Pedro Armendariz shines in his portrayal of an arrogant pelota champion ; his philosophy is almost Nietszche 's will to power , where the weak has no room ; his motto is "you will be better off with one fifth of a powerful man than with the whole of a mediocre one "and he takes a hard line with the "inferiors" ;a womanizer ,he treats his wife and lovers like sexual objects or as cash cows (the scene when he forces the aging woman to look at herself in the mirror is revealing )

The script in the second part is perhaps not as firm as in the first one, but it involves elements of pure film noir (a la "the harder they fall" or "the set up" )and melodrama (the girl he got pregnant and the awful act he puts on her ) ;and the very last sequence is one of the best I know about human vanity ;a Bunuelesque scene which recalls "los olvidados" .