reading

ÍNDICE

INTRODUCTION

1920-1949

Rogues and Romance (1920)

Blood and Sand (1922)

The Spanish Jade (1922)

The Bandolero (1924)

Duck Soup (1933)

Grand Canary (1934)

Desire (1936)

The Bullfighters (1945)

1950s

Black Jack (1950)

Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951)

Penny Princess (1952)

Babes in Bagdad (1952)

Decameron Nights (1953)

Our Girl Friday (1953)

That Man from Tangiers (1953)

Malaga (Fire Over Africa) (1954)

The Black Knight (1954)

Mister Arkadin (1954)

King’s Rhapsody (1955)

Richard III (1955)

That Lady (1955)

Contraband Spain (1955)

Thunderstorm (1955)

The Spanish Gardener (1956)

Around the world in 80 Days (1956)

Zarak (1956)

Alexander the Great (1956)

Moby Dick (1956)

The Man Who Never Was (1956)

Port Afrique (1956)

Action Stations (1956)

Chase a Crooked Shadow (1957)

The Pride and the Passion (1957)

The Sun Also Rises (1957)

Sail into Danger (1957)

Action of the Tiger (1957)

Spanish Affair (1957)

Across the Bridge (1957)

Sea Fury (1958)

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)

South Pacific (1958)

The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw (1958)

The Man Inside (1958)

Wonderful Things (1958)

Soloman and Sheba (1959)

Suddenly Last Summer (1959)

John Paul Jones (1959)

North West Frontier (1959)

Honeymoon (1959)

It started With a Kiss (1959)

Tommy the Toreador (1959)

SOS Pacific (1959)

1960s

The Boy Who Stole a Million (1960)

The Three Worlds of Gulliver (1960)

Holiday in Spain/Scent of Mystery (1960)

Spartacus (1960)

September Storm (1960)

Moment of Danger/ Málaga (1960)

King of Kings (1961)

El Cid (1961)

Mysterious Island (1961)

The Colossus of Rhodes (1961)

The Savage Guns (1961)

The Singer Not the Song (1961)

Francis of Assisi (1961)

Billy Budd (1962)

HMS Defiant (1962)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

The Happy Thieves (1962)

The Day of the Triffids (1962)

Guns of Darkness (1962)

Commando (1962)

The Running Man (1963)

Cleopatra (1963)

55 Days at Peking (1963)

The Castilian (1963)

The Ceremony (1963)

From Russia with Love (1963)

Woman of Straw (1964)

The Thin Red Line (1964)

A Fistful of Dollars (1964)

The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)

Circus World (1964)

Wonderful Life (1964)

The Pleasure Seekers (1964)

The Hill (1964)

The Truth about Spring (1964)

Gunfighters of Casa Grande (1964)

Pyro...the Thing without a Face (1964)

Saul and David (1964)

Von Ryan’s Express (1965)

A Few Dollars More (1965)

Chimes at Midnight (1965)

Doctor Zhivago (1965)

The Battle of the Bulge (1965)

Crack in the World (1965)

Finger on the Trigger (1965)

Masquerade (1965)

10.30 P.M. Summer (1965)

Sands of the Kalahari (1965)

The Tramplers (1965)

Joaquín Murrieta (1965)

Navajo Joe (1966)

A Funny thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)

How I Won the War (1966)

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

Return of the Seven (1966)

Lost Command (1966)

One Million Years BC (1966)

Kid Rodelo (1966)

Savage Pampas (1966)

The Texican (1966)

The Fantastic World of Doctor Coppelius (1966)

El Greco (1966)

Hallucination Generation (1966)

Finders Keepers (1966)

The Caper of the Golden Bulls (1967)

Camelot (1967)

You Only Live Twice (1967)

Custer of the West (1967)

Tobruk (1967)

The House of a Thousand Dolls (1967)

Fathom (1967)

Bikini Paradise (1967)

The Long Duel (1967)

The Christmas Kid (1967)

Cervantes (1967)

The Bobo (1967)

Grand Slam (1967)

OK Connery (1967)

Bang Bang (1967)

Duffy (1968)

The Magus (1968)

Villa Rides (1968)

Play Dirty (1968)

The Immortal Story (1968)

Beyond the Mountains/The Desperate Ones (1968)

