Set in the 1940s when the civil war has just ended and while some are starving, others are getting rich on the black market. In a crowded,ramshackle third-class carriage on the express train from Seville to Madrid, the hungry chorus girl, Paca (Concha Velasco) and the frightened Maquis Luís (José Maria Flotats) meet. Once in the harsh Madrid of the early 1940s, between poverty and ration cards, Paca takes him in at the boarding house where she is living with her sick father (José Orjas) and they fall in love. Meantime, he looks for the necessary papers to flee to France and she finds a job in the company of Celia Gámez's 'Revista Musical ', which performs Yola at the Teatro Alcazar. Later on, she finds work in the Revista 'Cinco Minutos Más o Menos' at the Teatro Martín, thanks to the influence of the wealtthy 'estraperlista' Julio (Fernando Fernán Gómez) , married and with children, who wants to make her his lover. Paca's relationship with Julio, a mogul without remorse, offers her financial support, but Luis gives her the tenderness and love she does not have with Julio.
After the success of ¨Tormento¨ (1974), based on the novel of the same name by Benito Pérez Galdos, which takes place in Madrid at the end of the 19th century, and before the failure of ¨La Corea ¨(1976), director Olea makes for producer José Frade the second part of the Madrid trilogy. Based on a script by Rafael Azcona and Pedro Olea himself, providing a fruitful collaboration, including a certain range of production resources, which allow him to make a good reconstruction of the sordid Madrid of the forties; however, due to having to deal with the last stages of censorship of the Franco dictatorship, he does not completely manage to make the tragic loves among the chorus girl, the maquis and the black marketeer have enough force to make the dramatic development logical. In between the tragedy and the hunger, there is an attractive selection of songs from the time, among which the following stand out: ¨Tatuaje, No te mires en el rio, Mírame, Perfidia, Mi sombrero, Eugenia de Montijo, and Tiroliro¨.
Well shot with appropriate settings and a large as well as notorious Spanish star-system. Olea once again has Concha Velasco as the lead, with whom he had worked in ¨Tormento¨. She gives a great performance as the desperate and hungry chorus girl in search of true love and to take care of her afflicted father. It is Cocha Velasco's first and best role in years and she already shows her good work and experience, since she had been working since the fifties, although predominantly in comedies. Meanwhile, Fernando Fernán Gómez is great as always in one of the most evil roles in the history of Spanish cinema. And the stage actor José María Flotats plays adequately an undocumented young person to whom Paca allows him to spend the night in the room where she lives with her sick father. Support cast is frankly excellent , plenty of familiar faces, such as : José Orjas, José Franco, José Calvo, Pilar López Ferrer, Amparo Valle, Víctor Israel, Goyo Lebrero, Fernando Sánchez Polack, Mara Goyanes, José Riesgo, Ángel Menéndez, Luis Ciges, among others.
It contains a colorful and evocative cinematography by cameraman Fernando Arribas , showing splendidly exteriors from ¨Madrid Castizo¨ , including ancient monuments and classical buildings of the Austrias . Very good and appropriate production design by Antonio Cortés and José Ramón Molina. Atmospheric though sad musical score by Carmélo Bernaola .The motion picture was professionally directed by Pedro Olea. This turns out to be one of the best collaborations between important producer José Frade and Olea , both of them create a trilogy set in Madrid , formed by ¨La Corea¨ (1976) , ¨Tormento¨ (1974) ¨and this ¨Pim , Pam , Pum .. Fuego ¡ (1975) . This is Pedro Olea's second entry about Madrid, in this case the hungry Madrid of the post-war years, in fact this is the first Spanish fiction film that was able to show a critical look at the post-war period. Olea is a good craftsman who has directed nice films such as : ¨Tiempo De Tormenta¨, ¨El Dia Que Naci yo¨, ¨El Maestro Esgrima¨, ¨El Bosque Del Lobo¨, ¨Aquelarre¨, ¨Dias De Viejo Color¨, and several others . Rating : Acceptable and passable . Well worth watching .
