Mateo Melgarejo is a notary public and scribe for the illiterate people of Santo Domingo, a neighborhood north of Mexico City's Zócalo. A squatter friend asks for his help in negotiating with the land census bureau to regularize a land title. After a great deal of frustration with the government bureaucracy, he writes a letter to the cabinet minister, earning an audience with him. The minister hires Melgarejo to reform the bureau, and the appointee proceeds to lecture the officials on their duties in a democratic society. At the end, he gives up the post, returning to Santo Domingo to help its poor residents.
Stars: Cantinflas, Chela Castro, Lucía Méndez, Ángel Garasa, Manolita Saval, Delia Peña Orta
Crew: Cantinflas (Story), Miguel M. Delgado (Director), Tito Davison (Screenplay), Carlos León (Additional Dialogue), Jacques Gelman (Producer), Gustavo César Carrión (Original Music Composer)
Country: Mexico
Language: Español
Studio: Rioma Films
Runtime: 109 minutes
Quality: HD
Released: Jul 01, 1976
IMDb: 4.2
Keywords:friendship, government, corruption, car race, clerk, office, deaf, minister, secretary, car accident, bureaucrat, ethics