Producer: Mario Arturo Moreno; Director:Juan López Moctezuma; Screenplay: Juan López Moctezuma and Rubén Arvizu; Photography: Nadine Markova; Film Editor: Jerome F. Brady; Music: Miguel Angel Alonso; 79 minutes [this information comes from the Variety review (9 December 1987)]
UPDATE: Extended review with photos here. From The Mexican Film Bulletin 13/8 (2007).
CAST: María Victoria (María), Allison Ernand (Meche), Bob Copeland (Ezekiah), Christian Cañada (Miguelito)
This is one of Juan López Moctezuma's most atypical projects, a drama about the experiences of a Mexican immigrant in the United States. The film was produced by Mario Arturo Moreno, the son of famous Mexican comedian Mario Moreno "Cantinflas." Although it was shown at a film festival in Acapulco in 1987, Welcome María aka Bienvenido María was apparently never released commercially.
"Lent" in his Variety review wrote that the film was a "short, unsatisfactory feature...a dishonest look at the meandering fortunes of María...and her young son Miguelito...There are no surprises and the corny ending, which follows an utterly absurd confrontation, is a complete copout."
The plot of film concerns María and her son Miguelito who are trying to find the boy's father, who had gone to the U.S.A. several years before in search of work. But when María and Miguelito eventually locate him, they discover that he has married a blonde gringa. This plot is very similar to a number of other Mexican films on the topic, notably Mojado de nacimiento (Born a Wetback) and Mamá Solita (Lonely Mother), both of which predate Welcome María. The only "name" performer is singer/actress María Victoria, a Mexican film/tv veteran; I can find no information on the other billed cast members. Nadine Markova appeared in La mansión de la locura, and had directed and photographed a prize-winning short in 1979 (Madre e hija); she later shot Frontera sur (1992), making her one of the few women directors of photography in Mexico. There is a "Jerry Brady" who edited some Hollywood films in the late '80s and 1990s, but I am not sure if this is the same person as "Jerome F. Brady." Welcome María seems to have been made on the fringes of both the Mexican and Hollywood film industries.
Although this film would be interesting to see for a number of reasons, one can safely guess that it is not a "lost classic."