Segundo López, aventurero urbano

Segundo López (Severiano Población) is a provincial man, from Cáceres (Extremadura), already elderly and illiterate, who, after the death of his mother, decides to sell the modest family business and go to Madrid to try his luck in search of fortune. Segundo arrives in the capital with 4,000 pesetas and a wealth of dreams. After numerous adventures, he becomes a mentor to a boy Chirri (Martín Ramírez) who serves as his guide, and helps a young woman (Ana Mariscal) with tuberculosis who is constantly bedridden due to her illness, and who ends up ruining him by helping her so much.

There's a faithful portrayal of the Spanish environment in Franco era during the Fifties and with the two non-professional main actors giving natural y realistic performance, balancing tenderness and cynicism, making the film a pleasant surprise. A film eminently 'costumbrista' and of the habits of Madrid in which a honest man from the provinces arrives in the capital of Spain for a living, with no more baggage than a little money and plainness. He befriends a street urchin, "The Chirri", and both live countless urban adventures. This is a run-of-the-mill in the Fifties style with the usual modest means and dealing with ordinary peole with their unfortunes, wishes , customs and distresses. Actress Ana Mariscal made her directorial debut with this costumbrist comedy that reflects the miserable and sad Madrid of the 1950s. Based on the 1947 novel of the same name by Leocadio Mejías who does a cameo, the film shows influences of Italian neorealism. Narrated through the light voice of Leocadio Mejías, author of the original novel. The film was made with very limited resources, both material and artistic, since it features few well-known actors. Although some secondary characters appear briefly, such as Tony Leblanc, Mariano Azaña ,director Manuel Mur Oti in the cast, as well as numerous non-professional actors and Ana Mariscal herself in the role of the consumptive girl.

The picture was well directed by Ana Mariscal who also has a secondary role. The film was a flop at the boxoffice at the time; however, nowadays, is highly regarded by critics for its effective visualization of the Madrid customs of the time as well as the merit that a woman shot her first film during the Francoist dictatorship. After six months of unemployment due to the American boycott from March 1951 to June 1952, Ana Mariscal decided to direct, produce and act in her own film, being financed with the director's own savings who, due to the crisis in the sector at that time. Was a classic Spanish film actress, director, screenwriter and film producer. She also acted in Argentinean films. Ana was involved in well over 50 films between 1940 and 1968, frequently starring in films she also wrote and directed. She is iconic to 1940s and 50s Spanish cinema. Ana Mariscal began her career after accompanying her actor brother Luis Arroyo to an audition for El Ultimo Husar. Almost by chance, she was noticed by the director Luis Marquina and cast in the film. This would start a prolific career in acting and directing. A few notable films from this time include The Queen's Flower Girl, Raza, A Shadow at the Window, and The Princess of the Ursines. After a decade of typecast roles, Mariscal started her own production company called BOSCO and begin writing and directing her own works. She made her directorial debut with Segundo Lopez, a film she also wrote and starred in. It was a critically well-received comedy with Italian Neo-realist influences. She later directed her esteemed work They fired with their lives that deals with the Spanish Civil War; an event Mariscal herself lived through during her childhood. In her later career, she shifted among film, television, and theater pursuits, still using her production company to fund her projects. El ultimo Husar, La Florista de la Reina, Raza , Dulcinea , Princesa de Ursinos, La vida encadenada , Pacto de Silencio, El Gran Galeoto, Jeromin, Morena Clara, La Violetera , La Reina del Chantecler , and several others . Her first film as a director was Segundo Lopez 1952 , following Con la Vida hicieron Fuego 1957, a melodrama about Spanish Civil War . Their boxoffice flops led her to make commercial films with no much interest , such as a popular comedy : La Quiniela 1959, the Folkloric: Feria de Sevilla 1960 , the dramatic yarn : Hola Muchacho 1962 , the political : Occidente y Sabotaje 1962 , the traditional : Los Duendes de Andalucía 1964 , a bullfighting drama: El Paseillo 1968 and a Musical : Vestida de Novia 1967 . She eventually receded from the world of film making and dedicate her time entirely to the study of literature. Just a few months before her death, she received the gold medal for Merit in the Fine Arts in 1995. Segundo López rating: 6.5/10.

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.