The film based on the book and with the same title was directed by Hall Bartlett and was released in 1979. It stars Anthony Quinn as Jesús Sánchez, a widowed farmer trying to care for his family in Mexico City. An abusive womanizer, he is a hard worker and feels that by supporting his family financially, he is fulfilling his responsibilities to them. His conflict with his daughter Consuelo (Lupita Ferrer) continues through the entire movie as she attempts to break out of the role of being a submissive daughter. For advice and love, Consuelo goes to her grandmother (Dolores del Río), the family's matriarch that even Consuelo's father respects. The advice she gives Consuelo is to get married, as the only way to escape her abusive father.