El derecho de nacer

'El derecho de nacer' (1952). Dir. Zacarías Gómez Urquiza.

‘El derecho de nacer’, a story written by Félix B. Caignet, was the most successful Latin American radio series from the mid 20th century. The original version (CMQ Radio, Cuba 1948-49) was adapted for the screen many times, starting with the 1952 film and a weekly telenovela in the late 1950s (CMQ TV, Cuba). In the 1960s, when TV stations across the region were ready to produce daily telenovelas, ‘El derecho de nacer’ was adapted with incredible success in Brazil, Venezuela, and Mexico.

The story of Albertico Limonta became a narrative pattern, not just for writers and producers, but for the millions of Latin Americans that followed any of the remakes. It starts with a difficult ethical dilemma, and the plot involves issues as complex as gender, race, and religion. It’s a story of class and wealth, of how the main character retrieves the money and the status that belong to him by birth.

Radionovela (Cuba, 1948-49)

Carlos Badías (Albertico Limonta) and María Valero (Isabel Cristina)

“No… You’re wrong, dad… Maria Elena corrected it energetically. I hide the name of my son’s father… not out of shame, but out of pride!… And she added haughtily: Because I loved him madly… furiously! And for love I gave myself, forgetting everything, because I believed him to be good and a gentleman… But since last night, when I realized that he was a ruffian, a scoundrel who cursed the tender being that I carry in my womb… mother who slept in my heart woke up with lioness paws and destroyed the love I had for her, to turn it into hate… For that and only for that reason I hide her name! Out of respect for my son… who will never know who his father was…”

Radio Adaptations (1950s)

Venezuela, Radio Continente, 1950
Brazil, Radio Tupi, 1951

First Film Adaptation (Mexico, 1952)

First film version (Mexico, 1952). Starring Jorge Mistral (Albertico Limonta), Marta Roth (Isabel Cristina), Gloria Marín (Maria Helena), José Baviera (Don Rafael del Junco), and Lupe Suárez (Mamá Dolores).

“’El Derecho de Nacer’ is made up of the well-worn ingredients of stern parent, illegitimate child, brave mother and long-armed coincidence, scenes are so strong and well played and there are so many truly human touches that the plot seems almost new. Especially good are the sequences in which the nurse rescues the heroine’s baby from the servant commissioned by the girl’s father to kill it and the heart-rending scenes between the girl and her stern dad (…). Handsome, magnetic Jorge Mistral makes a hit as the doctor. Gloria Marin is emotionally effective as the unwed mother. Very fine, indeed, is Cuban character actress Lupe Suarez as the colored nurse who rescues the boy baby and runs away with him and who not only acts skillfully but sings a couple of songs in beautiful voice.” 
G.K.
Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep 1952: B8.

“’El Derecho de Nacer’ is made up of the well-worn ingredients of stern parent, illegitimate child, brave mother and long-armed coincidence, scenes are so strong and well played and there are so many truly human touches that the plot seems almost new. Especially good are the sequences in which the nurse rescues the heroine’s baby from the servant commissioned by the girl’s father to kill it and the heart-rending scenes between the girl and her stern dad (…). Handsome, magnetic Jorge Mistral makes a hit as the doctor. Gloria Marin is emotionally effective as the unwed mother. Very fine, indeed, is Cuban character actress Lupe Suarez as the colored nurse who rescues the boy baby and runs away with him and who not only acts skillfully but sings a couple of songs in beautiful voice.”

G.K. Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep 1952: B8.