Skeleton Of Mrs. Morales aka  El Esqueleto De La Senora Morales was made in 1960, and was directed by prolific Mexican director Rogelio A. González- who between 1950 & 1983 helmed seventy productions- moving from dramas, adventures, Sci-fi/ horror,  comedies &  musical. The films screenplay was written by respected Mexican writer/ director/ actor Luis Alcoriza- so there’s a great directing & writing team behind the film.

The films plot focus in on the household of Dr. Pablo Morales(Arturo de Córdova)- a largely charming & well thought after taxidermists, and his wife Gloria Morales( Amparo Rivelles). The pair have been married for fifteen years, and Pablo tries his best with the marriage- but unfortunately, Gloria is very difficult- constantly nagging, berating, and belittling her husband. As the film goes on her unpleasantness gets worse- she gives his savings away to the local priest, she tries to kill his pet bird, and lastly claims he’s beaten her up when he hasn’t- he reaches the end of his tether & decides to do away with her. And as we move towards the end of the film we get a nicely darkly ironic twist.

The films scoped in wonderful black & white- with the pairs family home, and the basement taxidermy studios realized nicely. De Córdova is great as the likable doctor, and he really makes it believable as he keeps trying to fix the marriage. Rivelles is perfect in her role as the nagging & nasty wife. The supporting cast is good too- with the local interfering priests Father Artemio, played by Spanish actor Antonio Bravo worth particular mention. The script/ story is very tight  & involving- starting off at times very darkly amusing, moving onto jab at organized religion, before turning decidedly macabre.

Moving onto this new Blu Ray, and we get a great new 2k print of the film- with the black & white captured with wonderful crispness & balanced. You can turn the english sub-titles on & off, and rather helpfully these are in yellow- which makes them a lot easier to read than the normal white subtitles. Sadly & unlike most VCI Entertainment- there are no extras here- which is real pity, as it would have been great to hear a commentary track from someone like David Del Valle, or maybe a Mexican film expert- but I guess sometimes companies just can’t get this arranged.

This Blu Ray is part of a series of classic Mexican films, so I'm very much look forward to what VCI Entertainment puts out next- because much of Mexican cinema has not been seen/ appreciated outside the county. So if you enjoy well made black & white cinema, that nicely brings together mocking melodrama, dark comedy & the macabre then you need to track down this release of  Skeleton Of Mrs. Morales.