* alternate titles: Mírame con ojos pornográficos (Spanish title) and Las insaciables

CAST: Andrés García (José de Lugo), Amparo Muñoz (Magdalena), Angélica Chaín (Dra. San Román), Anaís de Melo (patient), Grace Renat (secretary), Christa Linder (Leonor, typist), Helga Liné (Elvira Coro), Blanca Guerra (Sra. Gayosso), Jorge Russek (Jorge Coro), Humberto Elizondo (sales manager), Patricia Maldonado, Carl Hillos (Dr. Gayosso), Humberto Johnson, Guillermo Ruiz, Alfonso Kafiti, Rafael Baledón Jr., Guillermo Lagunes, Fernando Palavicini

NOTES: this sexy-comedy was a Spanish-Mexican co-production, although the Spanish contribution seems to be limited to the director Luis Ma. Delgado, and actresses Amparo Muñoz (a former Miss Universe), and Helga Liné. Otherwise, the film's cast and crew are entirely from the Mexican industry, and the picture was shot in Mexico. However, oddly enough the movie does not look especially Mexican: the photography and direction seem more like a Spanish movie. A note about the title: Andrés García plays a medical supplies or pharmaceutical salesman, but that isn't what "médico visitador" means to me. Of course, I could be wrong, but during the course of the film García refers to himself as an "agente viajero" (traveling salesman), not a "médico visitador" ( "visiting physician"). However, I suppose this term could refer to someone who "visits" doctors (to sell them things).

The plot has a gimmick which is very reminiscent of Click, fotógrafo de modelos: whenever García blinks his eyes (to the accompaniment of some odd sound effects), he sees the women around him as if they were nude (the only one this doesn't work on is Amparo Muñoz, apparently because he really cares about her). This is not the point of the picture and is never explained. As in Click, the protagonist describes the underwear that a woman is wearing, suggesting that he really has X-ray vision and not just a mental condition; however, in this picture, García says Angélica Chaín is wearing bra and panties "color de rosa" but on-screen they are clearly blue.

José de Lugo answers a newspaper ad for a salesman. He has to take a psychological test administered by the blonde Dr. San Román. She shows him a variety of inkblots and he always says they resemble naked women. "You seem to have a dirty mind," she comments. "Me?" José replies, "You're the one with the pornographic pictures." He tells her about his "condition," in which women appear to be nude when he looks at them. Dr. San Román wonders if José might be homosexual, but he proves he isn't by having sex with her on the consulting room couch. His second experience occurs at a doctor's office. The doctor has to rush out on an emergency, and tells José to leave his samples on the desk. While José is in the office, a young woman comes in with a sexual problem, and mistakes him for the doctor. Needless to say, this results in another carnal encounter.

While crossing the street, José is struck by a car: the driver is the attractive Magdalena, who offers to take him to a hospital. He refuses, but asks her if she'd like to have a cup of coffee with him. She turns him down. Later, José calls her and impersonates a government official, telling her she must come to the hospital urgently to see the man she struck with her car. Thinking José is dying, she does, but he simply has a cup of coffee with her in the cafeteria, and turns down her offer of money (but does let her pay for the coffee). Despite her protests, José (wearing a fake cast on his foot) finally convinces Magdalena to go for a drive with him in the country, but when he tries to kiss her, Magdalena leaves him stranded and drives off. Later, José follows Magdalena and her boyfriend to a nightclub. When they get home, four thugs assault them, and José steps in to help defend Magdalena (her boyfriend is useless). What she doesn't see is that afterwards, José pays off his four friends who portrayed the "robbers"! Magdalena and José begin a relationship, but she won't sleep with him until they are married.

Sr. Coro, the head of José's company, learning that José has a college degree in literature, asks José to rewrite a book he has written. Leonor is hired as his typist, but she fends off all of José's approaches. To finish up the book, Coro invites José and Leonor to his country home for the weekend. While they are there, he asks José--who is a good swimmer--to give his wife Elvira some lessons. One evening, when Elvira is wearing a new black bikini her husband had given her, Elvira and José are swimming and her bathing suit falls off! José makes a move on her, but she decides to remain faithful to her husband. Nonetheless, Sr. Coro later shows José photos that make it appear his wife was unfaithful in the pool; he admits he is having an affair with Leonor, and offers to pay José to testify so he can get a divorce from Elvira. José agrees. Later, he and Elvira do make love.

The sales manager criticizes José for goofing off, but when José accidentally interrupts the manager and his busty secretary having sex--and then helps the man make excuses to his wife--José is promoted to assistant! (He also gets to finish the job with the aroused secretary, when the boss departs for home)

José visits small-town Dr. Gayosso, only to discover the man is dead! His young widow has his body stretched out on the bed, preparing him for burial. One thing leads to another, and the corpse is moved to a chair, while José and the comely widow utilize the bed.

Finally, during, an argument, José falls down the stairs in Magdalena's house. In the next scene he is in traction in the hospital, completely immobilized. His friends visit, and run into Magdalena as they leave; she recognizes them as the four men who "assaulted" her, and José confesses his part in the plot. But he only did it because he loved her. Magdalena agrees, and to prove that she loves him, she strips and climbs into bed with him, a prospect more painful than pleasurable for the injured José.

Memorias de un visitador médico is sexy but actually fairly mild. The most graphic (simulated) sex scene is the first, even though it is shot only from the chest up (and Angélica Chaín keeps her bra on during the whole act, although she was earlier seen topless). However, it goes on for quite some time, with a lot of moaning and groaning and facial contortions by both García and Chaín. Anáis de Melo is shown fully nude, Grace Renat is shown topless (and how!), as is Blanca Guerra (who, for a fairly serious actress, sure did a lot of nude scenes early in her career). Christa Linder appears nude twice, but very briefly, while the well-preserved Helga Liné bares all, as does Amparo Muñoz in the final scene. However, most of these shots are fairly fleeting and not intended to be particularly arousing (which is to say, the scenes are more comic and/or romantic than prurient, with the exception of the Chaín sequence).

Although the picture's episodic nature has something to with it, Memorias... has some continuity problems and a disjointed feel about it. And maybe it's just me, but the fact that Andrés García wears the same powder-blue suit throughout the whole film is kind of annoying (he occasionally wears a jogging suit, swimsuit, etc., but whenever he's formally dressed it's that same damn blue suit!). Nonetheless, the picture is amusing and entertaining enough, although not a classic--or even a classic "sexy-comedy"--by any means.

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Posted 9 May 2000.