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The Extra (1962)

Name: The Extra
Genre: Comedy
Released: 1962-10-04
Duration: 110 min
Rating: 7
Cast: Cantinflas, Alma Delia Fuentes, Carmen Molina, Guillermina Téllez Girón, Magda Donato

The Extra (1962), directed by Miguel M. Delgado, starring Cantinflas and Alma Delia Fuentes.

10/04/1962 BR Comedy 1h 50m

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Synopsis

Cantinflas is a man who hangs around the studios and helps anyone who needs his advice while at the same time envisioning his own versions of how certain scenes should be shot. Both angles provide ample opportunities for very witty, subtle barbs at the foibles of the industry.

Rosalío SolanoCinematography
Miguel M. DelgadoDirector, Screenplay
Jorge BustosEditing
Gustavo César CarriónOriginal music

Cantinflas Colección

The franchise in release order. 40 films.

About the film

The Extra (Spanish: El extra) is a 1962 Mexican comedy film directed by Miguel M. Delgado and starring Mario Moreno «Cantinflas» and Alma Delia Fuentes. This film features of which there is a special participation of Xavier López "Chabelo" and Irma Serrano "La Tigresa". This was the last Cantinflas film whose art direction was made by long-time set designer Gunther Gerzso.

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Plot

Rogaciano (Cantinflas) is the modest worker of a Mexican film studio, who performs several roles as an extra in the films shot there. His excessive zeal at work causes the antipathy of successive directors who do not support his forays into their films. After his run-ins into film sets, he dreams that he is the protagonist of each of the productions of which he has participated, such as him playing a sans-culotte and saving Marie Antoinette in a film about the French Revolution, being the lover of Marguerite Gautier in a retelling of La Dame aux Camélias in which she survives, and saving a maiden from an Aztec sacrifice by fighting a warrior (defeating him by fighting him as if it were a bullfight) in an Aztec film.

In one of the productions Rogaciano is in, he meets Rosita (Alma Delia Fuentes), a young woman who also works as an extra, who is initially disappointed in the treatment of the studio workers, who tell her that they don't need more people like her to work there. Rogaciano, seeing the situation of Rosita, who is the guardian of her two younger brothers and has economic deficiencies, helps her to be chosen as an actress in an audition for a blockbuster conducted by the directors of the studio where Rogaciano and Rosita work. After signing Rosita to a contract, the directors, having been made aware of Rosita's relation to Rogaciano, tell her that from now on she must not get involved with him due to Rogaciano's low social status. Rosita is reluctant to this, but Rogaciano learns this and, albeit heartbroken, convinces her to follow through it.

Cast

Mario Moreno «Cantinflas» as Rogaciano

Alma Delia Fuentes as Rosa Hernández "Rosita"

Carmen Molina as Actress who plays Marguerite Gautier

Guillermina Téllez Girón as Actress with torta

Magda Donato as Actress who plays Olympia

Alejandro Ciangherotti as Director of Aztec scene

León Barroso as Film director

Luis Manuel Pelayo as Director of cowboy scene

Eric del Castillo as Actor who plays Armand Duval (as J.E. Eric del Castillo)

Guillermo Rivas as Actor who plays villain on French Revolution scene

Antonio Raxel as Director of La Dame aux Camélias scene

Armando Arriola as Doctor

Gerardo del Castillo as Mr. Menéndez (as Gerardo del Castillo Jr.)

