Agrasánchez Collection of Latin American Cinema

The Agrasánchez Collection of Latin American Cinema consists mainly of still photographs, negatives of stills, movie posters and lobby cards from Latin American films dating from 1934 to 1987. The collection measures 3 linear feet, plus 38 posters, and is arranged into 5 series: Negatives, Stills, Posters, Lobby Cards, and Various Materials. These are arranged alphabetically by title within their respective series. Additional materials include broadsides, film programs and transparencies.

Collection materials are primarily from Argentina and Brazil, with a few pieces from Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala and Venezuela. They represent a wide variety of genres and periods. Posters, stills and negatives from Argentina's Golden Age of filmmaking (1930s-1940s)comprise a significant portion of the collection. Many of Argentina's most well-known actors, such as Hugo del Carril, Luis Sandrini, Tita Merello, Zully Moreno, Mirtha Legrand and Libertad Lamarque are represented here in classic melodramas and screwball comedies. Musicals of this era feature legendary artists of the tango, including Carlos Gardel and Astor Piazzolla. The collection also contains many negatives, stills and posters from Argentinian exploitation films of the 1960s to 1970s, including sex comedies and vampire movies featuring starlets like Libertad Leblanc and Isabel Sarlí. Also from this time period are vehicles for Argentina's pop singers, such as Sandro and Leo Dan. Many negatives, stills and posters from Brazil are from Cinema novo directors of the 1960s to 1980s, including Joaquim Pedro de Andrade and Carlos Diegues.

The first series, Negatives, consists of negatives of movie stills from approximately 130 films. The negatives are 8x10 and are filed alphabetically by movie title. Individual files contain between 5 and 38 negatives.

Stills, the second series, is made up of 8x10 black and white photographs from over 40 movies. They are filed alphabetically by title, with 4 to 24 stills for each title.

The Posters, found in series three of the collection, are housed alphabetically by title in flat files, five posters per file. Most of the posters list actors' and directors' names, as well as production company information.

The fourth series consists of Lobby Cards, designed to be hung in theatre lobbies. They contain identically printed designs and promotional information, with each card displaying a different still photograph from the movie. The lobby cards measure 11 inches tall by 14 inches wide and are filed alphabetically by movie title.

Series five, Various Materials contains broadsides and programs for several Argentinian films of the 1960s. In addition, there is a set of transparencies of an unidentified cartoon.