Diez segundos is a 1949 Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 directed by Alejandro Wehner

Alejandro Wehner

Alejandro Wehner was an Argentinian film director. His work included Diez segundos , Rio turbio and Fierro a fondo .His first film, Diez segundos , was based on Horacio Estol's 1946 book on the Argentinian boxer Luis Ángel Firpo.The book was weak and Wehner was inexperienced, resulting in a...

, produced by Emelco

Emelco

Emelco was an Argentine film studio. In 1946, Emelco reportedly had annual contracts with 530 theatres in Argentina, representing all of the first run and major second run and neighborhood theatres...

 studios. The film is a boxing drama starring Ricardo Duggan

Ricardo Duggan

Ricardo Duggan was an Argentine film actor, active in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In 1949 he played the lead role in the boxing drama Diez segundos as an aspiring young boxer.-Selected filmography:*Nunca te diré adiós...

, María Esther Buschiazzo

María Esther Buschiazzo

-Filmography:*Hombre de la esquina rosada *La patota *Fantoche *Cuando los duendes cazan perdices *Los troperos *´Ellos nos hicieron así *La casa grande * Deshonra *Reportaje en el infierno...

, Patricia Castell

Patricia Castell

Patricia Castell is an Argentine actress, appearing on radio, television and in films. Her career has lasted for over fifty years from the 1940s. In 1949 she starred in the boxing drama Diez segundos, the first of many appearances alongside María Rosa Gallo over several decades including Perla...

, Carlos D'Agostino (voice), Delfy de Ortega

Delfy de Ortega

Delfy de Ortega was an Italian-born -Argentine actress.-Filmography:*Sin querer, queriendo *Yo también tengo fiaca! *El divorcio está de moda *Hipólito y Evita *Nino...

, María Rosa Gallo

María Rosa Gallo

María Rosa Gallo was an Argentine actress.-Theatre:* 1943 "El Carnaval del Diablo", de Juan Oscar Ponferrada.* 1946 "Fascinación", de M. Winter. Premio de la Crítica y Revista Talía....

, Oscar Valicelli

Oscar Valicelli

Oscar Valicelli was an Argentine film actor.- Filmography:* La Mary dir. Daniel Tinayre …Ubaldo* Balada para un mochilero dir. Carlos Rinaldi …El Moncho* Desnuda en la arena dir. Armando Bo...

 and Oscar Villa. It premiered on November 23, 1949 in Buenos Aires. The film was distributed by Interamericana. Castell and Rosa Gallo would later star along side each other in several films and television series over several decades including Perla Negra and Zíngara

Zingara

* The Bohemian Girl , an operetta by Michael W. Balfe* La zingara , an opera semiseria in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti* "La zingara " , a song by Giuseppe Verdi...

 (1996).

Plot

The film is loosely based on Horacio Estol

Horacio Estol

Horacio Estol was an author and journalist from Argentina who based himself in New York. From there he wrote the columns for which he was famous, writing for publications such as the Clarín newspaper or Autoclub, the journal of the Automóvil Club Argentino.Estol's 1946 book on the Argentinian boxer...

's 1946 Vida y combates de Luis Angel Firpo, a biography of the Argentine boxer Luis Ángel Firpo who came close to beating Jack Dempsey

Jack Dempsey

William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey was an American boxer who held the world heavyweight title from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first...

 in 1923.

In the film, a humble lad starts to learn to box to defend himself, then goes on to become a professional boxer. He is trained heavily by Oscar Villa. Duggan's love interest in the film is played by Patrica Castell.

Cast

• María Esther Buschiazzo
  María Esther Buschiazzo
  -Filmography:*Hombre de la esquina rosada *La patota *Fantoche *Cuando los duendes cazan perdices *Los troperos *´Ellos nos hicieron así *La casa grande * Deshonra *Reportaje en el infierno...
  
  
• Patricia Castell
  Patricia Castell
  Patricia Castell is an Argentine actress, appearing on radio, television and in films. Her career has lasted for over fifty years from the 1940s. In 1949 she starred in the boxing drama Diez segundos, the first of many appearances alongside María Rosa Gallo over several decades including Perla...
  
  
• Carlos D'Agostino
• Delfy de Ortega
  Delfy de Ortega
  Delfy de Ortega was an Italian-born -Argentine actress.-Filmography:*Sin querer, queriendo *Yo también tengo fiaca! *El divorcio está de moda *Hipólito y Evita *Nino...
  
  
• Ricardo Duggan
  Ricardo Duggan
  Ricardo Duggan was an Argentine film actor, active in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In 1949 he played the lead role in the boxing drama Diez segundos as an aspiring young boxer.-Selected filmography:*Nunca te diré adiós...
  
  
• María Rosa Gallo
  María Rosa Gallo
  María Rosa Gallo was an Argentine actress.-Theatre:* 1943 "El Carnaval del Diablo", de Juan Oscar Ponferrada.* 1946 "Fascinación", de M. Winter. Premio de la Crítica y Revista Talía....
  
  
• Oscar Valicelli
  Oscar Valicelli
  Oscar Valicelli was an Argentine film actor.- Filmography:* La Mary dir. Daniel Tinayre …Ubaldo* Balada para un mochilero dir. Carlos Rinaldi …El Moncho* Desnuda en la arena dir. Armando Bo...
  
  
• Raul del Valle
• Oscar Villa

Reception

The book which the film was based on, Estol's Vida y combates de Luis Angel Firpo (1946) was received quite poorly and Wehner was inexperienced as a director, resulting in a disappointing film.

A critic of the newspaper Noticias Gráficas said (in English): "They have used a narrative method that disappoints the viewer" and compared it to the delirium a boxer experiences when being knocked out. Diario Critica newspaper said (in English) "Some secrets of the technique get some interesting effects, but it reveals absolute nullity in the management of the interpreter."

The authors of a 2009 analysis of the role of sports in Juan Peron

Juan Perón

Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...

’s government see the film as an example of the government’s pursuit of national advancement and social mobility through sporting achievement. Its MALBA

MALBA

The Latin American Art Museum of Buenos Aires is a museum located on Figueroa Alcorta Avenue, in the Palermo section of Buenos Aires.Created by Argentine businessman Eduardo Constantini, the museum is operated by the not-for-profit Fundación MALBAConstantini, and was inaugurated on September 21,...

 entry describes it as a classic Argentinian B movie

B movie

A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....

 and as a faithful, almost anthropological, representation of life in a Buenos Aires neighborhood of the time.