110 Year Anniversary of Magdalena Nile del Río, Actress Known as “the Argentine Empire”

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – This Saturday, December 26th, marks the 110th anniversary of the birth of the actress, singer and dancer Imperio Argentina, artistic name of Magdalena Nile del Río, who from her native San Telmo district of Buenos Aires projected a European career that made her one of the most recognized interpreters of Spanish cinema in the first half of the 20th century.

Born on December 26, 1910, she had a life that spanned 92 years that saw fame, glory and myth, not devoid of questionable situations such as her adherence to Francoism or flirtations with leaders of Nazi Germany, and whose personal farewell of Argentina was produced in 1994.

That year, the producer and businessman Enrique Carreras made her participate in a magazine, “Corazón del buen humor”, at the Gloria theater – where a cinema specialized in Spanish films on Avenida de Mayo at 1200-, in a fact that shook the world. Buenos Aires artistic environment with personalities such as Libertad Lamarque and Nati Mistral in the audience.

The origins of Magdalena Nile del Río, her real name, are in the immigration to Argentina of her mother from Malaga, an aspiring star, who arrived in Buenos Aires clandestinely in the hold of an ocean liner, and a father born in Gibraltar, therefore of British nationality although with Hispanic roots.

The man, Antonio Nile, was fond of music and used to be accompanied by his little daughter to cafes where singers who later became famous flourished at the beginning of the 20th century, while his mother pushed her to emulate artists like Pastora Imperio when they passed through the Buenos Aires capital.

Then a friendship arose with the Spanish star, who performed at the Comedia theater – Calle de las Artes 248, today Carlos Pellegrini, from the land that was demolished by the layout of Avenida 9 de Julio – and was impressed by the grace of the little Magdalena, who practiced singing and dancing almost from the cradle.

This link served for the future Empire to make her debut in 1916 during a charity festival for the victims of the “Príncipe de Asturias” steamship, sunk that year near Búzios (Brazil) with the loss of 457 lives, mostly Spanish, in the old San Martín theater.

There she debuted as Petite Imperio, in homage to her admired compatriot, and that was the kick-off for her dance studies with Anna Pavlova and Ricardo Nemanoff at the Colón Theater, her performances in the capital’s “biographers” where she accompanied the silent films along with her father’s guitar and finally a family tour through several provinces that ended in Lima, Peru, where she became associated with the most distinguished of the Hispanic community.

At the age of 12 and growing in popularity, she met the writer Jacinto Benavente and the bullfighters Juan Belmonte and Ignacio Sánchez Mejía – Federico García Lorca’s favorite friend – and ended up acquiring her definitive stage name thanks to the playwright, who that same year, 1922, won the Nobel Prize.

Benavente was in Peru with the José Bódalo-Eugenia Zuffoli company, which was representing one of his comedies, and he urged Antonio Nile to travel with his daughter to Madrid and re-baptize her, now as the Argentine Empire, in homage to Pastora Imperio née Antonia Mercé, “Argentina”, also born in Buenos Aires.

Her arrival in Spain was a stairway to fame that began in 1924 at the Calderón and Romea theaters in Madrid, the Liceo in Salamanca, and El Dorado in Barcelona and ended in a contract with Perseo Films SA to shoot the first version (silent ) of “The sister of San Sulpicio” (1927), directed by Florián Rey, who between 1934 and 1939 was her husband.

Already in the sound period, in 1930, she starred in “El amor solfeando”, by Armand Guerra, and “Su noche de boda” (1931), by Louis Mercanton and Florián Rey, where she sang the waltz “Recordar” in duet with Manuel Russell, whose success not only multiplied the sale of records, but forced the operators of the cinemas to repeat the fragment several times at the request of the public.

Then came “My wife’s teacher”, by Guerra and Robert Florey, and “The best thing is to laugh”, by Rey and EW Emo, shot in the United States in Spanish, and “Melodía de arrabal” (1932), by Louis Gasnier , and “The house is serious” (1933), by Lucien Jaquelux, in which she accompanied none other than Carlos Gardel in some songs.

Her successes were prolonged with the sound version of “La Sister San Sulpicio”, the one named “Nobleza Baturra” and “Morena Clara” (all three from 1935 and directed by Rey). Under the direction of Argentine Manuel Romero she had previously shot “When do you commit suicide?” in Hollywood.

Florián was a practical man: during the Second Republic he had a good relationship with the cultural authorities and shot with Imperio “Nobleza baturra” and “Morena clara”, which explored the struggle of women in rural life, but with the fall of that regime both joined the Falange and traveled to Berlin to join the Hitlerite film industry.

In Germany they made two films in Castilian, “Carmen la de Triana” (1938) and “The song of Aixa” (1939), despite a broken marriage and the consequent divorce: word had spread of an alleged love bond between the star and Marlene Dietrich – already established in the United States – who was visiting her country and preparing her suitcases to flee Nazism as soon as possible.

Her filmography was not affected and the public continued to applaud her after her return to Spain with “Carmen la de Triana” (1938) and “Africa” ​​(1939), by Rey, “Goyescas” (1942), by Benito Perojo, and “La maja de los cantares “(1946), also by Perojo and filmed in Argentina.

Also “La copla de la Dolores” (1947), by Perojo, was filmed on these shores and was a formidable public success; The funny thing is that her heartthrob in that film was the Spanish exile Enrique Álvarez Diosdado, a fervent Republican militant.

Imperio Argentina died at the age of 92 on August 22, 2003, in Benalmádena, Málaga, Andalusia. In 2011, eight years after her death, she received a Star on the Madrid Walk of Fame.