El analfabeto

El analfabeto (The Illiterate) is a Mexican comedy about Inocencio Prieto y Calvo, a man who cannot read and receives a letter informing him that he has inherited a fortune from his uncle. Unable to understand who sent it or what it says, he goes to a pharmacy hoping the pharmacist will read it to him, but while he waits he sees a young girl reading and decides he must learn to read the letter himself. He keeps it and goes to school, waiting until he can decipher its contents on his own.

The film was directed by Miguel M. Delgado, who also wrote the screenplay, and produced by Jacques Gelman. It was released in September 1961 and runs 128 minutes. It sits between Mi niño, mi caballo y yo (1959) and The Little Priest (1964) in the ten films Delgado directed listed here. Cantinflas, a defining figure of Mexican popular cinema, plays the lead, with Lilia Prado as Blanca Morales, Sara García as Doña Epifanita, Ángel Garasa as Don Romulo González, Miguel Manzano as Don Fermín and Carlos Agostí as Licenciado Aníbal Guzmán, among a credited cast of 33.

Away from its comic setup, the premise turns on literacy and the independence it grants. On IMDb the film has a rating of 7.8 from 120 votes, indicating a modest but appreciative audience.