¡Tango! (Film, 1933)
¡Tango! was the first Argentine sound film, directed by Luis Moglia Barth and released on April 27, 1933, at the Real Cine in Buenos Aires. This milestone marked a turning point in the nation’s audiovisual history. Among its stars were Libertad Lamarque, Azucena Maizani, and Tita Merello — prominent figures already well known through radio and theater.
The initial concept came about while Moglia Barth worked at Cosmos Films, alongside manager Ángel Mentasti. He envisioned a promotional sketch featuring iconic tango imagery: a couple, a malevo, arrabal motifs, and the word "¡Tango!" across the image, accompanied by a cast including major artists and the orchestras of Juan de Dios Filiberto, Osvaldo Fresedo, and others.
The main challenge lay in finding actors who could act and speak simultaneously — a demand new to the Argentine cinema. Many performers were trained for silent pantomime. Thus, Moglia Barth turned to the Buenos Aires theater scene to recruit capable and recognizable talents. Luis Sandrini, then active only in theater, was brought in. During filming, he met Tita Merello, beginning a tumultuous relationship that lasted nearly a decade.
Other cast members included Pepe Arias, Alberto Gómez, Mercedes Simone, Alicia Vignoli, and Juan Sarcione. Moglia Barth noted the scarcity of professional film actors in Argentina at the time, saying most lacked the interpretative agility of stage actors. The film’s dialogue delivery marked a technical and performative evolution from silent film.
The music was central. Tita Merello opened the film singing a dramatic tango about longing and despair, echoing the genre’s themes of love, betrayal, and poverty. The story was built around songs and characters imagined by screenwriter Carlos de la Púa.
To improve its distribution and recoup its 20,000-peso cost, Moglia Barth and Mentasti co-founded the production company Argentina Sono Film. ¡Tango! was released simultaneously in several cinemas while its follow-up films, Dancing and Riachuelo, were already in production.
Although the film struggled with technical issues and cast-related delays, it pioneered a new industry model. It featured lyrics by prominent tango poets such as Manuel Romero, Sebastián Piana, Rodolfo Sciammarella, and Homero Manzi.
However, ¡Tango!'s reign was short-lived. On May 19, 1933, the competing production company Lumiton released Los Tres Berretines, directed by Enrique Telémaco Susini and starring Luis Sandrini, Luisa Vehil, and Luis Arata, with musical performances by Aníbal Troilo and Osvaldo Fresedo.
Despite its flaws, ¡Tango! laid the groundwork for Argentina’s national cinema and helped many of its actors build substantial film careers.
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