Immediate Delivery
{{short description|1963 film by Miguel M. Delgado}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Immediate Delivery
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| director = Miguel M. Delgado
| producer = Jacques Gelman
| writer =
| screenplay = Miguel M. Delgado (writer)
Carlos León (additional dialogue)
Jaime Salvador (adaptation and screenplay)
| starring = Cantinflas
Gina Romand
Claudio Brook
Fanny Cano
| music = Gustavo César Carrión
| cinematography = Gabriel Figueroa
| editing = Jorge Bustos
| studio = Posa Films
| distributor = Columbia Pictures
| released = {{Film date|1963|12|25|Mexico|df=y}}
| runtime = 110 minutes
| country = Mexico
| language = Spanish
| budget =
| gross =
}}
Immediate Delivery (Spanish: Entrega inmediata), originally known as Agente XU 777 (English: Agent XU 777) is a 1963 Mexican spy comedy film directed by Miguel M. Delgado and starring Cantinflas, Gina Romand, Claudio Brook and Fanny Cano.Agrasánchez, p. 212 In the film, Cantinflas plays a simple mailman forced to become an international spy.Pilcher, p. 191 It was the last black and white film made by Cantinflas, although he had already made six color films at the time.
Plot
Feliciano (Cantinflas) is a mailman who is recruited by a secret counterintelligence service (which codenames him Agent XU-777), and must discover an international conspiracy.
He manages to find out that enemy agents, led by Carlota (Gina Romand) and Alex (Claudio Brook), will smuggle a teacher to decipher keys through a coffin. Feliciano is put in charge of the funeral home, but he ends up delivering the coffin to a wrong person, distracting the loyal agents and allowing the enemy to achieve their goal. However, the enemy agents discover that for the deciphering process they also must obtain a specific code.
In a parallel storyline, Feliciano learns that an old compadre of his arranged for his daughter to go live with Feliciano after his death. Due to a letter from his compadre where he describes his daughter as his "bebé" ("baby"), Feliciano assumes that his compadre’s daughter is an infant, even buying a crib and milk for the impending arrival. However, much to his surprise, he ends up discovering that his compadre’s daughter is actually a young woman nicknamed "Bebé" (Fanny Cano), and they end developing a romantic relationship. The enemy agents then kidnap Bebé to force Feliciano to betray his homeland and give the code to the enemy.
Cast
- Cantinflas as Feliciano / Agent XU 777
- Gina Romand as Carlota
- Claudio Brook as Alex
- Fanny Cano as Bebé
- Guillermo Zetina as Head of Counterintelligence
- María Amelia Ramírez as Agent 30-30 (as María Amelia Ramírez "Miss Argentina")
- Emma Roldán as Doña Angustias
- Quintín Bulnes as Agent
- María Herrero
- André Toffel
- Maricarmen Vela as Mercedes
- Xavier Massé
- Guillermo Rivas as Spy (as Guillermo Rivas "El Borras")
- Jorge Russek as Spy
- Armando Gutiérrez
- José Wilhelmy
- Adolfo Aguilar
- Alberto Catalá as Professor
- Ángel Merino
- Jorge Mondragón as Funeral Home Client
- Manuel Zozaya
- Francisco Reiguera as Odilón Campos Santos
- Ramón Valdés as Original Agent XU 777
- Julián de Meriche as Waiter (as Julién de Meriche)
- Rafael de Córdoba as Dancer
- Carlos León as Agent
- Hermanos Fernández
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- Agrasánchez, Rogelio. Beauties of Mexican Cinema. Agrasanchez Film Archive, 2001.
- Pilcher, Jeffrey M. Cantinflas and the Chaos of Mexican Modernity. Rowman & Littlefield, 2001.