Dwight Cleveland’s Rare Posters of Movie Star Maria Félix On Exhibit in Paris

For the first time ever, significant film posters from her career will be on display at the Monttessuy Center for the Arts — American University of Paris — in Maria Félix: The Making of a Star Image in Mexican Cinema, From the Collection of Dwight Cleveland.

Her first role became her seminal moment as a leading lady in the 1943 Fernando de Fuentes directed film Doña Bárbara. She was forever after known endearingly as La Doña to Spanish speaking audiences around the globe. She never accepted a supporting role in her 47 film career spanning 28 years in front of the camera. Eschewing the cliché roles offered by American producers, she said: “I don’t want to go to Hollywood to be a maid; I was born to be a queen.” She never made a film in the United States.

Maria refused submissive roles and, mirroring her own personality, she only portrayed powerful, headstrong women in films like Enamorada (1946) and Río Escondido (1948). Her native Mexican predecessors like Lupe Vélez and Dolores del Rio learned English, went to Hollywood and hoped to conquer the U.S. audience. They found themselves up against the likes of Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Jean Harlow and Mae West among many other talented beauties. Maria stayed in Mexico and worked with renowned international directors like Jean Renoir’s French Cancan (1954) and Luis Buñuel’s La fièvre monte à El Pao (1959), launching her to international stardom and making movies in Argentina, France, Italy and Spain.

She also commanded the attention of wealthy and powerful suitors, and her beauty, charm and bold personality won the hearts of many powerful men including royalty who lavished her with gifts. Her jewelry collection was a close second place to Elizabeth Taylor while there has never been a third place. She was even the inspiration for jewelry designed by Cartier.

With regard to men and as an early woman pioneer with agency, she said: “I cannot complain about men. I have had tons of them and they have treated me fabulously well. But sometimes I had to hurt them to keep them from subjugating me.”

As a fashion celebrity, her picture graced more magazines and gossip columns than any other star. She was intimate friends with two of the most well-known Mexican artists, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, who helped give rise to her celebrity status. Her life and career were defined by a powerful and relentless personality exuding bold Spanish femininity.

She was born in Sonora, Mexico on April 8, 1914 and died from congestive heart failure in Mexico City on April 8, 2002. Her fans considered her the definitive diva but she thought of herself as more of a celebrity well beyond her filmography.