Shalako (1968)

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

A Twist of Sand (1968)

The Face of Eve (1968)

Deadfall (1968)

The Vengeance of She (1968)

Son of a Gunfighter (1968)

Hot Line (1968)

The Wild Racers (1968)

Run Like a Thief (1968)

Kiss and Kill (1968)

Ace High (1968)

White Comanche (1968)

They Came to Rob Las Vegas (1968)

Massacre Harbor (1968)

The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1969)

100 Rifles (1969)

The Battle of Britain (1969)

A Talent for Loving (1969)

The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969)

Java: East of Krakatoa (1969)

The Valley of Gwangi (1969)

Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969)

The Desperados (1969)

Hard Contract (1969)

The Land Raiders (1969)

More (1969)

Some Girls Do (1969)

Island of Despair (1969)

Honeymoon with a Stranger (1969)

The Looking Glass War (1969)

Future Women/ The Girl From Rio (1969)

The House that Screamed (1969)

A Candidate for a Killing (1969)

1970s

Count Dracula (1970)

Dracula Versus Frankenstein (1970)

When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970)

Julius Caesar (1970)

Patton (1970)

Cromwell (1970)

The Last Grenade (1970)

The Great White Hope (1970)

Four Rode Out (1970)

A Man Called Sledge (1970)

Figures in a Landscape (1970)

The Condor (1970)

Cannon for Cordoba (1970)

The Buttercup Chain (1970)

Road To Salina (1970)

The Phynx (1970)

Umbracle (1970)

Le Mans, Shortcut to Hell (1970)

The Kashmiri Run (1970)

Man in the Wilderness (1971)

Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)

The Light at the Edge of the World (1971)

Blindman (1971)

F for Fake (1971),

The Horsemen (1971)

The Trojan Women (1971)

Hannie Caulder (1971)

Red Sun (1971)

Catlow (1971)

Duck You Sucker/ A Fistful of Dynamite (1971)

Valdez is Coming (1971)

The Deserter (1971)

The Hunting Party (1971)

Doc (1971)

Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971)

A Town called Hell (1971)

Kill (1971)

The Last Run (1971)

Hunt the Man Down/ Bad Man’s River (1971)

Deathwork/ The Guns of April Morning (1971)

Black Beauty (1971)

Rain for a Dusty Summer (1971)

A Gunfight (1971)

The Call of the Wild (1972)

Anthony and Cleopatra (1972)

Treasure Island (1972)

Travels with my Aunt (1972)

Pancho Villa (1972)

Horror Express (1972)

Chato’s Land (1972)

The Strange Vengeance of Rosalie (1972)

Doctor Phibes Rises Again (1972)

What the Peeper Saw/ Night Child (1972)

Innocent Bystanders (1972)

Summertime Killer (1972)

A Reason to Live, A Reason to Die (1972)

A Touch of Class (1973)

Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing (1973)

Papillon (1973)

The Three Musketeers (1973)

The Deadly Trackers (1973)

A Man Called Noon (1973)

Chino (1973)

Charley One Eye (1973)

The Final Programme (1973)

Shaft in Africa (1973)

The Adventures of Don Quijote (1973)

The Night of the Sorcerers (1973)

The Corruption of Chris Miller (1973)

My Name is Nobody (1973)

Charge (1973)

The Legend of Blood Castle (1973)

The Four Musketeers (1974)

What Changed Charley Farthing? (1974)

Stardust (1974)

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974)

The Spikes Gang (1974)

And then there were None (1974)

Blood Money/ The Stranger and the Gunfighter (1974)

Touch Me Not (1974)

Watch Out, We’re Mad (1974)

The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (1974)

The House of the Damned (1974)

The Land that Time Forgot (1975)

The Passenger (1975)

The Wind and the Lion (1975)

Once is not Enough (1975)

Take a Hard Ride (1975)

Breakout (1975)

The Adolescents (1975)

Zorro (1975)

Cry Onion! (1975)

Robin and Marian (1976)

Voyage of the Damned (1976)

Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1976)

Spanish Fly (1976)

The Story of David (1976)

Island of the Damned (1976)

Blue Jeans and Dynamite (1976)

The Four Feathers (1977)

Valentino (1977)

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)

The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977)

March or Die (1977)

The People that Time Forgot (1977)

