Apenas un Delincuente / Hardly a Criminal (1949, Argentina, directed by Hugo Fregonese)
This year’s AFOFF selection of the stellar 1949 Argentine noir Apenas un Delincuente was inspired by Allan’s ‘The Fish Obscuro’ column although the film isn’t as much in the shadows now as it was prior to 2022. That is because Apenas un Delincuente / Hardly a Criminal (1949) was part of a 2022 Hugo Fregonese retrospective that premiered at Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna and then later that year at MoMA. In addition, Apenas un Delincuente was the inspiration behind Rodrigo Moreno’s 2023 thoughtful film The Delinquents. In fact, both Apenas un Delincuente and The Delinquents share the same core story of a bank fraud but both films diverge in different directions.
The bank fraud in Apenas un Delincuente was inspired by a real-life incident and is one of those stories that emphasizes that reality is stranger than fiction. In the film, José Moran (Jorge Salcedo) is a bank employee who fancies the rich nightlife and his day job is only a means for him to pay off his nightlife which also includes a gambling habit. José has run up a huge debt due to gambling losses and subsequent borrowed sums from loan sharks. His salary can’t cover off his debts and he is constantly trying to avoid the loan sharks who are looking to collect their payment. One day, the loan sharks arrive at the bank and demand their money. With no place to run, José gives them another customer’s deposit. Seeing how easy it was for him to use someone else’s money, José starts drawing up a plan to steal even more money from the bank. His ideas are strengthened when he learns that the maximum jail sentence for bank fraud is six years regardless of the amount stolen. José calculates that he can steal enough money, hide his loot, serve 6 years in jail, come out and comfortably live the rest of his life. His rationale is that this one time fraud followed by 6 years of jail time will yield him more money than working an entire life at the bank. José thinks his plan is perfect but like all film noirs, there are elements that José doesn’t factor in such as his family’s vulnerability or street smart gangsters. These unseen factors turn his plans upside down leading to a pulsating action packed finale.
Hugo Fregonese packs in a lot in just under 90 minutes. The first half of the film not only sets up the plan and execution but also gives enough of a family backstory which helps explain José’s decisions. The second half depicts fascinating prison power dynamics before the film incorporates car chases and a good old fashioned shoot-out. I hadn’t seen any of Hugo Fregonese’s films prior to Hardly a Criminal. The impressive execution of the film means that was a huge cinematic blindspot on my end. In reality, Fregonese wasn’t that much in the shadows if I had only looked in the right spots. He was a global film director who started his career in his native Argentina in 1940s before moving to direct films in Hollywood in 1950s such as Apache Drums (1951), Man in the Attic (1953), Black Tuesday (1954). He then moved around Europe to direct a string of films (The Beasts of Marseilles, The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse) before returning to Argentina. If others haven’t seen a film by him, then Hardly a Criminal is a great starting point.
On another note, the running time of Moreno’s The Delinquents (3 hours 9 min) is double in length to Apenas un Delincuente (88 min) and doesn’t have any car chases, bullets or a backstory. Yet, both films are precious in their own right. In fact, the difference in treatment highlights how creativity can ensure that we will never run of worthy films to view.
