Welcome Mr. Marshall! (1953)

Welcome Mr. Marshall! (Spanish: ¡Bienvenido, Mister Marshall!) is a 1953 Spanish comedy film directed by Luis García Berlanga and considered one of the masterpieces of Spanish cinema. It tells the story of a small Spanish town, Villar del Río, which hears of the visit of American diplomats and begins preparations to impress the American visitors in the hopes of benefitting under the Marshall Plan.

A central theme of the film is the stereotypes held by both the Spanish and the Americans regarding the culture of the other. Hoping to demonstrate the side of Spanish culture with which the visiting American officials will be most accustomed, the citizens of Villar del Río (Soria) don unfamiliar Andalusian costumes, hire a renowned flamenco performer, and redecorate their town in Andalusian style.
A flamenco impresario (Manolo Morán) advices the locals to think what they will ask from the Americans.
Later in the film, each of the central characters has a dream in which different aspects of stereotypical American culture and history are featured. One consists of a Western-like bar brawl, another the arrival of a conquistador on New World shores, in other the Americans are shown as the Three Kings parachuting their gifts over the village.
At the end, the American motorcade speeds through the village without stopping, disappointing the locals who will have to remove the decorations and pay for the expenses.

The film was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.

Synopsis

Le petit village castillan de Vilar del rio (Ne pas confondre avec Vilar del campo sous peine de vexer les habitants !) se prépare à recevoir une commission administrative de hauts fonctionnaires américains venus en Espagne pour faciliter une aide économique au pays.

Actors