Antonio Casas Movies

A model becomes the target of a kidnapping attempt masterminded by a mad professor in this avant garde film from Spain. Young thugs steal a giant picture of the popular model. The model confides in a wealthy patron who is killed by his jealous girlfriend, and the girlfriend goes on a murder spree in this offbeat entry that appeared at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In this routine Spaghetti western, Ringo (Montgomery Wood) helps a wealthy Texas family fend off a group of Mexican bandits led by the portly villain Fernando (Fernando Sancho). He protects the wealthy aristocrat (Antonio Casas) and his two pretty daughters Ruby (Lorelia De Luca) and Delores (Nieves Navarro) from the evil desires of the bad men. George Martin plays the local sheriff. Film score is provided by the celebrated composer Ennio Morricone. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

A sleepy Spanish town is turned upside down by the arrival of a French stripper. She undergoes an emergency appendectomy and is operated on by a married, middle-aged doctor. When he falls for the woman, he lengthens her recovery time because he wants her to stay. The man's wife leaves him as gossip sweeps the townsfolk about the alleged affair between doctor and patient. The stripper stays with a local French teacher until she gain return to work, avoiding the doctor. Things get back to normal when the stripper finally leaves and the doctor and his wife reconcile. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In this biblical drama, set during the waning years of the Roman Empire, the trouble begins as the Christians continue to be persecuted. The daughter of a wealthy patrician whips the stuffing out of a newly purchased Christian slave who stubbornly refuses to wrestle in the ring. Later the girl and the slave fall in love, and she comes to understand their plight. She then learns that some of her closest friends and relatives are closet Christians. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This slow-paced drama by Alfonso Balcazar is set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War in the latter half of the 1930s. What began as a simple revolt broadened into massive fighting that involved other nations, either as volunteers or as allies of Franco or the Republicans. Using that setting, this story looks at the challenges faced by a priest who is caught between the factions. Since the Republicans were heavily backed by leftists and since the Catholic Church was generally on the side of the Nationalists or Franco, the priest is expected to side with his church. His main problem at the moment is helping a group of people who are trying to escape the conflict. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

An adulterous couple is forced to take responsibility for their actions in this tense drama from Spanish filmmaker Juan Antonio Bardem. Maria Jose (Lucia Bose) is a beautiful woman whose husband Miguel (Otello Toso) is a wealthy and powerful businessman. Juan (Alberto Closas) is a mathematics instructor at a Spanish college who is distantly related to Miguel, and owes his position to Miguel's influence. Juan was also Maria Jose's boyfriend when they were younger, and now they're carrying on an affair behind Miguel's back. One night, while driving home from an assignation, Juan and Maria Jose accidentally run over a man on a bicycle; the stranger quickly dies, and the lovers speed away rather than deal with the consequences. But over the next few days, Juan's conscience begins to bother him, and finds it hard to bear the knowledge that he took another man's life. Maria Jose is also troubled, but for different reasons; Rafa (Carlos Casaravilla), a devious socialite, infers to Maria Jose that he knows about her secret life, but she's not certain he he's just speaking about her infidelity or her role in the cyclist's death. A major critical success in Spain, Muerte de un Ciclista (aka Death Of A Cyclist) was released in Europe in 1955, the same year director Bardem published a controversial essay on the decline in Spanish cinema under the rule of Franco. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide