In gratitude, both actors agreed to appear together only once in a Cardona film: "También de dolor se canta" (1952). His career became so prolific that during 1937–1986, he directed more than one hundred films, in which he directed several of the biggest stars in Mexico. In the late fifties he made two films aimed at children, "Pulgarcito" ("Tom Thumb") (1957) and "Santa Claus" (1959), which earned him several international awards. He directed many films in the 1960s which became cult classics, including "Wrestling Women vs. the Aztec Mummy" (1964), "The Batwoman" (aka "La mujer murciélago") (1968) and the horror film "Night of the Bloody Apes" (1969). In the seventies, he produced and directed three films that achieved international success: "La isla de los hombres solos" (1974), considered Cardona's best film and based on the novel by José León Sánchez, "El pequeño Robin Hood" (1975), and "Supervivientes de los Andes" (1976). Cardona directed his last film in 1982. As an actor René also achieved prestige, was a founding member of the ANDA and twice nominated for an Ariel Award and acted in over 100 films, the most memorable are "El secreto del sacerdote" (1941), "Caballería del imperio" (1942), "El peñón de las ánimas" (1943), which marked the debut of María Félix, "El abanico de Lady Windermere" (1944), "La barca de oro" (1947), "Soledad" (1947) with Libertad Lamarque, "Cartas marcadas" (1948), with Pedro Infante and Marga López, "La vorágine" (1949) with Armando Calvo and Alicia Caro, "Las tres perfectas casadas" (1953) with Arturo de Córdova and Miroslava Stern among others, his career continued until shortly before his death and he even acted in a few films directed by his son, René Cardona Jr. such as "La casa que arde de noche" (1985). His last screen appearances were in the television series "Rosa salvaje" and the film "El fiscal de hierro" (1989).