Welcome Mr. Marshall! (1953) on Netflix
Villar del Río learns that American diplomats will tour Spain with Marshall Plan aid. Don Pablo, the mayor, and Manolo, agent to Carmen Vargas, restyle the town as Andalusia to welcome them.
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- Netflix4.0/5
- IMDb7.9/105,296 votes
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Trailer
Plot summary
In the Castilian town of Villar del Río, everyone awaits the performance of Carmen Vargas, the Andalusian star. Word then arrives that American diplomats will travel through Spain village by village to channel Marshall Plan aid. Don Pablo, the mayor, calls the council to the town hall, where long discussion produces no decision. Manolo, who represents Carmen Vargas, proposes dressing the peasants as Andalusians and decorating the streets in Andalusian style, and the townspeople begin the work. While they prepare, each thinks about what to ask the Americans, who are expected to arrive carrying dollars. Don Cosme, the parish priest, worries about the American heretics coming to the town.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Welcome Mr. Marshall! (1953)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- At the Cannes Film Festival the film was denied an award when the judge, actor Edward G. Robinson, under threat from Senator Joseph McCarthy, vetoed it as anti-American; it still received a Special Mention.
- Villagers in the town where it was shot were cast as themselves, taking all but the principal roles; in the scene where townspeople lined up to state their hearts' desires, they ignored the script and asked for what they really wanted.
- Underneath the surface the film was an anti-Francoist satire, yet it won the censorship board's approval because the board understood it to be an anti-American satire instead.
- Berlanga was first commissioned to make a star vehicle for the budding flamenco singer Lolita Sevilla, but he decided to give the film a deeper, more satirical meaning.
- The film's title is often cited in discussions of American investment in Spain as a caveat against delusion, an example being the 2012-2013 Eurovegas project.
