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Maria la del Barrio
Genre	Telenovela
Created by	Vivian Pestalozzi
Screenplay by	Carlos Romero
Story by	Ines Rodena
Directed by	Marta Luna Beatriz Sheridan
Starring	Thalia Fernando Colunga
Theme music composer	Viviana Pimstein
Opening theme	" Maria la del Barrio " performed by Thalia
Composers	Emilio Estefan Kike Santander
Country of origin	Mexico
Original language	Spanish
No. of episodes	185 (national version) 92 (international version)
Production
Executive producer	Angelli Nesma Medina
Producer	Valentin Pimstein
Production locations	Mexico City , Mexico Paris , France Puerto Vallarta , Mexico Brasilia , Brazil Madrid , Spain Houston , United States
Cinematography	Carlos Guerra
Editor	Claudio Gonzalez
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Production company	Televisa
Original release
Network	Canal de las Estrellas
Release	August 14, 1995  ( 1995-08-14 )  ? April 26, 1996  ( 1996-04-26 )
Related
Si Dios me quita la vida La antorcha encendida Los ricos tambien lloran Maria la del Barrio (2011)

Maria la del Barrio ( Lit : Maria From the Hood /English title: Humble Maria ) is a Mexican telenovela produced by Angelli Nesma Medina for Televisa in 1995. ^{[1] [2]} The series is a remake of Los ricos tambien lloran . Maria la del Barrio is considered one of the world's most popular and successful shows ever, having been broadcast in over 180 countries. ^[3] It is the last part of the Trilogia de las Marias .

The series stars Thalia and Fernando Colunga as protagonists, while Itati Cantoral starred as main antagonist. The soap opera was referenced in the 2023 movie Blue Beetle with the opening theme making a brief appearance in the movie. ^[4]

Plot [ edit ]

Maria Hernandez is a young, humble, uneducated dreamer, who lives with her godmother Casilda on the outskirts of Mexico City and works as a picker of recyclable material in a landfill . On the day that Maria turns 15, her godmother dies, who on her deathbed, asks Father Honorio to find a place where her goddaughter can work and live. Maria is welcomed by businessman Fernando De la Vega, one of the most influential and richest men in the country. He teaches Maria manners and welcomes her as a family member, although his wife Victoria and Carlota, one of the household's maids, despise Maria upon meeting her.

Luis Fernando, the eldest son of the De la Vega family, is dumped by his girlfriend Brenda, and swears not to become involved emotionally with women, but to toy with them. He initially engages with Maria for this purpose, but ends up falling in love with her. Soraya Montenegro, the boastful and proud niece of Victoria, is in love with Luis Fernando and wants to marry him. She despises Maria and calls her "marginal".

Maria is slowly gaining the friendship and confidence of the residents and employees of the mansion, including Victoria, who changes her attitude towards Maria, Lupe, the housekeeper, and Vladimir and Vanessa, the younger children of the De la Vega family. Soraya takes advantage of a drunk Luis Fernando, takes him to bed and brings a fake pregnancy test , which forces him to marry her, even though he loves Maria. In order to forget Luis Fernando, Maria starts dating Vladimir. She also starts taking etiquette classes from Dona Caro, a teacher hired by Don Fernando to teach Maria. Luis Fernando also undergoes a personality transformation: he becomes more mature and stops drinking and starts working in his father's company. He starts to suspect Soraya is not pregnant, so she brings another pregnancy test. Soraya now claims that she suffered a miscarriage.

Soraya, who goes to live in the mansion of the De la Vega's with her nanny Calixta – who has taken care of her since she was a child – constantly fights with Maria and wants to kill her. Calixta, who is also a healer , helps her put poisonous weeds in Maria's water. Maria gets sick and is sent to the hospital, where she discovers the cause of the disease. Calixta reveals to Soraya that she is her real mother. Hateful, Soraya kicks her out of the mansion. Osvaldo, Soraya's lover, discovers the evil plan and threatens her; if she did not give him money, he would tell. In a violent fight, Soraya tries to kill him and ends up falling from the window of an apartment and is presumed dead. Soon Luis Fernando and Maria plan to get married, but a jealous Vladimir chooses not to attend the wedding.

During their marriage, Luis Fernando starts to suspect that Maria and his brother are lovers. When Vladimir goes to the mansion to apologize to Maria for not having appeared at her wedding, Luis Fernando sees them embracing. This incident creates a misunderstanding, and he distances himself from his brother and his wife. Meanwhile, the rest of the De la Vega family moves temporarily to Spain, leaving Maria alone in the house. She becomes pregnant and finds support and friendship in Lupe, the housekeeper. Unfortunately, during her pregnancy, she is plagued with bipolar disorder and fever . Moments before having the baby, Luis Fernando files for divorce from Maria, who desperately leaves the mansion. Maria then gives birth to her son in a hospital and names him Fernando. She is discharged with the baby and wanders mentally unbalanced in the streets with the baby in her arms. Unintentionally, she gives him to a woman by the name Agripina.

Luis Fernando finds Maria in a mental hospital, and is told that their son died. Unsure of what to do, Luis Fernando adopts a baby girl named Maria de los Angeles, nicknamed 'Tita' (Veronica's biological daughter). Maria decides to search for her lost son and leaves Luis Fernando with Tita almost every day. Simultaneously, Lupe hires Penelope, her goddaughter, to take care of Tita. Penelope, however, is sly and deceitful. She falls in love with Luis Fernando and they become lovers. Maria eventually discovers the truth and fires Penelope and files for a divorce from Luis Fernando. However, he apologizes to Maria and she accepts.

