Alberto Romea Movies
- 1952
Bienvenido Mr. Marshall (Welcome Mr. Marshall) is a comedy predicated on the Marshall Plan, which provided American financial aid to deserving European communities. When two Marshall-Plan representatives announce plans to drive through a small Spanish town on the Iberian peninsula, the mayor, in cahoots with a publicity agent, intends to make as good an impression as possible. As a result, all signs of Western culture are hidden, and the town is transformed into a picture-postcard version of Old Iberia. As the townsfolk await the arrival of the Americans, each citizen conjures up visions (mostly inaccurate) of what life might be like in the good old USA. The satirical thrust of Bienvenido Mr. Marshall was misinterpreted as "leftist" by some observers when the film opened at the Cannes Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lolita Sevilla, Alberto Romea, (more)
- 1949
Prosper Merimee's 19th-century novel Carmen must hold some sort of record for film and stage adaptations. This 1949 version was lensed in Spain, where, of course, the story takes place. The story is as ever: Carmen, a sultry, sexy cigarette-factory worker, casts her seductive spell over Army officer Don Jose. Giving up his commission, his sweetheart and his honor for Carmen's sake, Don Jose is thrown into a homicidal frenzy when the promiscuous heroine throws him over for bullfighter Escamillo. It isn't all Carmen's fault, of course--after all, her fate has been predestined by a draw of the cards. Imperio Argentina plays the title role, with Rafael Riveres as the luckless Don Jose. Despite competition from Columbia's The Loves of Carmen (1948), this Spanish adaptation secured an American release--though the film had to be severely trimmed to conform with then-prevailing censorship standards. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Imperio Argentina, Rafael Rivelles, (more)
- 1934
Forever at odds with the Hollywood studio heads, the fiercely individualist director Harry D'Arrast pitched camp in Spain, where he directed his final feature, La Traviesa Molinera. D'Arrast's then-wife Eleanor Boardman stars as the wife of pompous town mayor Alberto Romea. When the mayor has an affair with Hilda Moreno, wife of miller Santiago Ontanon, the cuckolded husband retaliates by making love to Boardman. The heroine's emergence from her "respectable" shell by performing a lively Spanish dance is the highlight of the picture. Based on a famous 17th-century poem, La Traviesa Molinera was eventually released worldwide as The Three-Cornered Hat and It Happened in Spain. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Hilda Moreno, Eleanor Boardman, (more)
Rating Systems
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