Santa, the cornerstone of the Mexican sound-film industry, introduced Lupita Tovar, a lovely young actress brought in from Hollywood (along with director Moreno and cinematographer Alex Phillips.) This tale of a small-town girl, fated to become the star attraction of a Mexico City brothel, solidly established in the cinema a preoccupation of Mexican literature and culture-that of the young woman, seduced and abandoned, then left to her own devices in a society that rejects "used" women. Salvador Elizondo analyzes the fascination of Santa and films of its genre in this way: "...the idealization, through moralizing, of the prostitute, that irresistibly attractive yet veiled being....Terror of the mother (opposing and equally prevalent symbol in Mexican popular culture) drives us with ever-increasing fury into the arms of the prostitute." Whatever was driving, Lupita Tovar captured the hearts of movie-goers throughout the country and Santa's theme song became one of composer Agustín Lara's most memorable and popular themes.