After El Ultimo Cuplé, Montiel tells in her autobiography, signed three contracts: one with Benito Perrojo, another with Cesáreo González and one more with the Bacázar Bothers, for the making of 3 films with each one, getting for each movie 35 million of pesetas or 1 million dollars "...long before Elizabeth Taylor". La Violetera, she says "was more of a fairy tale story" but gave her the opportunity to choose the "right songs" as well her dresses and the decoration. An enormous success and "her favorite personal film", the Jose Padilla's "La Violetera" theme song was used long before in a movie: by Charles Chaplin in City Lights (1931). Many years later, like 30 or so, she would sing again this theme for a CD titled "Pusísimo", with her friend and famous opera singer Montserrat Caballé. Of course, it's a terrible and easy-to-forget version for both. It's in my opinion, that "La Violetera" is her first movie in which we can see how the camp myth is born since she was able to do whatever she wanted to do, including sort of self directing, so its no wonder that after this nice and corny film, she became more and more camp until she transformed herself in a Spanish Mae West but never the less, a diva.
Review of La violetera
