The Boys Didn't Wear Hair Gel Before (Spanish:Los muchachos de antes no usaban gomina) is a 1937 Argentine historical drama film directed and written by Manuel Romero and starring Florencio Parravicini, Mecha Ortiz and Santiago Arrieta. There is another version of the same name directed in 1969 by Enrique Carreras with a cast headed by Rodolfo Bebán and Susana Campos.

Plot

The aristocratic Alberto Rosales (Arrieta) falls in love with the blond tango dancer Rubia Mireya (Ortiz) leaving his fiancée (Córdoba). His father convinces him to give her up and return to his respectable fiancée. Ten years later Alberto and Rubia meet again at a charitable event organized by his wife. He wants to rekindle the romance, but when his two children burst on to the scene, she leaves without a word. Though she still cares for him, she will not allow his children to become fatherless.

Cast

Reception

The film's title alludes nostalgically to the past, referring to an era before young men began wearing hair gel which was commonplace by the mid-1930s. It was a popular success, one of the major hits of the Golden Age of Argentine Cinema. It marked the film debut of the actor and singer Hugo del Carril who quickly went on to become a leading star. The film was remade in 1969.