Estudios San Miguel

Estudios San Miguel (San Miguel Studios) was an Argentine film studio that was active in the 1940s and early 1950s. It flourished during the golden age of Cinema of Argentina, and at its peak was one of the major studios in Buenos Aires. Genres ranged from musical comedy to costume drama and gaucho thriller. Films included La guerra gaucha (The Gaucho War 1942), co-produced with Artistas Argentinos Asociados, and the comedy Juvenilia (1943), both of which won several major awards. Eva Duarte, soon to become the first lady of Argentina as Eva Perón, appeared in two of the studio's films in 1945. The studio became overextended financially and ceased production after 1952. History Estudios San Miguel was founded and owned by Miguel Machinandiarena (1899–1975). Machinandiarena was a Basque from Navarre who had emigrated to Argentina in 1915. His family was very wealthy, had large real estate investments and controlled the Casino de Mar del Plata. Miguel Machinandiarena founded the company in 1937 with his brothers Narciso and Silvestre and began to build the studios and laboratories in the town of Bella Vista. The studio absorbed SIDE (Sociedad Impresora de Discos Electrofónicos), which had pioneered the tango format with a trilogy of films, but failed to establish a solid business model. In 1940 Estudios San Miguel launched its first production, Petróleo, directed by Arturo S. Mom. Machinandiarena was one of the great promoters of the Argentine film industry. For a while the studio was one of the largest Argentine film companies.