''A Girl Against Napoleon'' or ''The Devil Made a Woman'', also known under its Spanish title ''Carmen, la de Ronda'', is a 1959 Spanish

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...

directed by

Tulio Demicheli Tulio Demicheli (born August 15, 1914, Buenos Aires, Argentina - d. May 25, 1992, Madrid, Spain) was an Argentina, Argentine film director, born Spanish film director, screenwriter and film producer of the classic era. Born as Armando Bartolomé ...

and starring

Sara Montiel María Antonia Abad Fernández MML (10 March 1928 – 8 April 2013), known professionally as Sara Montiel, also Sarita Montiel, was a Spanish actress and singer, who also held Mexican citizenship since 1951. She began her career in the 1940s an ...

Jorge Mistral Modesto Llosas Rosell (24 November 1920 – 20 April 1972) known professionally as Jorge Mistral was a Spanish film actor. During the 1940s, he became a star in films produced by CIFESA. In the 1950s, he lived and worked in México and ap ...

and

Maurice Ronet Maurice Ronet (13 April 1927 – 14 March 1983) was a French film actor, director, and writer. Early life Maurice Ronet was born Maurice Julien Marie Robinet in Nice, Alpes Maritimes. He was the only child of professional stage actors Émile Ro ...

.Bentley, Bernard. ''A Companion to Spanish Cinema''. Boydell & Brewer, 2008. p. 141. . It is loosely based on the story of

Prosper Mérimée Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, and one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, and a ...

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

, with the setting changed to the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

era. Carmen is involved with the guerrillas fighting against the French occupation. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Enrique Alarcón Enrique Alarcón Sánchez-Manjavacas (1917–1995) was a Spanish art director.Faulkner p.106 He worked on over two hundred films. Selected filmography * ''Eloisa Is Under an Almond Tree'' (1943) * ''The Phantom and Dona Juanita'' (1945) * ''Lad ...

and built at CEA Studios in Madrid.

Plot

The year is 1808. A year passed since the beginning of the

and singer Carmen is in love with two men at the same time. The men are: a guerrilla named Antonio and the French sergeant José, who, during the war, end up on the opposite sides and therefore are sworn enemies to each other.

Cast

as Carmen *

as Antonio *

as José *

Germán Cobos Germán Sánchez Hernández-Cobos (7 July 1927 – 12 January 2015) was a prolific Spanish actor in a variety of European films. He was married to Visitación Peralta. He was born on 7 July 1927 in Sevilla. He was known for playing Arturo Torres ...

as Lucas *

José Marco Davó José Marco Davó (1895–1974) was a Spanish film actor.Pitts p.307 Selected filmography * ''Es mi hombre'' (1934) * ''Don Quintín el amargao'' (1935) - Nicasio * ''La última falla'' (1940) * ''Whirlwind'' (1941) - Portero * '' Dawn of Americ ...

as Alcalde * Félix Fernández as El Dancairo *María de los Ángeles Hortelano as Micaela *Santiago Rivero as Andrés *Alfonso Rojas * Agustín González as Guerrillero *Antonio Delgado *

Pilar Gómez Ferrer Pilar Gómez Ferrer (7 February 1910 – 27 September 2009) was a Spanish actress. She appeared in more than one hundred films from 1952 to 1977. Selected filmography References External links * 1910 births 2009 deaths Spanish ...

*Manuel Guitián as Pregonero *Teresa Gisbert *Joaquín Bergía *Víctor Bayo *Ricardo Tundidor *Antonio Cintado as Oficial francés *

Amedeo Nazzari Amedeo Nazzari (10 December 1907 in Cagliari – 5 November 1979 in Rome) was an Italian actor. Nazzari was one of the leading figures of Italian classic cinema, often considered a local variant of the Australian–American star Errol Flynn. Al ...

as Coronel *Ventura Oller

References

External links

* Spanish historical adventure films Films based on Carmen Films directed by Tulio Demicheli Films set in Spain Films set in 1808 Napoleonic Wars films Guerrilla warfare in film 1950s Spanish films {{Historic-film-stub