Segundo López, aventurero urbano

This is a 'must see' for those who enjoy Spanish Cinema. It is the first film made by a woman during General Franco's Dictatorship, Ana Mariscal, who was much appreciated as an actor in the years following the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). She had, however, to create her own production company in order to go ahead with her project. With little finances and the help of friends from the film world, the production went ahead on a shoe string. Much was by necessity shot in the streets of Madrid. This caused many problems with the Official Censorship Office, which required numerous cuts and a modified ending since it presented an image of Spain which implicitly contradicted the official government propaganda of prosperity for all under the regime. As they present the struggling characters, the locations and real streets of a struggling Madrid none the less constitute one of the present merits of the film. The Quixotic pair were not played by professional actors, yet Severiano Población as Segundo López (a paleto, or naïve provincial, who comes to the city to try his luck with his inheritance) and Martín Ramírez as his side-kick El Chirri act their part convincingly. Ana Mariscal cast herself as the sick Marta, and the episodes are framed by an indigent writer keeping warm in a café and engaging with the couple; he is played by Leocadio Mejías the author of the original tale that inspired the film. Tony Leblanc makes an appearance as a struggling photographer trying to explore tourists and migrants as they arrive at the railway station. There is no substantial plot but a tale of survival in a series of connected episodes which allow the subject matter and implicit social commentary to be treated lightly, with humour and even farce on occasion. One of these episodes includes the director Manuel Mur Oti, playing a film director making his own film and needing extras.