Alfredo Mayo Movies

This engaging drama is about an introspective, shy Swiss journalist. Told in a series of flashbacks, Hans (Jurg Low) remembers when he went to Spain to cover the nation's reaction to the fascist Franco's death. Hans' own father had gone to Spain as a part of the International Brigade, and while there he met and fell in love with a beautiful Spanish woman. Now Hans' father has died, and while Hans is in Spain, he meets Margareta (Silvia Munt), the daughter of the woman his father had loved. He also meets an attractive Frenchwoman (Aurore Clement) and is drawn to her. It is these relationships and their denouement that come back to him seven years after this chapter in his life had ended. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this inconclusive, confusing story about an aristocratic Majorcan family with connections to the Pope and much more darkly, to the secrets of a Masonic Order kept in a doll's room, the patriarch of the family (Fernando Rey) and his wife and cousin come to no good end for reasons that are never very clear. The entire story is told in flashbacks by the patriarch's son, who also has connections to the Catholic Church. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The story of Cecilia is a story of the society that dominated 19th-century Cuba, a society divided between whites, blacks, and those who were mixed, the mulattos. (Since the Spanish conquistadors killed off the Indian population in Cuba not long after they took over the island, there are no mestizos, or those of mixed-Indian blood in Cuba as in other Caribbean nations.) At any rate, the drama about the life and loves of Cecilia (Daisy Granados) takes place against the backdrop of graphically violent mistreatment of slaves and the rumors of a slave rebellion after the Cubans hear of slaves turning against their captors in Haiti. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A Marquis (Luis Escobar) suddenly becomes inspired to reclaim his palace, now gone to seed, right in the heart of Madrid. He and his son head for the city, without taking into account that his wife, the aged Marquesa is thoroughly ensconsed in the palace, has been for more than 40 years, and has no intention of leaving. In order to settle the issue, the Marquis decides to get his wife committed - not an unreasonable proposition given the fact that she has preferred to stay in bed all these years. Variously eccentric characters pop in and out of the palace as the Marquis tries to implement his plan, without much success. The Marquesa, in turn, manages to force him and her former lover into a duel in the garden and pulls out a shotgun to put them out of their misery and her life. Things backfire, so to speak, and the Spanish State comes into the picture, perhaps it will have more success where its old - very old - aristocracy has failed to measure up. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Blood is the Red Gold of this film's title. When a sailor arrives on an island dictatorship and is a little too flashy with his money, he is soon robbed of it. He finds himself among the down-and-outers, who sell blood for enough money to survive on. Unable to avoid trouble, the sailor is quickly rounded up and sentenced to work in a salt mine, but he later makes an attempt to escape. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

"Raza," a Spanish word which is sometimes translated as "race," but has a much more complex flavor than the English term. It also means "kindred" or "family." This documentary film by Catalan director Gonzalo Herralde explores the meaning and implications of a propaganda film called Raza, made in 1942, the third year of Franco's rulership of Spain. In that film, Falangist values of family, religion, patriotism and anticommunism are exalted -- themes which were to be the hallmarks of the Franco dictatorship. Herralde approaches his subject matter using interviews with Pilar Franco (the deceased dictator's sister) and the actor Alfredo Mayo, who starred in the earlier film. Over half of the documentary is devoted to scenes from Raza. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

As the French-Spanish Bell from Hell gets under way, the hero released from a mental institution in which he was unjustly confined. He returns home to his aunt and his three female cousins, who had him committed years earlier so that they could get their hands on his inheritance. Biding his time and playing it cool, he plans to exacts chilling revenge. The film's Wellesian climax takes place atop a treacherous bell tower. On the final day of shooting, director Claudio Hill was killed in a fall from that tower, obliging an uncredited Juan Antonio Bardem to finish the picture. Originally La Campana del Infierno, Bell From Hell was also released as The Bell of Hell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

We can find predecessors of the Spanish Marianela dating back to the dawn of cinema (take a look at D.W. Griffith's Blind Love, vintage 1910). But there's no such thing as an old story if it's done with finesse. Rodio Ducal plays a disfigured young woman who falls in love with blind Pierre Orcel. Theirs is an idyllic relationship-until word comes down that an operation may restore Orcel's sight. In many respects, Marianela can be seen as a worthy precursor to the better-known Hollywood production Mask (1985). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Wim Wenders' The Scarlet Letter (German title: Der scharlachrote Buchstabe) may well be the most fascinating of the many screen versions of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 19th-century novel. Though the story is set in 17th-century Salem, Massachusetts, the film was lensed in Spain. Senta Berger is surprisingly well cast as Hester Prynne, whose sexual indiscretions have compelled her to wear the letter "A" (for adultery) on blouse--a symbol of shame to her neighbors, but a strange source of pride for Hester. Lou Castel plays the tortured Reverend Dimmesdale, the man who impregnated Hester but whom has been sworn to secrecy by the self-sacrificing heroine for the "good of the community." Hans Christian Blech portrays Hester's long-lost husband, whose reappearance sets the stage for the wrenching climax. Wenders' interpretation of the customs, behavior and inbred bigotry of the early American immigrants is eye-opening, as only an "outsider's" perception of what we take for granted can be. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This colorful horror tale begins with Benito Freire (Jose Luis Lopez Vazquez), a pedlar and trader of charms and fabrics in a small village in northern Spain. He spends his spare time as a wolf man, murdering women and burying their corpses in the Ancines Woods. Only a forest dwelling witch knows his transformation is caused by epileptic seizures. The Abbot (Antonio Casas) is called on to form a team to investigate, and local farmers set out wolf traps in an effort to halt the harrowing murders. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Jason Fister (Dustin Hoffman) is the Internal Revenue Service agent sent to Rome to investigate the hidden money of the late gangster Mike Madigan (Cesar Romero). Jason meets Vick Shaw ( Elsa Martinelli) and he mistakenly takes her to be the dead mobster's mistress when in fact she is his daughter. Soon underworld thugs converge on the couple in an attempt to steal the stolen loot. This film was completed in 1967 and was subsequently shelved. It was released in the wake of Hoffman's popularity from his roles in The Graduate and Midnight Cowboy. This inept and contrived comedy is Hoffman's first feature film. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Matilde (Esperanza Roy) is a former prostitute married to Tom (Robert Parker), an African-American pilot stationed in Madrid. Flashbacks show how the couple met, fell in love and married. She deals with the guilt of her past life, while Tom deals with the fact he may soon be sent back to Vietnam where he has seen friends of all colors die. Tom resents working for a government who expects duty and honor from black soldiers while race relations at home and abroad are strained and rampant with prejudice. The couple battles with fallout over their racially mixed marriage as the sword of Damocles hangs over Tom's head, always ready to fall and send him to Vietnam ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide