her native country. Her stay in Mexico was mainly based on her marriage to the actor and singer Jorge Negrete,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Una Mujer Llamada Maria Felix: Historia No Autorizada|last=Sandoval|first=Carmen Barajas|year=1998|isbn=9684096739|pages=[https://archive.org/details/unamujerllamadam00bara/page/174 174]|publisher=EDAMEX |url=https://archive.org/details/unamujerllamadam00bara/page/174}}</ref> her former film rival, with whom she filmed ''El rapto'', directed by Emilio Fernández, Negrete's last film.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Los Grandes: Maria Felix (Los Grandes Mexicanos)|last=Rutiaga|first=Luis|year=2005|isbn=9706669817|pages=174|publisher=Grupo Tomo }}</ref>

After Negrete's death on 5 December 1953, Félix returned to Europe. In France she made the films ''La Belle Otero'' (1954), and ''Les Héros sont Fatigués'' (1955), alongside [[Yves Montand]]. However, the most important film of Félix in this period was ''[[French Cancan]]'' (1954) directed by [[Jean Renoir]] with French actor [[Jean Gabin]]. Her last film shot entirely in Europe was the Spanish film ''[[Faustina (1957 film)|Faustina]]''.<ref>{{cite book|editor-first1=Cynthia|editor-last1=Tompkins|editor-first2=David William|editor-last2=Foster|date=2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a7TY2ElIcrUC&pg=PA97 |title=Notable Twentieth-Century Latin American Women: A Biographical Dictionary|page=97|isbn=0313311129|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|access-date=2019-08-08}}</ref>

===Last films===
Félix returned to Mexico in 1955. This period of her career was characterized by performing in period pieces inspired by the [[Mexican Revolution]]. This cycle begins with ''La Escondida'' (1955). In this film, as well as in stories like ''Canasta de cuentos mexicanos'' (1955) and ''Café Colón'' (1958), she worked again with Pedro Armendáriz. In 1956 she starred in ''[[Tizoc (film)|Tizoc]]'' with the actor and singer [[Pedro Infante]]. However, the film was not liked by the actress, despite her international success. Eventually she filmed ''[[Beyond All Limits]]'' (1957) with [[Jack Palance]], and the melodramas ''[[Ash Wednesday (1958 film)|Ash Wednesday]]'' and ''[[The Empty Star]]'' (both 1958). In 1959 she played the title role in ''[[The Soldiers of Pancho Villa]]'' with top billing lead [[Dolores del Río]]. <!--, where alternating with [[Dolores del Río]], another celebrated Mexican film star with a career in Hollywood ←This bit doesn't make sense. What is meant?--> In 1959 she performed in the Spanish-Mexican co-production ''[[Sonatas (film)|Sonatas]]'' directed by [[Juan Antonio Bardem]] and the French-Mexican co-production ''[[La Fièvre Monte à El Pao]]'',  directed by [[Luis Buñuel]].

In the 1960s Félix's presence in the cinema was limited to only a few films. The most prominent were ''Juana Gallo'' (1960), ''[[La bandida]]'' (1963), ''[[Amor y sexo]]'' (''Sapho '63'', 1963)), and ''[[La Valentina (1966 film)|La Valentina]]'' (1966). In 1970 she filmed ''La Generala'', which would be her last film. The Mexican historical [[telenovela]] ''La Constitución'' (1971) would be her last professional acting job. Félix attempted to return to the cinema twice. First, in 1982, with the film ''Toña Machetes'', and again in 1986 with the film ''Insólito resplandor''. Neither project crystallized, and Félix never reappeared in film.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}}

===Roles declined in Hollywood===
Almost from the beginning of her career, Félix received job offers in Hollywood, but Félix herself said: ''They only give me huehuenche (Indian) roles''. While she was in France, Hollywood offered her the female role of ''[[Duel in the Sun (film)|Duel in the Sun]]'', but she passed and the part went to [[Jennifer Jones]].{{sfn|Félix|1993|loc=Vol. 3, p. 48}} Another proposal was ''[[The Barefoot Contessa]]'' with [[Humphrey Bogart]], but she refused it, instead making ''La Belle Otero'' in France. [[Ava Gardner]] ended up with the part. Later, the director [[Robert Aldrich]] sent her the script of ''[[The Legend of Lylah Clare]]'', but she did not reach an agreement with the director and [[Kim Novak]] got the role.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}}