Widows’ Nest (1977)

The Black Pearl (1977)

Battleflag (1977)

Impossible Love (1977)

The Lord of the Rings (1978)

Clayton Drumm (1978)

The Thief of Baghdad (1978)

The Nativity (1978)

The Greatest Battle (1978)

China 9, Liberty 37 (1978)

Cuba (1979)

Bloodbath (1979)

Jaguar Lives! (1979)

The House on Garibaldi Street (1979)

1980s

Black Jack (1980)

City of the Walking Dead/ Nightmare City (1980)

The Martian Chronicles (1980)

Reborn (1980)

Reds (1981)

Monster Island (1981)

Clash of the Titans (1981)

Coming at Ya (1981)

Evil Under the Sun (1982)

Conan the Barbarian (1982)

Best Revenge (1982)

Triumphs of a Man Called Horse (1982)

Black Comando (1982)

Pieces (1982)

Dragon Blood (1982)

Never Say Never Again (1983)

Krull (1983)

The Curse of the Pink Panther (1983)

The Treasure of the Four Crowns (1983)

Escape from El Diablo (1983)

Exterminators in the Year 3000 (1983)

The Keep (1983)

Bolero (1984)

The Hit (1984)

Yellow Hair and the Fortress of Gold (1984)

Eleni (1984)

Neverending Story (1984)

Scarab (1984)

Hydra-Monster of the Deep (1984)

Ibiza Connection (1984)

Lace (1984)

The Sun Also Rises (1984)

Meals on Wheels (1984)

Monster Dog (1984)

Black Arrow (1985)

Flesh and Blood (1985)

Rustlers’ Rhapsody (1985)

Bad Medicine (1985)

Enemy Mine (1985)

Dust (1985)

Lace 2 (1985)

Star Knight (1985)

Christopher Columbus (1985)

Alien Predator (1985)

Solar Babies (1986)

Gunbus/ Sky Pirates (1986)

Crystal Heart (1986)

Instant Justice (1986)

Eliminators (1986)

Harem (1986)

Strong Medicine (1986)

Armour of God (1986)

The Empire of the Sun (1987)

Monsignor Quixote (1987)

Siesta (1987)

Good Morning Babylon (1987)

Straight to Hell (1987)

Dark Tower (1987)

The Trouble with Spies (1987)

Crystalstone (1987)

The Living Daylights (1987)

Neat and Tidy (1987)

Beaks (The Movie) (1987)

Anguish (1987)

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)

Rowing in the Wind (1988)

Slugs (1988)

A Time of Destiny (1988)

Counterforce (1988)

Iguana (1988)

The Most Dangerous Man in the World (1988)

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

The Return of the Musketeers (1989)

Fine Gold (1989)

Blood and Sand (1989)

Time to Kill (1989)

The Man in the Brown Suit (1989)

Twisted Obsession (1989)

The White Room (1989)

Esmeralda Bay (1989)

A Man of Passion (1989)

The Shell Seekers (1989)

1990s

Bethune The Making of a Hero(1990)

Angel at My Table (1990)

Dr. M (1990)

Navy Seals (1990)

Honeymoon Academy (1990)

Cthulhu Mansion (1990)

Arrivederci Millwall (1990)

The Rift (1990)

Hot Blood (1990)

City Slickers (1991)

Immortal Sins (1991)

Born to Ride (1991)

Operation Condor (1991)

José Carreras: My Barcelona (1991)

Eye of the Widow (1991)

Shooting Elizabeth (1992)

1492: The Conquest of Paradise (1992)

Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992)

Revolver (1992)

Remember (1993)

Death and the Maiden (1994)

Uncovered (1994)

Barcelona (1994)

A Business Affair (1994)

Doomsday Gun (1994)

Land and Freedom (1995)

Two Much (1995)

Vendetta (1995)

Costa Brava (1995)

Sons of Trinity (1995)

The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca (1996)

Evita (1996)

Killer Tongue (1996)

Eye for an Eye (1996)

Wilde (1997)

Honey I Sent the Men to the Moon (1997)

In Praise of Older Women (1997)

Talk of Angels (1998)

Spanish Fly (1998)

Dollar for the Dead (1998)

Three Businessmen (1998)

Diana: A Tribute to the People’s Princess (1998)

The Sea Change (1998)

Amazing Women by the Sea (1998)

Presence of Mind (1999)

The Ninth Gate (1999)

The World is not Enough (1999)

Outlaw Justice (1999)

Plunkett & Macleane (1999)

The Last Seduction II (1999)

All The King’s Men (1999)

The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Spring Break Adventure (1999)

Camino de Santiago (1999)

2000-2009

Love and Basketball (2000)

Sexy Beast (2000)

Faust: Love of the Damned (2000)

One of the Hollywood Ten (2000)

Helter Skelter (2000)

Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000)

Don Quixote (2000)

Sabotage (2000)

The Pilgrim factor (2000)

Where is the Chesterfield King? (2000)

Happy Days (2000)

Off Key (2001)

Moulin Rouge (2001)

The Others (2001)

Gaudi Afternoon (2001)

Dagon (2001)

The Discovery of Heaven (2001)

Arachnid (2001)

Stranded (2001)

Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 (2001)

Intact (2001)

Baby Blue (2001)

Sword of Honour (2001)

Is Harry on the Boat? (2001)

Hemingway, the Hunter of Death (2001)

Hornblower: Mutiny (2001)

Die Another Day (2002)

Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (2002)

Callas Forever (2002)

The Dancer Upstairs (2002)

Food of Love (2002)

Come Together (2002)

Darkness (2002)

Welcome 2 Ibiza (2002)

Mystics (2002)

The Bourne Identity (2002)

High Speed (2002)

Second Name (2002)

Incubus (2002)

Morvern Callar (2002)

Chopin, Desire for Love (2002)

Lost in La Mancha (2002)

L’Auberge Espagnole (2002)

Bear’s Kiss (2002)

Angel of Death (2002)

The Galindez File (2003)

The Emperor’s Wife (2003)

Face of Terror (2003)

The Life of David Gale (2003)

The Visual Bible: The Gospel of John (2003)

Beyond Re-Animator (2003)

The Tulse Luper Suitcases (2003)

Imagining Argentina (2003)

Kombi Nation (2003)

Hey DJ (2003)

Jericho Mansions (2003)

Oh Marbella! (2003)

Seeing Double (2003)

Are We There Yet? (2003)

Cambridge Spies (2003)

A Talking Picture (2003)

The Reckoning (2004)

The Bridge of San Luis Rey (2004)

The Machinist (2004)

It’s all Gone Pete Tong (2004)

Ae Fond Kiss (2004)

Rottweiller (2004)

Art Heist (2004)

Blueberry (2004)

Fakers (2004)

The Birthday (2004)

Crusader (2004)

Glitterati (2004)

Romasanta: The Werewolf Hunt (2004)

People (2004)

Merlin (2004)

Visions of Europe (2004)

Within the Way Without (2004)

Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

Sahara (2005)

Fragile (2005)

The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

Soldier of God (2005)

Americano (2005)

Beneath Still Waters (2005)

The Business (2005)

The Secret Life of Words (2005)

The Nun (2005)

Wannabe (2005)

Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005)

Runt (2005)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2005)

A Sound of Thunder (2005)

One Day in Europe (2005)

The Kovak Box (2006)

Goya’s Ghosts (2006)

Perfume: the Story of a Murderer (2006)

Cargo (2006)

Tirant Lo Blanc (2006)

Backwoods (2006)

Mysterious Creatures (2006)

The Deal (2006)

Moscow Zero (2006)

Find Her, Keep Her (2006)

The Stoning (2006)

The Cheetah Girls 2 (2006)

The Fall (2006)

Ride Around the World (2006)

God in My Pocket (2006)

Xavier (2006)

The 9/11 Commission Report (2006)

Savage Grace (2007)

El Greco (2007)

Body Armour (2007)

Four Last Songs (2007)

Velocity (2007)

Intergalactic Combat (2007)

Blackout (2007)

Irina Palm (2007)

The Heart of the Earth (2007)

Hidden Camera (2007)

Goal 2 (2007)

Never Sleeps (2007)

The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Espionage Escapades (2007)

The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: My First Adventure (2007)

The Matador’s Mistress (2008)

Vantage Point (2008)

The Bourne Ultimatum (2008)

Che: Part 2 (2008)

Vicky, Cristina Barcelona (2008)

