Between 1945 and 1947 Emilio Fernndez, the director of classics like Maria Candelaria (1943a) and Flor Silvestre (1943b) and Mexico's most significant auteur, made two films with Hollywood studio RKO: La perla/The Pearl (1946a) and The Fugitive (Ford 1948a). Through analysis of these films and their production context, as well as insights gained from the production files, this article will attempt to shed new light on the role Fernndez and these inter-American films played both in Hollywood's postwar mission in the United States, Mexico and Latin America and in Mexico's own national industry.