The movie is based on the 1926 novel by the same title of Martin Luis Guzman (18871976), the renown Mexican writer. It is based on real facts. It narrates the history of the presidential succession in Mexico during the 1920' s. The Minister of War, General Aguirre, is being pressured into running for President, but he knows that the incumbent President, el Caudillo, has another candidate in mind, General Jimenez. Accepting the candidacy will pit his ambition against his loyalty. All the characters, except Axkana Gonzalez, are based on real people. The Caudillo is in reality Alvaro Obregon, President of Mexico from 1920 to 24. Ignacio Aguirre, the Minister of War, is a mixture of Adolfo de la Huerta, provisional president for a couple of months in 1920, and General Francisco Serrano, assassinated along with his followers in 1927. Hilario Jimenez (the Minister of the Interior) was in real life Plutarco Elías Calles, President of Mexico from 1924 to 28. This movie was censured for 30 years. Its director, Julio Bracho, died in 1978 without being able to see his wonderful work. The movie is finally released in 1990 in a poor quality copy of 16 mm which makes suspect that the original negative of 35 mm was destroyed by those who did not want the film to be shown.