The Garden of Eden (2008)

Deception (2008)

Little Ashes (2008)

Unnatural Causes (2008)

Black Forest Gateau (2008)

The Twisted Tale of Bloody Mary (2008)

Ser o Estar (2008)

Donkey Punch (2008)

The El Escorial Conspiracy (2008)

The Crew (2008)

Reflections (2008)

Stevie (2008)

Sing For Darfur (2008)

Goodnight Irene (2008)

Telstar: the Joe Meek Story (2008)

My Life in Ruins (2009)

Green Zone (2009)

The Limits of Control (2009)

Triage (2009)

Tetro (2009)

Open Graves (2009)

The Frost (2009)

Paintball (2009)

The Damned United (2009)

The Third Testament: The Antichrist and the Harlot (2009)

Nothing Personal (2009)

My Last Five Girlfriends (2009)

The Lost (2009)

Original (2009)

Just Shy of Being (2009)

2010-2019

Knight and Day (2010)

Mr. Nice (2010)

Clash of the Titans (2010)

The Way (2010)

Buried (2010)

The Disciple (2010)

Four Lions (2010)

Powder (2010)

I Want to Be a Soldier (2010)

Room in Rome (2010)

The Honey Killer (2010)

Magic Journey to Africa (2010)

Exorcismus (2010)

Puzzled Love (2010)

Di Di Hollywood (2010)

Mad Dogs (2010)

Underground (2010)

Maximum Shame (2010)

The Impossible (2011)

The Cold Light of Day (2011)

Weekender (2011)

11-11-11 (2011)

There Be Dragons (2011)

Intruders (2011)

We Need to Talk about Kevin (2011)

Haywire (2011)

Jack and Jill (2011)

The Inbetweeners (2011)

Boronia Backpackers (2011)

The Perfect Stranger (2011)

Trangression (2011)

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011)

Checkout (2011)

Road to Wacken (2011)

Apartment 143 (2011)

Haunted Poland (2011)

Red Lights (2012)

A Puerta Fria (2012)

The Dictator (2012)

Zig Zag Kid (2012)

Cloud Atlas (2012)

The Wine of Summer (2012)

Wrath of the Titans (2012)

The Stranger Inside (2012)

The Strange Case of Wilhelm Reich (2012)

The Nowhere Son (2012)

Deranged (2012)

Dancing Dogs (2012)

Invader (2012)

Miami II Ibiza (2012)

Ibiza: My Way or the Highway (2012)

Animals (2012)

The Corpse Grinders 3 (2012)

Things We Do for Love (2012)

Grand Piano (2013)

The Fast and the Furious 6 (2013)

The Counselor (2013)

The Macabre Ayahuasca Hammer Experience (2013)

Mindscape (2013)

Wax (2013)

Blue Lips (2013)

Open Windows (2013)

Panzer Chocolate (2013)

Kid Gloves (2013)

A Long Way Down (2013)

Leaving Hotel Romatic (2013)

Stunt Games (2013)

Another Me (2013)

Mama (2013)

Afflicted (2013)

A Night in Old Mexico (2013)

The World (2013)

Encontrados en NYC (2013)

The Liberator (2013)

The Gunman (2014)

Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)

Traces of Sandalwood (2014)

The Tilbury Run (2014)

A Perfect Day (2014)

Summer Camp (2014)

Let the Die Be Cast: Initium (2014)

Twice upon a Time in the West (2014)

Six Bullets to Hell (2014)

Seve the Movie (2014)

Aloft (2014)

Erasmus the Film (2014)

The Afterglow (2014)

Generation Z (2015)

Never Let Go (2015)

The Hunting of the Snark (2015)

In the Heart of the Sea (2015)

Jupiter Ascending (2015)

Tomorrowland (2015)

Nobody Wants the Night (2015)

Don’t Speak (2015)

Taken 3 (2015)

Sweet Home (2015)

Shadows in the Distance (2015)

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015)

Extinction (2015)

Don’t Grow Up (2015)

Second Origin (2015)

The Forsaken (2015)

My Bakery in Brooklyn (2016)

Wild Oats (2016)

Gunned Down (2016)

D is for Detroit (2016)

Assassin’s Creed (2016)

It Came from the Desert (2016)

Altamira (2016)

