Cinema
Welcome Mr. Marshall!
¡Bienvenido, Mister Marshall!
Luis García Berlanga · 1953
Synopsis
Villar del Río, a small village in Castile, in the Spain of the fifties. A visit from an American delegation is announced, and the village, hoping for its share of the Marshall Plan, prepares to dazzle it. On the advice of a flamenco impresario who has been to Boston, who has come with his singer, the mayor has the villagers dressed up as Andalusians and the streets decorated in the Andalusian style, and everyone must say what they will ask of the Americans. On the eve of the visit, several villagers dream of America in their own way.
Context
The film was meant to be merely a vehicle for the singer Lolita Sevilla, imposed by the production company; Berlanga, who wrote the screenplay with Miguel Mihura and Bardem, made it a satire. Shot in ten weeks at Guadalix de la Sierra, north of Madrid, it has the villagers play almost all the roles except the leading ones, taken by José Isbert and Manolo Morán; Fernando Rey is the narrator. The censors passed it, seeing in it a satire of the Americans. At Cannes, a scene showing the American flag in a stream shocked Edward G. Robinson and was cut.
Who it is for
A satirical, ensemble comedy, which mocks both Franco's Spain and the American dream.
Prizes and reception
Prize for best comedy and mention for the screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival in 1953; rereleased in France in 2017.