Jose Maria Forque Movies

The great Barcelonan tenor Jose Carreras stars in this film biography of one of Spain's first male international opera stars, Julian Gayarre (1845-1890). The singer was the son of a peasant and had trained to be a blacksmith. One day, while working (and singing) at his forge, he was overheard by a visiting priest, who appreciated the young man's talent. After being persuaded to study to be a singer, the blacksmith received scholarships and eventually emerged as a polished performer. His career was slow to get going, and during his years in obscurity he carried on a romance with the wife of an aristocrat, a woman who eventually bore his child. Fans of the handsome (and uncharacteristically thin) opera singer Carreras will be particularly pleased to encounter this film. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Paco (Alfredo Lando) is a middle-aged glass blower who has a lucrative after-hours business as a male stud in this unusual comedy drama. His wife Maria (Christine Pascal) is the supposedly barren woman who approves of her husband's sideline. Paco meets Pocapena (Patrick Dewaere) in a local bar and tells him that Paco is his hero. The young man offers his services for nothing, and Paco takes him up on his proposition. Paco soon has his first sexual failure, which quickly ruins his reputation and leads to the young man assuming the role as the coveted stud. Maria soon becomes pregnant, leading to more confusion in Paco's crumbling life. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

A young inquisitor is assigned to investigate the near-fatal accident of the Spanish Inquisitor General at a royal palace. Suspicion swifly falls on a washerwoman and her mother, and despite the young man's best efforts (for he has fallen in love with the mother), he cannot save them. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Jed (Tomas Milian) is an unlikely hero in this Italian western. As thoroughly unlikeable a robber as ever walked the West, he nonetheless robs from the rich and gives to the poor. Not only is he a murderous, ill-tempered sort, he is bad-mannered, too. When Sonny (Susan George) decides he should be her man and teach her how to be a proper outlaw, sparks fly. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

The Balearic Caper is a West German gold-hunt escapade. The film zeroes in on the Balearic Islands, where a sunken treasure has been located. The island is besieged by legitimate archaeologists and crooked fortune hunters, some of whom will go to any lengths to claim the booty. Three people are murdered before anyone actually gets to the treasure itself. When released to American TV, The Balearic Caper was ballyhooed as an espionage drama, due to the presence in the cast of two veterans from the James Bond films: Daniela Bianchi (From Russia With Love) and Harold Sakata (Goldfinger). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Popular Hispanic thespians Sylvia Pinal and Adolfo Marsillach star in this rather verbose, straightforward comedy about shy young Marcelino (Marsillach), who meets the attractive Maribel (Pinal) while out in a bar one night. Maribel has all the glitz and glitter that Marcelino lacks, something that his mother (Guadalupe Sampedro) and Aunt Paula (Julia Caba Alba) cannot help but notice when he brings Maribel home to meet them. The response of the two older women is certainly unexpected -- they want Maribel to marry Marcelino. In the meantime, it is revealed that Marcelino's first wife died under what might be suspicious circumstances -- something that has to be cleared up before things really get serious. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Picking up on a real incident in Florida, scripters for Un Hecho Violento adapted another screenplay to create this drama of injustice, brutality, and torture. A young man is accused and convicted of a crime he never committed and then sent to prison and subsequent work in a chain-gang. His fellow prisoner-workers are shown to be violent, inhuman beings, but the mentally unbalanced warden of the prison (Adolfo Marsillach) outdoes everyone else in physical abuse. The young man is tortured by the very man who is supposed to maintain peace in the prison, and in the film, the abused prisoner is brought to the brink of death before he is rescued. In real life, the young man died. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi