''The Call of Africa'' (Spanish: ''La llamada de África'') is a 1952 Spanish

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

directed by César Fernández Ardavín and starring

Irma Torres Irma Torres (9 March 1926 - 5 June 2010) was a Mexican film and television actress during the golden age of Mexican cinema. Career Torres began her career in 1944 in the film '' Maria Candelaria'' alongside Dolores del Rio and Pedro Armenda ...

Ángel Picazo Ángel Picazo (1 July 1917 – 22 October 1998) was a Spanish film actor. He appeared in 30 films between 1947 and 1980. He was born in Murcia, Spain and died in Madrid, Spain. Selected filmography * '' The Call of Africa'' (1952) * '' Two ...

and

Gérard Tichy Gerard Tichy (also Gérard Tichy, Gerhard Tichi and Gerardo Tichy, 11 March 1920 – 11 April 1992) was a Spanish actor of German descent, who appeared in numerous movies, including several international productions. He was born in Weißenfels ...

. It is set in 1940 in Spanish Morocco. It was made at a time when Spain's dictator

General Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...

was trying to forge a closer relationship with the

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

states of the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

and the film promotes a concept of the "blood brotherhood" that links the Spanish and Moroccans.Passerini, Labanyi & Diehl p.132

Synopsis

German agents operating out of

Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a spa and resort town and in World War II was the capital of ...

-controlled Mauritania attempt to sabotage a strategic Spanish

airstrip An aerodrome ( Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for pub ...

. The Spanish and their native Moroccan allies are able to thwart this. The film's hero a Spanish colonial army officer, enters into a relationship with a Berber princess.

Cast

In alphabetical order * Ali Beiba Uld Abidin * Yahadid Ben Ahmed Lehbib * Farachi Ben Emboiric * Embarc Ben Mohamed Lamin *

Mario Berriatúa Mario Berriatúa (1925–1970) was a Spanish film actor.Smith p.154 Selected filmography * '' Mariona Rebull'' (1947) * '' Guest of Darkness'' (1948) * '' Neutrality'' (1949) * ''Don Juan'' (1950) * ''Tales of the Alhambra'' (1950) * '' The Troub ...

* Tomás Blanco *

Fernando Heiko Vassel Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. It is equivalent to the G ...

* Tony Hernández *

José Jaspe José Jaspe ( gl, Xosé Jaspe Rivas) (10 August 1906 – 5 June 1974) was a Spanish film actor. He played Konev the conductor in '' Horror Express'' (1972), Ahmed in '' House of 1,000 Dolls'' (1967), Henneker in ''The Man Called Noon'' (1973), th ...

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 villaino ...

* Mayrata O'Wisiedo *

* Gustavo Re *

Santiago Rivero Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

* Emilio Ruiz de Córdoba *

References

Bibliography

* Bentley, Bernard. ''A Companion to Spanish Cinema''. Boydell & Brewer 2008. * Passerini, Luisa, Labanyi, Jo & Diehl, Karen. ''Europe and Love in Cinema''. Intellect Books, 2012.

External links

* 1952 war films 1952 films 1950s Spanish-language films Films directed by César Fernández Ardavín Films set in Morocco Films set in 1940 Films scored by Jesús García Leoz Films shot in Almería Spanish black-and-white films Spanish World War II films 1950s Spanish films {{1950s-Spain-film-stub