Ismael Rodríguez, a filmmaker ¡A.T.M.!

Discover the cinematographic work of this fundamental character in Mexican popular culture and cinema.

Ismael Rodríguez and Pedro Infante prepare a scene from "Sobre las olas" (1950) by Carlos TinocoFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

Ismael Rodríguez, a filmmaker ¡A.T.M.! 

The daring, brash and very popular director Ismael Rodríguez is known mainly for his duo with Pedro Infante in unforgettable films such as: 

Advertising photomontage of "¡Vuelven los García!" (1947) by Autor no identificadoFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

Los tres García y Vuelven los GarcíaNosotros los pobresUstedes los Ricos y Pepe el ToroLos tres huastecosLa oveja negra y No desearás la mujer de tu hijo;

Pedro Infante in "¡A.T.M.! (¡a toda máquina!)" (1951) by Carlos TinocoFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

¡A.T.M.! y Qué te ha dado esa mujerDos tipos de cuidado or Tizoc among many others. These successes have overshadowed other interesting aspects of his career, full of experiments and outbreaks of creativity. 

Tizoc sculpture, Raúl Anaya, 1956, From the collection of: Fundación Televisa Collection and Archive
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Cover of a promotional print for "Tizoc", ARS-UNA Publicistas, 1957, From the collection of: Fundación Televisa Collection and Archive
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Ismael Rodríguez prepares a scene for "Autopsia de un fantasma" (1966-10-07) by Fotógrafo no identificadoFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

Ismael Rodríguez Ruelas was born on October 19, 1917 in a unique family. His father Ismael, a “red-blooded Catholic,” was a court clerk, tram inspector and owner of a bakery. 

Publicity photo of "¡Los tres García!" (1947) by Carlos TinocoFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

His mother Maclovia was a housewife taking care of her children: Joselito, Roberto, Consuelo, Enrique, Emma and Ismael. 

Scene from "No desearás la mujer de tu hijo" (1949) by Carlos TinocoFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

He wrote in her Memoirs: “apart from my father, there were two Ismaels before me”, the first died at three years old and the second at five months old. 

Photomontage of "Los tres huastecos" (1948) by Carlos TinocoFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

“My dad was convinced that there had to be another one. […] Then it was a matter of self-love and I, Ismael the third, arrived.”

Advertising print of "Nosotros los pobres" (1948) by Autor no identificadoFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

The Rodríguez family lived in a three-yard neighborhood in the Center of Mexico City. “Like the one that appears in Nosotros los pobres

Scene from "Pepe el Toro" (1952) by Isaías CoronaFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

Ismael recalled years later when talking about some of his endearing characters, “in my childhood I must have met several Guayabas y Tostadas and several Pepes el Toro.” 

Scene from "Chachita la de Triana" (1947) by Carlos TinocoFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

Next to the family bakery, his brothers Joselito –who studied radio technician by correspondence– and Roberto –who specialized in photography– had opened their own business when the Cristero War forced the family to leave the country to settle in Los Angeles, California.

Advertising photomontage of "Escándalo de estrellas" (1944) by Autor no identificadoFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

“My brothers insisted on sound and photography and it occurred to them to invent a device that synchronized image and sound.” 

Scene from "Las mujeres de mi general" (1950) by Rafael GarcíaFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

They began to make films with other Mexicans who were making their way in Hollywood such as: Celia Montalván, Dolores del Río and Ramón Navarro.

Yolanda Montes and Germán Valdés in "Mátenme porque me muero" (1951) by Carlos TinocoFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

In 1931, the National Film Production Company came to Hollywood looking for technicians and artists to film the first sound feature film in Mexico. 

Pedro Infante in the climax scene of "Sobre las olas" (1950) by Carlos TinocoFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

The Rodríguez returned to Mexico to record the sounds of the movie Santa (Antonio Moreno) with their invention.

Tito Guízar in a promotional poster for "¡Qué lindo es Michoacán!" [Beautiful Michoacan!] (1942) by Isaías CoronaFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

In 1939 they created Producciones Rodríguez Hnos. in which Ismael worked under the orders of his brothers as a child actor, clapper loader, microphone operator, sound engineer, screenwriter and producer before directing his first film, in 1942, ¡Qué lindo es Michoacán!

María Félix and Ismael Rodríguez rehearse a scene from "La Cucaracha" (1958) by J. A. ArroyoFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

This is how the career of one of the most successful and risky filmmakers in our industry began. 

Advertising print of "¡Mexicanos al grito de guerra! (Historia del Himno Nacional)", Josep Espert, 1943, From the collection of: Fundación Televisa Collection and Archive
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Poster for "¡A.T.M.! (¡a toda máquina!)", Juanino Renau, 1951, From the collection of: Fundación Televisa Collection and Archive
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Advertising print of "Dos tipos de cuidado" (1952) by Autor no identificadoFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

He was the only one who managed to bring together the top figures of national cinema who maintained a professional rivalry: Jorge Negrete and Pedro Infante in Dos tipos de cuidado and Dolores del Río and María Félix in La Cucaracha

Toshiro Mifune in "Ánimas Trujano (el hombre importante)" (1961) by Othón ArgumedoFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

He hired the Japanese film star Toshiro Mifune, who knew nothing about Mexico, to play an indigenous Oaxacan in Ánimas Trujano.

Advertising photomontage of "Ánimas Trujano (el hombre importante)", Diseñador no identificado / Othón Argumedo (foto), 1961, From the collection of: Fundación Televisa Collection and Archive
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Cover of a promotional print for "¡Ya tengo a mi hijo!", Juanino Renau, 1946, From the collection of: Fundación Televisa Collection and Archive
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Isabela Corona and Charles Rooner in "¡Ya tengo a mi hijo!" (1946) by Fotógrafo no identificadoFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

He filmed a three-year-old boy recently kidnapped and rescued by the police, playing himself in the dramatization of his own story in ¡Ya tengo a mi hijo!

Scene from "Del rancho a la televisión" (1952) by Carlos TinocoFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

In 1952, he filmed the amusing comedy Del Rancho a la televisión within the facilities of Televicentro and XEW, a film in which the brilliant Carlos Orellana portrayed Cecilio Zárraga as a tribute to Don Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta;

Sketch of "El museo de cera" (1963) by Autor no identificadoFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

an old acquaintance of Ismael, from when, as the owner of a small shop called La Casa del Radio, he sold parts to the Rodríguez brothers for their inventions that would later revolutionize the national film industry.

Scene from "Los paquetes de Paquita" (1954) by Francisco UrbinaFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

For these reasons, at Fundación Televisa, we applaud the recognition that FICM is giving to the youngest of the Rodríguez brothers, an indispensable figure in our popular culture.

Poster for "Los paquetes de Paquita", Andrés Audiffred, 1955, From the collection of: Fundación Televisa Collection and Archive
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Poster for "Cupido pierde a Paquita", Andrés Audiffred, 1955, From the collection of: Fundación Televisa Collection and Archive
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Ignacio López Tarso in "El hombre de papel" (1963) by Othón ArgumedoFundación Televisa Collection and Archive

Credits: Story

The exhibition Ismael Rodríguez, a filmmaker “¡A.T.M.! (¡a toda máquina!)” is presented at the 22nd edition of the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM), October 2024.
Research, curatorship and texts: Héctor Orozco. 
Archive: Gustavo Fuentes. 
Digital exhibition: Cecilia Absalón Huízar.Digitization and editing of images: Omar Espinoza and Saúl Ruelas.

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.

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