CATALINA'S
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The Early Years
Cinematography entered Spain towards the middle of 1896.The early productions were shorts about typically Andaluz folklore, in particular the baile. The first Flamenco presentation was a short featuring the cante of El Mochuelo directed by Ricardo de Baños in 1909. In 1914 the producer José Carrera contracted with Imperio Argentina to do a series of movies starting with La danza fatal (1914) directed by José de Togores. Pastora Imperio appeared on the screen in Gitana Cañi (1917) directed by Armando Pou and La Argentinita appeared in Rosario la cortijera (1923) of José Buchs. The following year the bailaora Mariquilla Ortega was featured in a very popular movie of the period called Santa Isabel de Ceres (1924) of José Sobrado de Onega. Florián Rey directed the first version of La Hermana San Sulpicio (1927) with Imperio Argentina released in February of 1928, followed two months later by the release of Rejas y votos (1928) directed by Rafael Salvador. The first version of La copla andaluza (1929) was released. The first “talking” movie, was Florián Rey’s Fútbol, amor y toros (1929) featuring Guerrita.
Fernando
Roldán directed Angelillo and Luis Yance in El sabor de
la gloria (1932) 
and a year
later Guerrita returned 
in Ricardo de Baños
‘s El relicario (1933).The second version of
La Hermana San Sulpicio (1934)
with Imperio Argentina, at the height of her career, and directed
again by Florián Rey was released . The
“talking” version of El negro que tenía el alma blanca
(1934) directed by
Benito Perojo with Angelillo was also released that year. The year of 1935 shows additional movies
with Flamenco themes: José Buchs’s Madre Alegría
(1935) with la Niña de la
Puebla; León Artola’s Rosario la Cortijera
(1935) with Estrellita Castro,
Niño de Utrera y Niño Sabicas; Fernando Roldán’s Paloma de
mis amores (1935) with Niño de Marchena, in his fist movie appearance; the
first, and most popular, version of La hija de Juan Simón
(1935), directed by
José Luis Sáenz de Heredia, with Carmen Amaya and Angelillo
singing the now famous Milonga
de Juan Simón; and Max Nosseck’s
Una
aventura oriental (1935) with Guerrita. In 1936, in addition to some shorts,
two movies were released featuring Flamenco artists: Francisco Elías’s María
de la O (1936)
with Carmen Amaya and Pastora Imperio; and Florían
Rey’s Carmen la de Triana (1936)
with Imperio Argentina and the
involvement of Ramón Montoya.
And,
on the folkloric level Florían Rey directed yet another movie, Morena Clara
(1936),
with Imperio Argentina. During the Spanish Civil War Alfonso Benavides
directed Amor gitano (1937) with Guerrita. A short,
Embrujo del
fandango (1937), with Carmen Amaya, was also made that year.
I
n
the forties, at the end of the Spanish Civil War, an explosion of nationalism
affected all aspects of Spanish society 
including the movies. Promoting
folkloric values was an essential element of this nationalism. It was, however,
commercialism rather than quality that prevailed. Two movies were released in
1940 starring el Niño Marchena: La
Dolores (1940) of Florían Rey with Conchita
Piquer and Fernando Mignoni’s Martingala
(1940) with Lola Flores. For
her part Imperio Argentina starred in La Marquesona
(1940) of Eusebio
Fernández Ardavin. In 1941 the following movies were released: Fernando
Rivero’s Seda, sangre y sol (1941)
with Carmen Amaya and a short Gypsy Dance
(1941)
also with Carmen Amaya; Ignacio Fernández de
Iquino’s Alma de Dios (1941)
with Trini Borrull; and
Alejandro Galindo’s Ni sangre ni arena
(1941) with el Niño del
Brillante.
In 1942
Mercedes Borrul La Gitana Blanca performed in
Malvaloca
(1942). And, José
Buchs's Un Caballero Famoso
(1942) was released with Manolo Caracol and Niño
Ricardo. Forja de almas
(1943) of Eusebio F. Ardavin was completed. The year 1944 saw the participation
of Flamenco artists in a variety of movies. Carmen Amaya was in Sueños
de Gloria (1944)
of Edward Sutherland along with Sabicas; and, in Pierna
de plata (1944), of Harry Joe Brown, with her troupe. Lola Flores and her
Canciones were in Alegrías
(1944) of Jesús Rey.
Andaluz
stereotypes were reflected in Macarena (1944), of Antonio Guzmán Merino, with Juanita
Reina and 
Mercedes Borrul. Similarly, Florián Rey’s Ana María
(1944) includes a short appearance by Marchena. Juan de Orduña, one of the most
typical director of the Spanish movie-making of this period, makes Leyenda de
Feria (1945) with Trini Borrul and Niño de Constantina, and
in 1947, adapts to the screen La lola se va a los puertos
(1947) with Juanita
Reina with the cante of Pepe Pinto and the guitarra of Melchor de
Marchena. Carlos Serrano de Osma, building up on the popularity of the
artistic team formed by Manolo Caracol and Lola Flores, directs Embrujo
(1946). It
is to note, however, that the most outstanding contribution, during the latter
part of this decade, was in the baile: José Díaz Morales’s Pasion gitana
(1946) with Carmen Amaya; Florián Rey’s Brindis a Manolete
(1948) with José Greco, in which also participated Rafael Romero,
Manolo Manzanilla, Luis Maravilla and Rosa Durán; Vicente
Escudero 
in La Revoltosa (1949) also directed by Díaz Morales; Antonio
and Rosario in El rey de Sierra Morena
(1949), directed by Adolfo
Aznar; Pastora Imperio, Manolo Vargas and Ana Esmeralda in El
amor brujo (1949) directed by Antonio Román. In addition, many documentary
shorts appeared such as: Sevillanas (1941),
Fandanguillo (1942)
, Claudio de la Torre's Misterio en la marisma
(1943) with Lola
Flores and Terremoto,
Pregones del embrujo (1945). Artists whose fame was acquired through
records or the theater now also extended their fame through films of unequal
qualities. Among the cancionistas: Estrellita Castro, Lola Flores, Conchita
Piquer, Juanita Reina, Imperio Argentina, Gracia de Triana.
