Manuel Romero

Who was Manuel Romero?

Manuel Romeo was an Argentine film director, screenwriter, dramatist and score composer, and one of the influential directors in the Cinema of Argentina of the classic era. He directed and wrote over films between 1931 and 1951 even composing the musical scores for several.

He was a pioneer of Variety Theatre, and one of the few tango lyrical writers that has reached timeless classical success. When he was a teenager, he began his journalist job in the Magacine Fray Mochoy, and in the newspapers Crítica y Última Hora.

His first play, "Teatro breve" is from 1919 with the collaboration of Ivo Pelay. He wrote 180 more. In 1922 the most famous, "El bailarín del cabaret", was staged with the César Ratti's company, where Corsini triunfó with "Patotero sentimental".

In 1923 he travelled to Europe with Luis Bayón Herrera. In Paris, where he acted on several plays, he met Carlos Gardel and the idea of filmmaking was born. He wrote the plot and songs for "Luces de Buenos Aires", directed by the Chilean Adelqui Millar. It starred Gloria Guzmán, Sofía Bozán, Pedro Quartucci and the Julio De Caro musical group.