Mine (2016)

Risen/Clavius (2016)

Project Lazarus (2016)

A Monster Calls (2016)

The Chosen (2016)

The Promise (2016)

All I See is You (2016)

What About Love (2016)

The Matador’s Cape (2016)

Brimstone (2016)

Jason Bourne (2016)

Paper, Scissors, Stone (2016)

Foe/The Curse (2016)

Voyeur (2016)

A Private Story (2016)

The Evil that Men Do (2016)

The Analyst (2016)

The Fire Dragon (2016)

The Impossible Suit (2016)

Leavey (2016)

Dead on Time (2016)

White Island (2016)

The Night Manager (2016)

The Price of Death (2016)

Gernika (2016)

The Titan (2016)

Allied (2016)

Blood Orange (2016)

Major Locations by Provinces

GALERÍA DE IMÁGENES

1920-1949

Rogues and Romance (1920)

In the days long before Franco would happily loan his period piece army to American producers, the Kingdom of Spain would not allow fight scenes to be filmed on its soil, and consequently a Spanish village was built for this film in Larchmont, New York State.

Some non-violent scenes were however permitted in Algeciras, Cadiz, Granada, Sevilla and Malaga, where the mountains of Ronda were a popular place to film films about banditry. And for banditry!

On the other hand, perhaps it was the subject matter, about a Spanish revolutionary abducting a rich, American girl that triggered the refusal.

This silent movie was directed by George B Seitz, who also played the part of the rich father.

Blood and Sand (1922)

This silent movie (although they would have been speaking English if we could have heard them) starring Rudolph Valentino, was set in Sevilla, although largely shot in Hollywood studios by Fred Niblo, who made the first version of ‘Ben Hur’ among other things.

According to Francisco Perales, Sevilla University teacher and author of books about Hollywood in Spain, a second film unit was sent to Sevilla for background shots, and so we can see the famous Giralda tower and Calle Mateos Gago, with its typical orange trees (not so orange in black and white of course, nor rustling pleasantly in the whispering breeze, come to think of it).

The film is one of several based on the book by the Valencian writer Vicente Blasco Ibañez.

The film contains all the kitsch of films of that epoch, with exaggerated gestures and intense, moody staring at the camera. In an early scene we see one of Juan Gallardo’s (Valentino’s) friends mortally wounded by a bull, and Juan, instead of helping him, rushes off, kills the bull and only then rushes back for his friend’s final seconds. Priorities are priorities after all!

The film is all about rags to riches, with our hero living in a hovel with strategically placed brickwork protruding from the broken plaster just to prove the point, and an array of colourful characters dressed in carefully-crafted rags.

The soundtrack couldn’t have cost much, consisting of droning organ music, as if somebody were working up the energy to compose a dirge.

Our hero is too weak to wholly love the woman he loves, falling inevitably into the wicked clutches of the nefarious Doña Sol. Doña Sol’s servant is perhaps the most intriguing character, dressed like something out of Arabian Nights, or possibly Arabian Mornings After, and of uncertain gender, it prances around casting meaningful looks that turn out to have nothing to do with anything; “meaning nothing” as Shakespeare pointed out.

The various bullfights, although made in a studio, are interspersed with real bullfight footage, presumably shot by director Fred Niblo’s second crew. A large advertisement for El Aguila beer, whose first brewery was opened in Madrid in 1900, is clearly visible in one scene.

The original brewery in Calle Ramírez de Prado, nº 3 was closed in 1985 and is now a regional library.

After making enquiries at the Library, bullfighting enthusiasts working there told me that the bullring images could have been filmed at Pamplona (Navarra), Alicante or Zamora bullrings, although it might also have been the now demolished Fuente del Berro bullring in Madrid.

The Spanish Jade (1922)

It is amazing to think that when Alfred Hitchcock was just starting out in the film business, that he came to Spain, to Sevilla in fact, as a location scout, when working as title designer on this silent movie, which is officially classified as ‘lost’.

Among the ‘Spanish’ cast of this American film were British actor David Powell and Australian Marc McDermott.

Canadian John S Robertson directed. He was the inspiration for the song ‘Old John Robertson’ on the legendary ‘Notorious Byrd Brothers’ album by The Byrds.

