A native of Barcelona, Franciso Madrid worked as a journalist in
Barcelona, Paris, Geneve, Madrid, and Buenos Aires. In Madrid, he was
the vice-editor of the daily La Voz. He married Catalan comedy actress
'María Luisa Rodríguez'. Like many supporters of the Spanish Republic,
he left Spain in 1936 for Argentina.
In Buenos Aires, Francisco Madrid worked as a journalist, most notably
for the newspapers Noticias Gráficas, La Prensa, and the magazine El
Hogar. But, his major contribution in Argentina was to the Argentine
film industry. He wrote or co-wrote eight screenplays, among them the
classic 'La Cabalgata del Circo' (1945), co-written with 'Mario
Soffici'.
In Buenos Aires, he wrote "Cine de hoy y de mañana," published in 1945,
and "Cincuenta años de cine. Crónica del séptimo arte," published in
1946. It was later considered a pioneering work, with a full chapter
describing the origins and history of the then incipient Latin American
movie industry.