''Spanish Affair'' is a 1957 American–Spanish co-produced

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Don Siegel Donald Siegel ( ; October 26, 1912 – April 20, 1991) was an American film and television director and producer. Siegel was described by ''The New York Times'' as "a director of tough, cynical and forthright action-adventure films whose taut ...

and

Luis Marquina Luis Marquina ( 25 May 1904 Barcelona- 26 June 1980 Madrid) was a Spanish film director and screenwriter. Selected filmography * ''The Dancer and the Worker'' (1936) * ''Whirlwind (1941 film), Whirlwind'' (1941) * ''Malvaloca (1942 film), Malva ...

. It features

Carmen Sevilla María del Carmen García Galisteo (born 16 October 1930), in Seville, Spain, known professionally as Carmen Sevilla, is a retired Spanish actress, singer and dancer. She began her career in the 1940s and became one of the most popular and hi ...

Richard Kiley Richard Paul Kiley (March 31, 1922 – March 5, 1999) was an American stage, film and television actor and singer. He is best known for his distinguished theatrical career in which he twice won the Tony Award for Best Actor In A Musical. Kiley ...

and

José Guardiola José Guardiola Díaz de Rada, (22 October 1930 – 9 April 2012) was a Spanish singer of popular music who sang in Spanish and Catalan. Guardiola was born in Barcelona. He performed and recorded mostly Spanish versions of foreign songs and re ...

. It was shot at the CEA Studios in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. 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 ...

Tambi Larsen Tambi Larsen (11 September 1914 – 24 March 2001) was a Denmark, Danish art director born in Bangalore, India. He emigrated to the United States at the age of 20, where he attended Yale Drama School. He married Barbara Dole (daughter of James ...

and

Hal Pereira Hal Pereira (April 29, 1905 – December 17, 1983) was an American art director, production designer, and occasional architect. Pereira was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Sarah (Friedberg) and Saul Pereira. In the 1940s through the 1960s ...

Plot

Merritt Blake, a young American architect, comes to Spain to close a series of commercial agreements. When he learns that he will need to convince three Spanish architects of the design which he has proposed, he insists on inviting Mari (Antonio's assistant) to function as interpreter. They set off, first to visit the Conde de Rivera, who tells Merritt that he will support the project if his colleague in Barcelona favors the plan. Mari cautions Merritt that this is not a "done deal." On the way to Barcelona, Mari notices that her former boyfriend is following her. She fears that he will assume she is involved inappropriately with the architect. She tries to return to Madrid, but the architect insists she continue the journey with him.

Cast

as Merritt Blake *

as Mari Zarubia * Jose Guardiola as Antonio *

Jesús Tordesillas Jesús Tordesillas Fernández (28 January 1893 – 24 March 1973) was a Spanish film actor. He appeared in 94 films between 1921 and 1973. He starred in the film '' Reckless'' which was entered into the 1951 Cannes Film Festival. Selected ...

as Sotelo *

José Manuel Martín José Manuel Martín Pérez (born 24 May 1924) is a Spanish retired film and television actor, radio broadcaster, and screenwriter. He was a popular character actor in Spanish cinema during the 1950s and 60s, best remembered for playing villainou ...

as Fernando *

Francisco Bernal Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...

as waiter * Purita Vargas as Purita * Antonio S. Amaya as Miguel *

Rafael Farina Rafael Antonio Salazar Motos (born ), commonly known as Rafael Farina (Rafael Salazar for his composing work), was a singer of Copla and Flamenco. His granddaughter is the pop-singer Tamara. Biography Farina was born in Martinamor, into a R ...

as flamenco singer

Curiosities

*The film was made on location in

using the same cameras and auxiliary camera equipment as ''

Funny Face ''Funny Face'' is a 1957 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Stanley Donen and written by Leonard Gershe, containing assorted songs by George and Ira Gershwin. Although having the same title as the 1927 Broadway musical ''Funny F ...

''; Paramount had shipped the equipment from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, then held it over in Europe for this production after the

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

Audrey Hepburn Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, t ...

project had wrapped.Steinhart, Daniel. (2019). ''Runaway Hollywood: Internationalizing Postwar Production and Location Shooting''. University of California Press. p. 92. . *One of the cars which appears in the film is a

Pegaso Z-102 The Pegaso Z-102 is a Spanish sports car produced by Pegaso in Spain in both coupé and cabriolet form from 1951 until 1958. The Z-102 was the fastest production car in the world at the time of production, having reached a top speed of . Backg ...

Spyder.

References

External links

* *http://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film182752.html Spanish drama films 1957 drama films 1957 films Films directed by Don Siegel American drama films Films set in Spain Films scored by Daniele Amfitheatrof Paramount Pictures films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films {{1950s-drama-film-stub

Plot

Cast

Curiosities

See also

References

External links