ABSTRACTALEXANDRA JEAN FITZGERALD. Music and Interracial Romance in Golden Age Mexican Cinema: A Case of Two Films (Under the direction of DR. DAVID DALTON) The purpose of this thesis is to address how film composers and film directors in the Golden Age of Mexican cinema used music and filmographic storytelling techniques to promote the post-revolutionary Mexican state’s ideals regarding nationalism and cultural integration. The decision to analyze these two films specifically allows me to explore and critique their depictions of music and interracial romance in post-revolutionary Mexico. The comparison of these two films also allows me to draw similarities between both of these movements, in that the aim to integrate indigenous people into Mexican society and elevate their culture in these films was essentially devoid of any meaningful participation from actual indigenous people. In chapter 1, which is dedicated to Allá en el Rancho Grande (starring Jorge Negrete), I argue that the film’s musical and cultural narrative idealizes a colonial past, in which indigenous people are not treated as equals, as well as sexually and racially exploited. In chapter 2, which analyzes Tizoc (starring Pedro Infante), I argue that certain indigenous and criollo pairings are not to mix, as well as address the fabricated assumptions about the Indian. The film’s narrative culminates in punishing Tizoc for his rejection of an indigenous woman’s love and his lust for a criolla woman. This thesis directly incorporates film music and describes its interplay with narrative, allegory, and romance in film.