Fernando A. Rivero

Directing·Feb 9, 1908·Mexico City, Mexico

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Fernando A. Rivero (Mexico City, February 9th 1902 – April 20th 1975) was a Mexican set designer, film director, painter, actor, and writer, regarded as a foundational figure—“the father” of Mexican film scenographers. He studied architecture but left the program for financial reasons, worked at the jewelry shop El Nuevo Mundo, emigrated to the United States in 1927 to work as a draftsman for advertising companies and newspapers, and returned to Mexico in 1931. After inheriting money upon his grandfather’s death, he founded the Compañía Anunciadora Mexicana; a later press note also states he was orphaned at age four and adopted by relatives, and that he began professionally in advertising, following the example of his father, Pedro Rivero Noriega. In 1931 he declared his company bankrupt and entered the film industry as a set designer on Santa (1931), continuing as a scenographer throughout his career on 34 films and occasionally appearing on screen (including roles as a “corpse” and a “suicide” in early-1930s productions). He worked for a period in Argentina and Spain, but the Spanish Civil War forced his return to Mexico in 1937, arriving aboard the ship “Durango” and rejoining the industry with La paloma (1937). Rivero also described and tested a movable-set system of his own invention—designed to free camera and actor movement by separating lighting rigging from set walls—and later announced a business renting these “sets movibles”; he was also among the technicians who co-founded the Unión de Trabajadores de los Estudios Cinematográficos de México (UTECM) in 1933. He debuted as a director in 1938 with El beso mortal—a film adapted from Paul Gury’s play that drew controversy for its focus on venereal disease—and he went on to direct 20 films, closing that directing filmography in 1952 while continuing set-design work. His directing output included Cantinflas short films (1939–1940), documentaries, and features such as La posada sangrienta and Seda, sangre y sol (1941), Los miserables and Mi reino por un torero (1943), La casa embrujada and Nosotros (1944), Perdida (1949), and La extraña pasajera (1952). After leaving cinema, he returned to advertising work as a draftsman.

Film	Credit
La extraña pasajera1953 · Director	Director
Víctimas del divorcio1952 · Director	Director
La noche es nuestra1952 · Director	Director
Los amantes1951 · Director	Director
Good night my love1951 · Director	Director
Burlada1951 · Director	Director
El pecado de ser pobre1950 · Director	Director
Perdida1950 · Director, Screenplay	Director, Screenplay
Mujeres en mi Vida1950 · Director, Screenplay	Director, Screenplay
Dinero maldito1949 · Director	Director
The Bewitched House1949 · Director	Director
Coqueta1949 · Director, Screenplay	Director, Screenplay
Canciones y recuerdos1949 · Director	Director
El príncipe del desierto1947 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
La morena de mi copla1946 · Director	Director
Nosotros1945 · Director	Director
Mi reino por un torero1944 · Director	Director
Los miserables1943 · Director	Director
El fanfarrón: ¡Aquí llegó el valentón!1943 · Director	Director
The Bloody Inn1943 · Director	Director
Seda Sangre Y Sol1942 · Director	Director
Cantinflas boxeador1940 · Director	Director
Cantinflas Ruletero1940 · Director	Director
Jengibre contra Dinamita1939 · Director	Director
Siempre listo en las tinieblas1939 · Director	Director
Juntos pero no revueltos1939 · Director	Director
El beso mortal1938 · Director	Director