Welcome Mr. Marshall!

Welcome Mr. Marshall!
Theatrical release poster by Francisco Fernández Zarza
Directed by	Luis García Berlanga
Produced by	Vicente Sempere
Written by	Juan Antonio Bardem Luis García Berlanga Miguel Mihura
Starring	José Isbert Manolo Morán Lolita Sevilla
Music by	Jesús García Leoz
Cinematography	Manuel Berenguer
Editing by	Pepita Orduña
Release date(s)	4 April 1953 (1953-04-04)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	Spain
Language	Spanish

Commemorative plaque in Guadalix de la Sierra, Spain

Welcome Mr. Marshall! (Spanish: ¡Bienvenido, Mister Marshall!) is a 1953 Spanish comedy film directed by Luis García Berlanga and considered one of the masterpieces of Spanish cinema. It tells the story of a small Spanish town, Villar del Río, which hears of the visit of American diplomats and begins preparations to impress the American visitors in the hopes of benefitting under the Marshall Plan.

A central theme of the film is the stereotypes held by both the Spanish and the Americans regarding the culture of the other. Hoping to demonstrate the side of Spanish culture with which the visiting American officials will be most accustomed, the citizens of Villar del Río (Soria) don unfamiliar Andalusian costumes, hire a renowned flamenco performer, and redecorate their town in Andalusian style. Later in the film, each of the central characters has a dream in which different aspects of stereotypical American culture and history are featured. One consists of a Western-like bar brawl, another the arrival of a conquistador on New World shores.

The film was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.^[1]

Cast

• Fernando Rey as Narrador (voice)
• José Isbert as Don Pablo, el alcalde
• Lolita Sevilla as Carmen Vargas
• Alberto Romea as Don Luis, el caballero
• Manolo Morán as Manolo
• Luis Pérez de León as Don Cosme, el cura
• Elvira Quintillá as Señorita Eloísa, la maestra
• Félix Fernández as Don Emiliano, el médico
• Nicolás D. Perchicot as Boticario (as Nicolás Perchicot)
• Joaquín Roa as Pregonero
• Fernando Aguirre as Secretario
• José Franco as Delegado general
• Rafael Alonso as Enviado
• José María Rodríguez as José
• Elisa Méndez as Doña Raquel
• Matilde López Roldán as Doña Matilde

References

1. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Welcome Mr. Marshall!". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3891/year/1953.html. Retrieved 2009-01-24. 

External links

• Bienvenido Mister Marshall at the Internet Movie Database