Edmundo Espino as Don Julián

Valentín Trujillo as Chevo, Rosa's brother (as Valentin Trujillo Gazcon)

Adrián Gallardo

Xavier López "Chabelo" as Panchito (as Javier Lopez Rodriguez "Chabelo")

Antonio Bravo as Aztec film producer

Manuel Alvarado as Fat seamster

Alberto Catalá as Assistant Director

Enrique Lucero as Actor who plays Aztec priest

Raúl Meraz as Actor who plays French Revolution soldier

Roy Fletcher as assistant director of La Dame aux Camélias scene

Yolanda Ciani as Lilia, actress in cowboy scene

José Carlos Méndez as Cuco, Rosa's brother

Katherine George

Erika Carlsson as Actress who plays Marie Antoinette (Toñita) (as Erika Carlson)

Arya Morales

Jorge Casanova as assistant director of Aztec scene

Armando Gutiérrez as Don Matías

Gabriel Álvarez

Arturo Cobo as "Frank Sinatra"

Irma Serrano "La Tigresa" as Lady at audition

Armando Acosta as Studio employee (uncredited)

Marco Antonio Arzate as Actor in cowboy scene (uncredited)

Felipe de Flores as Actor who plays Captain (uncredited)

José Luis Fernández as Actor in cowboy scene (uncredited)

Nathanael León as Villain in cowboy scene (uncredited)

Rubén Márquez as Martínez, studio employee (uncredited)

Fernando Yapur as Douglas (uncredited)

Analysis

Professor Jeffrey M. Pilcher, on Cantinflas and the Chaos of Mexican Modernity, argued that in the film, Cantinflas "continued to perpetuate" a theme from his previous films of "helping beautiful young women live fairy tales," and that during his character's dream sequence about the French Revolution, Cantinflas "preached a conservative view of national history" by "inserting referentes to Pancho Villa and the Mexican Revolution within a monarchist speech in defense of Marie Antoinette and respect for a traditional, hierarchical society."

In popular culture

The film is referenced in the Colombian novel Érase una vez en Colombia (Comedia romántica y El espantapájaros) by Ricardo Silva Romero.

References

Bibliography

García Riera, Emilio. Historia documental del cine mexicano: 1961. Ediciones Era, 1969.

Pilcher, Jeffrey M. Cantinflas and the Chaos of Mexican Modernity. Rowman & Littlefield, 2001.

Silva Romero, Ricardo. Érase una vez en Colombia (Comedia romántica y El espantapájaros). Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial Colombia, 2013.

External links

The Extra at IMDb

Text from The Extra (1962 film) on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Extra_(1962_film)

Trivia

It premiered on October 4, 1962, a Thursday.
It runs 1h50 — a typical feature length.
Its original title is "El Extra".
It is film 34 of 40 in the Cantinflas franchise.
As of September 20, 2026, it is available in Brazil by subscription on Netflix.
This film's quiz has 13 questions — enough to play more than once without repeats.

Production

StudiosPOSA Films
CountriesMexico
LanguagesSpanish
StatusReleased

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Cast

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Crew

Rosalío Solano Cinematography
Miguel M. Delgado Director
Jorge Bustos Editing
Gustavo César Carrión Original music
Alfredo Varela Story
José María Fernández Unsáin Story
Miguel M. Delgado Screenplay

Questions about this film

What is The Extra about?

The Extra: Cantinflas is a man who hangs around the studios and helps anyone who needs his advice while at the same time envisioning his own versions of how certain scenes should be shot. Both angles provide ample opportunities for very witty, subtle barbs at the foibles of the industry.

Who directed The Extra?

The Extra was directed by Miguel M. Delgado in 1962.

Who stars in The Extra?

The cast of The Extra includes Cantinflas, Alma Delia Fuentes, Carmen Molina, Guillermina Téllez Girón and Magda Donato.

How long is The Extra?

The Extra runs for 110 minutes, or 1h50.

Where can I watch The Extra?

The Extra is available on Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads and Claro video. Availability changes often: the list on this page is the most recent we received.

What is the correct order of the Cantinflas Colección films?

The Cantinflas Colección franchise has 40 films in the catalogue. In release order: Não te Enganes, Coração; Na Minha Terra É Assim; Águila, o Sol; Siempre listo en las tinieblas; Jengibre contra Dinamita; El Signo de la Muerte; Cantinflas boxeador; Cantinflas Ruletero.