Fifteen years pass, and Fernando (Nando), now fifteen years old, works as a lottery vendor . One night, Agripina has an accident and is admitted to a hospital. In order to buy medicine for his mother, Nando is convinced by a friend to steal money from a rich house. Unknowingly, he robs the house of Maria and is caught by her and Luis Fernando, who arrives and points a gun at him. Nando goes on to explain that he was stealing because he needed the money to buy medicine for his mother, who is in the hospital due to an accident. Luis Fernando refuses to believe him, and takes the boy to the police station, following his arrest. Maria pleads with her husband to let Nando free, after which he reluctantly accepts. She later returns to the hospital and recognizes Agripina, who, on the other hand, does not remember her. She says she is very worried about Nando, so Maria says that she hired him to work in her house.

Maria begins to support her son, all the while hiding the truth from him. Tita, now fifteen, thinks Nando is her mother's lover, and tries hard to find ways to expose them. Penelope is now married to Jose Maria Cano "Papacito", a good-for-nothing rascal. The two coincidentally live in the same apartment as Nando, and blackmail Maria that they will tell Tita that she was adopted and that Nando is her lover to everyone, if she doesn't give them money in exchange for silence. Maria is finally fed up with Tita's constant misconceptions and reveals to her that Nando is her lost son.

After Maria tells Nando that he is her son, he comes to live with the De la Vega family. Luis Fernando, still unaware that he is his son, believes that Maria took her lover into his own home and grabs his gun and attempts to kill him. After the bullet is released from his gun, Maria screams that Nando is their son. She consequently makes up with her husband and reunites Nando with his father. Penelope and Jose Maria are arrested for their crimes.

Soraya fully recovers from her accident fourteen years prior and lives in Houston, Texas , United States. She marries the widowed billionaire Oscar Montalban, whose seventeen-year-old daughter Alicia is disabled. She murders him and inherits all his wealth, but has to take care of Alicia. Soraya returns to Mexico, ready to get revenge on Maria and the De la Vega family. At first, she shows remorse for everything she did, trying to convince the family. She meets and seduces Nando, affects him in a bad way and incites him against his parents.

Nando starts visiting Soraya's mansion just to get drunk and serve as a sexual object. In the mansion, Nando meets Alicia and her governess Esperanza, who advise him to stop coming and go home. Maria suspects that Soraya has not changed and is just using Nando. Nando finds Soraya kissing with a man called Aldo and leaves her. Soraya gets depressed and realizes that her former lover is now in love with Alicia and forbids her to see him.

In an attempt to reconcile with Nando, Soraya arranges a party and invites him. Nando goes to see Alicia and Soraya, who has a crisis of psychopathy , beats her, hits Esperanza against the wall and cuts Nando with a pair of scissors . Alicia is saved by Aldo, and Nando goes to a hospital, where he is admitted. Maria reported Soraya but she pretends to be innocent. With the idea of revenge, Soraya stumbles upon her mother, Calixta. Calixta, too poor and ill, lives as a beggar, and recognizes her daughter. When she tries to approach Soraya, Soraya pushes Calixta, who hits her head and dies.

Initially, Nando is accused of the crime, but Maria takes the blame and is convicted and imprisoned in a women's jail, where she meets with Penelope. While in prison, Maria is humiliated and assaulted by inmates and Rosenda, one of the prison guards. A big fire happens after Rosenda was fired for assaulting Gracia. Maria saves Penelope but disappears in the flames. Maria is now presumed dead. Penelope, after being saved by Maria, regrets all the wrong she has done and decides to pursue a new life after being released from jail. Days later, Dr. Daniel Ordonez finds Maria wandering the streets without memory and takes her home, where she works as a nanny for his two children.

Cecilia, who is in love with Daniel, confronts Maria. After finding out she was poisoning his daughter to blame Maria, Daniel throws Cecilia out of the house. After weeks working in Daniel's house, the director of the prison informs that Maria is alive and possibly without memory.

Nando and his father get excited and decide to seek her through the streets, but Agripina has a heart attack and they take her to the hospital, where they are reunited with Maria. After it was revealed that she killed Oscar Montalban and Dr. Mejia, Soraya flees from the police, encounters Maria and creates a plan to kill her. She disguises herself as a nurse and tells her that she is a friend of the De la Vega family and that Tita is ill and takes her to her cabin. Esperanza and Alicia observe and contact the De la Vega family.

Agripina survives her heart attack. In the cabin, Soraya pushes Maria during a fight, against a wall of a fireplace. Upon awaking, she remembers everything and a tearful Soraya confesses her crimes, going completely insane. With a pistol in hand, Soraya throws petrol around the cabin. Meanwhile, Soraya's maid reveals where Soraya is, and Luis Fernando and the police go to the cabin. Soraya, rather preferring death over going back to jail, throws a lit match on the ground, setting the cabin alight.

Luis Fernando saves Maria, who tries to save Soraya, who herself is trapped in the flames and burns to death. Two months later, Luis Fernando and Maria celebrate a happy new life with their children. Gracia, Maria's friend from prison, is now working as the nanny to Daniel's children. Urbano and Fellipa get together, while Agripina marries Veracruz. Nando dates Alicia, who undergoes surgery and is able to walk, and Tita dates Aldo. Maria reveals she is pregnant again.

Cast [ edit ]

Extended cast [ edit ]

Awards and nominations [ edit ]

Remake [ edit ]

In 2011 ABS-CBN announced that Televisa had given them the permit to do a Philippine version of the series. The Philippine remake stars Erich Gonzales as the titular character with Enchong Dee as her leading man. Alicia and Nandito was not included in Philippine remake. ^[5]

References [ edit ]

External links [ edit ]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maria la del Barrio .

• Maria la del Barrio at IMDb