Lupita Tovar

Tovar was discovered by documentary filmmaker Robert Flaherty in Mexico City. Tovar had performed in a dance class and was invited, along with other girls, to do a screen test as part of a competition. Tovar won first place.[6]^:220–221 The prize was a 6-month probation period, followed by a 7-year contract at $150/week, to Fox Studios.[5]^:20–25[6]^:221 The studio had realized they could make money by simultaneously shooting Spanish-language movies of English language studio productions, so had been casting for Spanish stars.[3] She moved to Hollywood in November 1928 with her maternal grandmother, Lucy Sullivan.[5]^:29

Tovar, under contract, was required to study intensively to enhance her skills for films. Her weekly schedule included guitar, two hours four days; Spanish dances, one hour three days; dramatics, one-half hour two days; and English, one hour every day. Her accent was considered an asset in talking motion pictures. Her English improved significantly in just seven months from the time she arrived in Hollywood in January 1929, when she could not say "good morning" in English. To improve her English, she attended talkies; she also learned new words and how to say them by reading voraciously. In 1929, Tovar appeared in the films The Veiled Woman with Bela Lugosi (now thought to be a lost film) and The Cock-Eyed World.

In 1930, she was mentioned for leads in two talkies starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Richard Barthelmess. Fairbanks put off the filming of what became The Exile. After his death, the film was made in 1947 by his son, Douglas, Jr., directed by Max Ophüls.

Lupita's future husband, producer Paul Kohner, convinced Carl Laemmle to make Spanish language movies that could be shot simultaneously at night with their English originals.[7] When sound films began to dominate the industry, casting director Jimmy Ryan warned her that her poor English would not work and her option would not be picked up. However, he recommended pursuing work in the foreign film department. She went to the office and sat around all day without being seen; she left early because a man kept staring at her and made her feel uncomfortable. When she returned to the office another day she met the head of the department, Kohner, who was the man who kept staring at her before. He offered her a job making $15 a day to dubbing films in Spanish, her first being The King of Jazz.[8]

In 1930, Tovar starred opposite Antonio Moreno in La Voluntad del Muerto, the Spanish-language version of The Cat Creeps and was based on the John Willard mystery play, The Cat and the Canary. Both The Cat Creeps and La Voluntad del muerto were remakes of The Cat and the Canary (1927). Casting was done in July 1930 with the film being released later the same year. The Spanish version was directed by George Melford and, like the Spanish-language version of Drácula, was filmed at night using the same sets as those used for filming the English-language version during the day.

Tovar shot Drácula, in 1930, when she was 20 years old. The film was produced by her soon-to-be husband, Paul Kohner.[3]

Lupita Tovar, in film Santa

In 1931, Tovar starred in the film Santa, the first to have synchronized sound and image on the same celluloid strip.[9]

The film was based on a famous book featuring an innocent girl from the country who has an affair with a soldier and then tragically becomes a prostitute. Santa was such a hit that the Mexican government issued a postage stamp featuring Tovar as Santa.[3][7] "I tell you I could not walk on the streets when Santa came out," Tovar said. "People tore my dress for souvenirs. It was something."[10]

In 2006, Santa was shown in a celebratory screening by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences called "A Salute to Lupita Tovar" that featured a conversation between Tovar and film historian Bob Dickson. The event was in honor of Tovar.[11]

In 1931, Melford directed Tovar in another Universal picture, East of Borneo, which starred Rose Hobart. Tovar also worked on films at Columbia Pictures. Although she herself did not make any silent films, with her earliest films released by Fox Film Corporation in the Fox Movietone sound-on-film system, some may have been released in silent versions for theaters not yet equipped for sound.

• Babcock, Muriel. "Wave of Popularity Sweeping Mexican Stars to Top Goes Marching On: Directors Tell How Latin-American Beauties Have Carved Niche for Themselves in Filmdom's Hall of Fame." Los Angeles Times. January 27, 1929. p. C11 (1 page).
• Olean Herald, "Hollywood Sights and Sounds." Saturday Evening. July 20, 1929. p. 4.
• Boland, Elena. "Aliens Retain Screen Niche: Sound Films Disclose Need of Many Accents Separate Pictures Made For Different Countries Certainty of Future Held as Settled Fact." Los Angeles Times. February 2, 1930, p. B11 (2 pages).
• Kingsley, Grace. "Browning Picks Story and Star: Fairbanks Will Play Bandit in Tale of Spanish Days; Richard Keene Loaned to First National; Paul Page Has "Man Crazy" Role." Los Angeles Times. March 12, 1930, p. A8 (1 page).
• Kingsley, Grace. "Duncan Sisters May Go Abroad: Joseph Santley Writes Story for Helen Twelvetrees Toreador Signs With First National for Film Norman Taurog Will Direct Ed Wynn Comedy." Los Angeles Times. July 23, 1930. p. 6 (1 page).
• Kingsley, Grace. "Lupita Tovar Goes Abroad: Actress Will Meet Fiance, Paul Kohner, in Paris Capt. Mollison Decides Not to Become Actor Helen Mack Wins Lead With Ken Maynard." Los Angeles Times. August 27, 1932. p. 5 (1 page).
• Kingsley, Grace. "Lupita Tovar, Kohner Marry: Producer and Actress Wed in Czechlo-Slovakia Gloria Stuart Takes Novel Trip as Air Mail Howard Hughes Searches for Beauty in New York." Los Angeles Times. November 2, 1932. p. 11 (1 page).
• Weaver, Tom. "Bitten in Spanish," "Fangoria" #119. December 1992.

• Kohner Family Papers, ~1970-2008. Riverside, CA: University of California, Riverside. OCLC 194179883

• Ankerich, Michael G. The Sound of Silence: Conversations with 16 Film and Stage Personalities Who Bridged the Gap between Silents and Talkies. Reprinted. ed. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2011. Chapter 15, pp. 218–233. ISBN 978-0-786-46383-1. OCLC 743217471
• Tovar, Lupita, and Pancho Kohner. Lupita Tovar: The Sweetheart of Mexico: A Memoir As Told to Her Son Pancho Kohner. Bloomington, IN: Xlibris Corp, 2011. ISBN 978-1-456-87736-1 OCLC 755706899
• Kohner, Pancho. Lupita Tovar: La novia de México: Memorias, Tal y Como Fueron Relatadas a su Hijo. Create Space Independent Publishing Platform, 2012. ISBN 978-1-475-24469-4 OCLC 797334304