And, among the Cantaores
cancioneros: Angelillo, Miguel de Molina, etc. delighting
the public with the lyrics and compositions of the maestros: Azagra, Quintero,
León, Quiroga, Ochaíta. Solano, Valero and
so on.
The
fifties saw an explosion of movies featuring Lola Flores, El Principe Gitano and
Antonio Molina. The major movie of this period, however, was Edgar Neville’s Duende
y misterio del Flamenco
(1952)
and premiered at the Coliseum in Madrid on the 15th of December with
wide acclaim from both the critics as well as the public. The movie, conceived
as a series of sequences each dedicated to a specific rhythm (palo) of Flamenco,
was both informative and documentary with very little narrative. Of
the major artists, that took part
in this movie, we note: Pilar López and Antonio Ruiz Soler, Antonio
Mairena, Jacinto Almadén, Aurelio de Cádiz, Bernarda and Fernanda de
Utrera, Pepe de Badajoz, Farruco, Rafael de Jerez, Luis maravilla, El Poeta,
Mercedes Broco, Pacita Tomás, etc.
The
participation of Flamenco or Aflamencado (pseudo-flamenco) artists in the
fifties is ample: Antonio, in addition to Neville’s movie, starred in Niebla
y sol (1951) of José María Forqué with Rosario;
Noches
andaluzas (1953) of Maurice Clauche,
Todo es posible en Granada (1954) with Manolo Escobar
directed by José Luis Sáenz de Heredia; Pan, amor y Andalucía
(1958)
of Javier Setó with Carmen Sevilla and Vittorio de Sica;
and, Luna de Miel (1958)
directed by Michael Powell with Antonio
and Ludmilla Tcherina. Pepe
Marchena
starred, along with Antoñita Moreno, in the new version of
La reina
mora (1954) directed by Raúl Alfonso and in which participated José
Cepero (cante) and the guitarras 
of 
Andrés Heredia and Benito de
Mérida; Angelillo interpreted Suspiros de Triana (1955) of
Ramón Torrado; and Tremolina (1956)
of Ricardo Núñez. Lola Flores, during this period, is a permanent
figure on the screen and appeared in: Julien Duvivier’s Jack el Negro (1950);
Ramón Torrado’s
La Niña de la
venta (1951) with Manolo Caracol. Despite the 
artistic
separation from Manolo
Caracol, Lola Flores starred
in Torrado’s Estrella de
Sierra Morena (1952);
Miguel Morayta's Pena,
penita, pena
(1953) ,
Florián Rey’s La Danza de los deseos (1954);
Luis Lucia’s Morena Clara (1954);
La hermana Alegría (1954)
with the same director; Lola
torbellino
(1955)
of René Cardona, Maricruz (1957)
of
Miguel Zacarías; Ramón Torrado’s new version of María de la O
(1957); Échame la culpa (1958) of Fernando Cortés;
Venta de
Vargas (1958) of Enrique Cahen, etc.
Antonio Molina had a part in El Piyayo (1955)
of
Luis Lucia and then starred in Antonio del Amo’s El pescador de
coplas
(1953) with Marujita Díaz; Esa voz es una mina (1955) of Lucia;
La
hija de Juan Simón (1956) of Gonzalo Delgrás;
Malagueña (1956) of
Ricardo Núñez with Lolita Sevilla; and, El cristo de los Faroles
(1957) of Gonzalo Delgrás. Enrique
Vargas El Príncipe Gitano stars in Brindis al cielo (1953) of José Buchs;
Veraneo en España (1955), of Miguel Iglesias; and
Heredero en apuras
(1956) with the same director. The next movie in which a number of Flamenco
artists participated was the new version of La copla andaluza (1959)
directed by Jerónimo Mihura: Rafael Farina, Adelfa Soto, Porrinas
de Badajoz, La Paquera de Jerez, Fernanda Romero, El Sevillano and Beni
de Cádiz. 
Other
artists with a
presence in movies were: Imperio
Argentina in Café Cantante (1951), of Antonio Momplet; Ana
Esmeralda in Lola la piconera (1952), of Luis Lucia, and María Dolores (1952) of José María
Elorrieta; Manolo El Malagueño in Cruz de Mayo (1954), which was
one of the last work of Florián Rey; Niño Ricardo in El festival de
la 3-D (1953) of Luis Torreblanca; Juanito Valderrama in
El rey de
la carretera (1954), of Juan Fortuny, with the guitarra
of Niño Ricardo and the baile of Gracia de Sacromonte; and
La Chunga in Espaldas a la puerta (1959), directed by José María
Forqué.
Cine Flamenco from the 60's into the New Millenium continues in Part II
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