Piantadino

While working for an insurance company, Piantadino, a shy man, is selected by sly characters to insure some things that they will later make disappear. Though Piantadino lacks courage, he nonetheless uncovers the fraudulent activity, making a positive impression on his fiancée's father.^[6]

• Pepe Iglesias as Piantadino
• Norma Giménez
• Juan José Porta
• Carlos Fioriti
• Rodolfo Onetto
• Arturo Arcari
• Gregorio Barrios
• Max Citelli
• Rafael Diserio
• Cirilo Etulain
• José Maurer
• Enrique Vico Carré

Piantadino was a classic comic strip character created by one of Argentina's most notable comics artists and humorists, Adolfo Mazzone.^[5] Piantadino was Mazzone's best known character.^[7] The name Piantadino is a diminutive of "Piantado", which means mentally disturbed person, half-mad or, a person who escapes, whether that be physically or just from a situation.^[8]

First appearing in the newspaper El Mundo in 1941, Piantadino, the daily comic strip, followed the adventures of a convict who behaved in jail as if he were on a pension. With the characters Afanancio and Barili, the three formed a sympathetic trio of scoundrels.^[8] The character subsequently appeared in Guillermo Divito's magazine Rico Tipo.^[7] Piantadino was adapted for cinema in 1950.^[9] In the 1970s and 1980s, the comic strip was re-published as a comic magazine.^[10]

Piantadino was made into a film by Emelco-Cinematográfica Interamericana. The script was written by Carlos A. Petit and Rodolfo Sciamarella, and the film was directed by Francisco Mugica.^[11][12] It was filmed in black-and-white.^[6] The elusive convict was played by Pepe Iglesias, known for his title role in El Zorro pierde el pelo.^[11] Other stars were Norma Giménez, Juan José Porta^[13] and Rodolfo Onetto.^[12] Carlos Fioriti played Afanancio and Rafael Diserio played Batilio. The film premiered at the Ocean cinema on March 24, 1950.^[11]