I hope to be right about this, Cantinflas is considered by the vast majority of people as the best mexican comedian (I got to disagree on a certain point, because there were tastes for everybody, for example I love the work of Manuel Medel as a comedian and it is hardly recognized in my country, or Palillo but his political and opinionated sense of humor war poorly used in the movies), I guess the same situation happens when talking about who was better Chaplin or Keaton (In my opinion Keaton but as the saying says "opinions are like assholes, everybody has one"). :)
With Cantinflas happens to me the same that with Chaplin, for a strange reason I have to say that the early short films done by Cantinflas over the years 1939 and 1940 are even much funnier than the following films of Cantinflas. From my perspective after "El signo de la Muerte", "Asi es mi tierra", "Aguila y Sol" or "Ahi esta el detalle", I found a light version of the Cantinflas the comedian taken from Las Carpas. (Carpa a kind of public stand working as a theater settled in the plazas of the city). He adapted the character to suit different professions instead of having the actor to make the role of his own.
The shorts are an amazing adaptation of many plays done in las Carpas. So I always recommend the shorts of Cantinflas where you can see his real personality, a wise ass... a street smart.
JESUS ANTONIO
