BLOOD BROTHERS AND MONSTERS. MAY THEY BURN IN HELL.

Adios Sarita

What can we say about Sara Montiel?  That she was a marvelous singer and dancer?  That she exuded sensuality and beauty?  That she was the Elizabeth Taylor of Europe?  Well, she was that and much  more.  I grew up loving her and loving her movies.  Yet her life was more dramatic and sensational than any of them.  And that voice of hers, sultry, smoky and slow, made us dream, made us want to grow up quickly and experience all those marvelous feelings she conveyed so well on the screen.  I know she made movies in America but her impact was a lot greater in Europe and South America.  I think most baby boomers who grew up with her are in mourning at the recent news of her death.  Yet she may have died physically but she certainly belongs to the short list of immortals of the world.  Who can forget that glamorous beauty that made us dream when we were adolescents?  Who can forget "El Ultimo Cuple," "La Violetera" "Carmen La De Ronda" and so many others?  Her movies were great and what made them great was her presence, that dramatic, smouldering presence, with a voice and beauty to match it.  She was intense and passionate and it showed in everything she did.  "Reach for the Stars," she seemed to be telling us with every gesture, every movement of her hands.  "And don't be afraid to love, to suffer, to live intensely."  We did but never as intensely as she did.  My favorite image of her is the gorgeous flower girl singing right into the blue, blue eyes of Ralph Vallone in "La Violetera."  Another is that of the passionate, melancholic beauty in the red dress singing "Mi Hombre" a song that she owned as completely as Barbara Streisand did with "People."  So farewell and thanks for making us dream, for waking us up to life Sarita, we shall not forget you.