Yesterday’s Guys Used No Arsenic – José A. Martínez Suárez, 1976

Argentina, 1976

Director: José A. Martínez Suárez

Screenplay: Augusto Giustozzi

Cast: Mecha Ortiz (Mara Ordaz), Arturo García Buhr (Pedro), Narciso Ibáñez Menta (Norberto)

Genre: Black comedy

Plot

Mara Ordaz, a sixty-something retired actress, lives in a large country house with her husband (in a wheelchair) and two other elderly people; her doctor (retired) and her old assistant. The diva (who nostalgically watches over and over again her own movies from when she was young) decides to sell the house to move to the city with her husband, thus getting rid of the other two “coupled” (one of whom is her brother-in-law), whom she can no longer stand.

But the three men (very close friends among them); her husband Pedro, Martín and Norberto (the latter played by Narciso Ibáñez Menta) are opposed, and want to continue living quietly in the country house.

One day the person in charge of managing the sale of the property, the attractive Laura, arrives. She will try to convince Pedro to agree to sell the house.

Martín and Norberto’s wives disappeared in “strange circumstances”… Martín’s wife (and Mara’s sister) died in a “home accident” supposedly falling down the stairs; while Mara was shooting her last film. And Norberto’s wife simply “vanished”, she left without a trace.

Laura, who treats the three elderly people and the lady of the house in a very sweet way (even bringing gifts to gain their trust), begins to suspect that the two absentees were murdered by their husbands (in the case of Norberto’s wife, with the help of acid to make the corpse disappear).

Martin: Do you think he knows?

Norberto (Ibáñez Menta) – He doesn’t know much, but he guesses too much… and the bad thing is that he guesses right

In order to prevent the sale process from taking place (and the beginning of inquiries about the “missing women”), the three friends are ready to resort to any means necessary.

Commentary

A nice comedy of black humor about three old men who are disturbed in their peaceful daily life by two scheming women; the “diva” and the speculator. The surprise ending is excellent.

The great Narciso Ibáñez Menta, the Hispanic “Lon Chaney”, was a great Spanish actor who is more famous in Argentina than in his native country, having lived (and worked) for many years on the other side of the Atlantic.

A film in which he participates, usually does not disappoint; and this one is no exception. Highly recommended.