Mateo Melgarejo is a notary public and scribe for the illiterate people of Santo Domingo, a neighborhood north of Mexico City's Zócalo. A squatter friend asks for his help in negotiating with the land census bureau to regularize a land title. After a great deal of frustration with the government bureaucracy, he writes a letter to the cabinet minister, earning an audience with him. The minister hires Melgarejo to reform the bureau, and the appointee proceeds to lecture the officials on their duties in a democratic society. At the end, he gives up the post, returning to Santo Domingo to help its poor residents.
Cantinflas
as Mateo Melgarejo 'Mateíto'
Chela Castro
as Vicky
Lucía Méndez
as Barbara
Ángel Garasa
as Avelino Romero 'Romeritos'
Manolita Saval
as Estrellita
Delia Peña Orta
as María
Alonso Castaño
as Don Nachito
Miguel Manzano
as Don Antonio, señor ministro
Daniel Herrera
as Huésped de Yucatán
Tamara Garina
as Tamarita
Alejandra Meyer
as Julia Ramírez, secretaria del licenciado
Pedro de Aguillón
as Sr. Alcalino Buenrostro