The Bandolero (1924)

Although a silent movie, this was one of the first American productions made in Spain (and Cuba), and was shot entirely in English, but with subtitles obviously.

Pedro de Cordoba, Gustav von Seyffertitz, and Renée Adorée starred in a film about ravishing bandits (bandits who ravish I mean to say), directed by Tom Terriss.

Manuel Granado, a young Argentine actor was actually gored by a bull in the bullring at Cordoba during shooting; footage which found its way opportunistically into the final cut. Ouch!

Duck Soup (1933)

One town where Hollywood has left a lasting impression is the village of Loja, situated in the mountains of Granada province.

Although the Marx Brothers were never there, for some reason lost in the mists of time, an image of the village appears at the beginning of the film, supposedly portraying the kingdom of Sylvania.

The place from where the photo was taken has since been renamed ‘Mirador (viewpoint) de Sylvania’, and silhouettes of three of the Brothers have been erected there to commemorate its brief moment of glory.

Mussolini banned this film about political misdeeds, which is always a good reason for revisiting it.

Grand Canary (1934)

Despite the name, the film was mostly shot on the southern, sunnier shores of Tenerife Island rather than Gran Canaria, from which it takes its name.

In the film the island is suffering from an epidemic of Yellow Fever, with just a dash of cholera to add variety, which isn’t the best kind of tourist promotion, but then no news is bad news.

Maybe the producers confused ‘yellow’ with ‘tanned’, which is not surprising on an island that averages 255 sunny days per year.

Based on the novel of the same name by A.J. Cronin and directed by Irving Cummings, the film tells the story of a doctor in disgrace who heads for a new life in tropical climes, only to find sweaty love, jealousy and sickness.

The Spanish authorities were not amused by the film, and diplomatic protests were registered about the poor image of the Canaries and, perhaps worst of all, the positioning of Spain’s highest mountain in Gran Canaria island instead of Tenerife, where it can usually be found.

The doctor was played by Warner Baxter, who was not only the first American to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, but also lived through the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.

Desire (1936)

Gary Cooper is on his way from Paris to San Sebastian in Guipúzcoa for a holiday, when he runs across jewel thief Marlene Dietrich, who uses him to smuggle some jewels into Spain (Cooper is only smuggling cigarettes, although his greatest crime here is his singing).

Once there, after an eventful trip in which donkeys play a prominent part, they meet up in the Hotel Continental Palace, (opened in 1884 and closed in 1972).

Unfortunately the stars never made it to Spain in the year for whom the bells tolled, although a film crew was despatched to film the images that formed a backdrop.

As a portal for Spanish tourism, Cooper’s phrase “what a country! What eggs!” must be one of the most original tourist slogans ever invented, and one that surprisingly hasn’t been borrowed by the Spanish authorities. Yet.

About half an hour into the film we see brief scenes of San Sebastian’s famous curving Concha beach, its promenade ‘Paseo Nuevo’ with its tamarind trees and the Alderdi Eder square, where the Town Hall stands.

San Sebastian must have been extraordinarily international in the 30s; according to the film, the local newspaper, ‘Diario de San Sebastian’, was published entirely in English (which is even more amazing when considering that it had ceased publishing back in 1887), and the customs officers who discover Cooper’s cigarettes speak impeccable Oxford English.

The looming Urgull Mountain can also briefly be seen in the film, with its castle and English cemetery, a reminder of the siege of the city in 1813, when the Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon’s troops (and then rather churlishly burnt the town).

When Cooper and Dietrich leave the hotel they drive through some ‘typical’ Spanish scenery, replete with rocky crags and rushing rivers.

They also drive out of Toledo, across the San Martín bridge with the castle of San Servando (now a Youth Hostel) behind them. Their journey ends at the Villa Rubio in non-existent Guadarale.

The Bullfighters (1945)

‘The Bullfighters,’ directed by Mal St. Clair, stars none other than Laurel and Hardy in their penultimate film together, and in which Stan has to face up to the bulls down Mexico way.

The famous duo never actually made it to Spain, but according to Ramon Herrera, author of ‘La Cineclopedia Navarra’, the film contains some documentary inserts from the early 40s of bulls being released in the bullring of Pamplona, Navarra, following the famous bull run of the festival of San Fermin, made internationally famous by the writings of Ernest Hemingway.