Zampo y yo

The young Ana Belén (Ana Belén herself) is sad because her mother died years ago and her father Carlos (Luís Dávila) works a lot and he sees her very little throughout the day sees her very little. One day, while walking through Madrid, she enters a circus and becomes friends with the clown Zampo (Fernando Rey) and the orphan boy Manolo (Humberto Sempere).

Told looking at the camera by Zampo himsef as if it were a fairy tale, and imitating James Stewart in ¨The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)¨ by Cecil B de Mille, Fernando Rey always appears dressed as a clown and only at the end a sign indicates that he is playing Zampo. From that moment on, Ana only wants to be with them, but her bitter father forbids her to frequent the circus. Things get worse when soon after Ana discovers an extraordinary surprise.

After the producers Manuel J. Goyanes launched Marisol in ¨Un rayo de sol¨ and Luis Sanz launched Rocio Durcal in ¨Una canción de juventud¨, the producer Leonardo Martín tries to do the same with Ana Belén in a similar product for kiddies and teenagers, presenting this new young singer, but achieving relative success. Thus, despite following a similar sentimental formula to those films, having the character with the same name as the young debuting actress and being full of songs, the result of "Zampo y yo" did not win the success of the previous ones and getting a certain oblivion that today has been partly recovered thanks to its protagonist, who would achieve a fruitful career throughout a long life. After this film, the stage director Miguel Narros -who has a small role and is also in charge of the setting- encouraged Ana Belén to begin studying dramatic art with him, and subsequently she starred in some good theater productions under his direction and thus her career changed completely, becoming a memorable dramatic actress.

There's beautiful songs in the film, most of them performed by Ana Belén, with music and lyrics by Augusto Algueró and Antonio Guijarro and Los Brincos, such as: ¨Muy cerca de ti¨, ¨La canción de Zampo¨, ¨El mundo mágico¨, ¨Es maravilloso¨, ¨Esta noche¨, ¨Yo soy así¨, ¨Mentira¨ and ¨Tengo un nuevo ángel¨.

Despite not achieving the expected success, "Zampo y yo" won some awards and nominations, such as:3 wins Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain 1966 Winner CEC Award Best Screenplay Luis Lucia, Leonardo Martín, Joaquín Parejo Díaz, Raúl Peña. National Syndicate of Spectacle, Spain Zampo y yo (1966) 1965 Winner Prize of the National Syndicate of Spectacle Best Film Rank: 3th place. 1965 Winner Prize of the National Syndicate of Spectacle Best Male Star Fernando Rey.

The motion picture was unevenly but professionally directed by Luis Lucia . He was an advocate at law for the powerful production company Cifesa . His film debut was ¨13-13¨ and subsequently ¨Hombre De Negocios¨, two average ¨comedies . Later on , he directed two dated historical dramas : ¨Princesa De Ursinos¨ and ¨Jeromin¨ . Lucia directed fantasy comedies as ¨La Lupa¨, ¨Un Angel Tuvo La Culpa¨ and this one . And he made various Folkloric films for Juanita Reina : ¨Lóla La Piconera¨ , ¨Gloria Mairena¨ , Carmen Sevilla : ¨Hermana De San Sulpicio¨ , Lola Flores : ¨Morena Clara¨ , Antonio Molina : ¨Esta Voz Es Una Mina¨ , among others . And he directed various vehicles for child and teen Prodigy , such as Marisol , Rocio Durcal and Ana Belén . Rating : 6/10 . An acceptable film with sensitive interpretations, but only for Spanish cinema enthusiastas, as well as Ana Belén and Fernando Rey fans.