Calle Mayor

In a provincial Spanish town a group of bored pranksters (grown men) decide to play a cruel joke on a 35 year old spinster called Isabel(Betsy Blair) by pretending one of them - Juan(Jose Suarez) - has fallen in love with her. Some of this is observed by a writer from Madrid(and friend of Juan's) called Federico(Yves Massard), who looks on in increasing disgust. Released in 1956 this is an award winning feature film from writer/director J. A.(Juan Antonio) Bardem, which is part small town portraiture (a town riddled with all kinds of make believe - religion,militarism, hypocrisy,sexism,greed,egotism etc.), and part rumination on love, relationships and marriage, and the lies and artifice inherent in aspects of them. It's a slow burning drama, featuring a group of 'men' who look like extras from 'I Vitelloni', and dealing with themes of boredom, loneliness, and people's responsibility to other human beings.

Prologue:let's put it straight.Betsy Blair is miscast.Is this because she played Borgnine's so called ugly girl in the Oscar-winning "Marty" (1955)?Perhaps so ,but her beaming face ,her luminous smile,her intense longing for happiness are anything but unattractive .She's not Ava Gardner,by a long shot,but she easily outshines her would be handsome lover.

Prologue 2:Is it possible,considering the high rating of "calle mayor",that nobody -Spanish users,get a life!It's your culture!- felt like writing about this unfairly overlooked gem? "Calle Mayor" (Grand Rue,Hauptstrasse,Main Street)is the place where ,in a provincial town,people meet,talk and wait.All a woman has to do , Tonia says ,is wait wait wait ,behind her window,at the ball,or on "calle mayor".Isobel has been waiting for eighteen years for a man,because,in the fifties in Spain (and in Europa as well),the only way a woman had is marriage.Or she would become a wallflower and a spinster.

"Calle mayor" is a trap :the omnipresence of religion can be felt here there and everywhere ,with the church bells marking out the hours in a town that has stood still for years,with the nuns pacing up and down the street ,asking for a few pesetas more for their good works.A group of men ,not so young anymore,is searching for something to do.A good joke would be nice to kill time :so they ask one of them to pretend he's in love with Isobel ,the thirty-five year old woman-at the time,it was much too late !-.Isobel begins to live in a dream,and the buck cannot bring himself to tell her the truth (out of pity?he does not know himself)..I say it again,Betsy Blair,although excellent was not the right choice :first she's not Spanish ,and mainly she 's not ugly .So it does not always work well,because,if we were in the man's shoes,we would fall in love head over heals with her.But this must not prevent you from watching Juan Bardem's sensitive work:his depiction of the provincialism is absorbing , the sad landscapes on the edge of town or this little railway station where the tragedy is resolved are masterfully filmed.

Juan Bardem was a committed artist.He was arrested before he finished "Calle Mayor" and later he produced Bunuel's masterpiece "Viridiana".It's really too bad that ,now that Spanish cinema triumphs again with Amenabar ,Bardem's name should be virtually forgotten.

"The Lovemaker" or ¨Main Street¨ deals with a group of ¨Amigotes¨ or friends (Luis Peña , Jose Calvo , Alfonso Godá , Manuel Alexandre) decide to have a good time and play a trick on a spinster named Isabel (Betsy Blair married to Gene Kelly) . Therefore one of them , called Juan (Jose Suarez who was a big star in Spanish and Italian cinema) , has to pretend to fall in love with her .

This splendid drama develops a peculiar romance , plenty of sadness and melancholy , between a bank clerk full of doubts and an unmarried woman . Based on on the play "La Señorita de Trévelez" by Carlos Arniches , being well adapted by the same filmmaker , Juan Antonio Bardem . Fine performances from Betsy Blair as a bourgeoisie lady , a sweet and lonely woman who falls in love with an unscrupulous person . Betsy Blair , recent her Oscar for ¨Marty¨, steals the show , she gives a sensitive and unforgettable acting . The movie displays a Spanish secondary star-studded such as Jose Calvo , Manuel Alexandre , Jose Prada , Luis Peña and international actors as Dora Doll , Ives Massard and Lila Kedrova . This is a 'rara avis' film of the 50s because dealing with a strong portrait of Spanish society , it didn't please the pro-Franco authorities and was strongly censored . Bardem's conceptual and political audacity as well as the social criticism result to be so evident in this film who he had to fight the censorship which didn't admit the some engaging scenes and obligated a determined ending . During the start of filming , student protests in Madrid, led to the arrest of director Juan Antonio Bardem, a communist, in the city of Palencia and carried out by the Brigada Politica Social . He was jailed for a few days and released on the condition that he could not talk about his personal life or beliefs during interviews related to the film . After Bardem's jailing and release, he decided to stop early filming in Palencia, and shot the remaining of the movie in other cities . Atmospheric and Neo-realist cinematography by Michael Kelber and adequate musical score by Joseph Kosma . Being shot on location in Palencia , Cuenca in which was filmed most nature images and the apartment building being constructed . And Plaza Mayor of Logroño , where took place most city scenes, including the main square with the arcades . The rest was shot in Madrid , in Chamartín Studios and Suevia Films-Cesáreo González Studios .

The motion picture was very well directed by Juan Antonio Bardem . Bardem was a good filmmaker and older brother of Pilar Bardem and son of notorious actors as Rafael Bardem and Matilde Muñoz Sampedro , who in ¨Main street¨ she plays the maid or Chacha . Furthermore , he is uncle of Oscarized Javier Bardem , Carlos Bardem , Mónica Bardem and father of Miguel Bardem . Bardem was an outspoken critic of the Franco regime, his political views prevented him from gaining a diploma from the Spanish cinema institute in 1947 . Thereafter, he worked as a critic and finally broke into films as writer/director of the much acclaimed ¨Death of a cyclist¨ or Muerte De un Ciclista (1955), which won the 1956 Cannes International Critics Award . Other classic films he wrote or directed are the followings : ¨Bienvenido Mr. Marshall¨ (co-directed by Luis Garcia Berlanga) , ¨Esa Pareja Feliz¨, ¨Comicos¨ , ¨Sonatas¨, ¨La Venganza¨, among others . ¨Calle Mayor¨ rating : Above average , essential and indispensable seeing for Spanish cinema fans ; in fact it was voted ninth best Spanish film by professionals and critics in 1996 Spanish cinema centenary and being prized in Festival Of Venice . This one is deservedly considered one of the best movies of the Spanish cinema .

"Calle Mayor" (1956) (US title "The Lovemaker") was written and directed by Juan Antonio Bardem. The film stars the extraordinary Betsy Blair, who had just received an Ocscar nomination for her work in "Marty" (1955).

The plot of this film, although set in provincial Spain, has overtones of "Marty." Ms. Blair is cast as Isabel, an unmarried woman in her 30's. Isabel--and the people on Main Street--have decided that she will be forever unloved and unmarried. Then, several of the bored men of the town decide to play a cruel practical joke--one of them will declare his love for Isabel, promise to marry her, and then reveal the hoax at the last minute.

The joke moves forward as planned, and during the middle of the of the movie, Isabel blossoms as she finds herself in love with, and seemingly loved by, a handsome young man.

Ms. Blair is an extraordinary actor, and she is able to give us a portrait of a woman who is capable of great romantic love, although she's been deprived by circumstances of any opportunity to express this emotion. It is to director Bardem's credit that he recognized Ms. Blair's talents, and was able to utilize these talents to the fullest in this film.

Other reviewers have commented on the difficulty of an attractive woman like Betsy Blair playing a woman who is considered unattractive and unmarriageable. (Of course, this problem also arose in "Marty.") Ms. Blair was in Rochester for the screening of "Calle Mayor" at the High Falls Film Festival and this question was raised by a member of the audience. She replied that this was, indeed, a problem, but that she tried to overcome it by having a relatively unattractive hair style, and wearing dresses that were prim and plain. My thought is that a great actor like Ms. Blair was able to transcend the problem. When we see her in "Marty" and "Calle Mayor," we accept the fact that the other characters in the movie don't consider her attractive. We also accept the fact that both women don't consider themselves attractive, or, at least, don't consider themselves attractive enough.

The plot of the movie plays itself out in a fascinating and compelling fashion. The film closes with a final shot of Ms. Blair that is absolutely breathtaking. For me this shot ranks alongside the final shot of Greta Garbo in "Queen Christina" as one of the most memorable endings of any film I've seen.

The disgraceful witch hunt blacklist of the 1950's kept Betsy Blair from doing all the work of which she was capable, and kept us from the pleasure of seeing this work on the screen. We are fortunate that her immense acting skills are preserved for us in "Marty" and "Calle Mayor." "Marty" is readily available; "Calle Mayor" may be hard to find. Finding it is worth the effort--it's a film not to be missed.

The plot of the film is quite simple, and just saying it makes it look less effective than it ultimately is. Let me tell you, it's incredibly effective, and quite brutal too. The acting is pretty fantastic, but the directing is so on point and concise that it becomes the biggest star of the film. Juan Antonio Bardem knows what his intention is and what he's trying to achieve, and I think he achieves it perfectly. The ending is proof of that. The final several minutes are haunting in a pretty memorable and conflicting way, to the point that it becomes unpredictable and you seriously have no idea how it's going to end. Very much recommended.