This is one of those little films that never stand out of the crowd but have a big value on their own and remain a a much-loved B-series national treasure. If you are not familiarised with Spanish cinema that is not Almodovar's, just think of the classic Ealing comedies in Britain, and that may give you an idea as to what this film is about: a bunch of good-natured and eccentric characters in a God-forsaken little community where nothing ever happens, and then when something eventually happens it causes havoc and turns everything upside down with very funny consequences...
"Welcome Mr Marshall" is also a faithful document on rural Spain in the early 1950s, when the country, ruled by a fascist regime, was just coming out from a long period of international isolation after World War II and beginning to be accepted by the western powers as a convenient ally against the eastern block during the Cold War. That is precisely what this film is about: in 1950 Uncle Sam arrives in Spain with the Marshall Plan for post-war economic recovery, and the picture the local authorities present to the simple folk is that of a bunch of gold-loaded Yankee businessmen coming in to give away cash and all sorts of things imaginable, just like the Three Wise Men who came to the baby Jesus....
Eventually the Yanks come, indeed, but they are too much in a hurry as to stop by, so they just drive past the village, leaving the locals as empty-handed as they were before...
If you like social comedies such as "The Quiet Man", "The Titfield Thunderbolt" or "Local Hero", you surely will love this one if you can understand what is going on. Take my word for it.
"Welcome Mr Marshall" is also a faithful document on rural Spain in the early 1950s, when the country, ruled by a fascist regime, was just coming out from a long period of international isolation after World War II and beginning to be accepted by the western powers as a convenient ally against the eastern block during the Cold War. That is precisely what this film is about: in 1950 Uncle Sam arrives in Spain with the Marshall Plan for post-war economic recovery, and the picture the local authorities present to the simple folk is that of a bunch of gold-loaded Yankee businessmen coming in to give away cash and all sorts of things imaginable, just like the Three Wise Men who came to the baby Jesus....
Eventually the Yanks come, indeed, but they are too much in a hurry as to stop by, so they just drive past the village, leaving the locals as empty-handed as they were before...
If you like social comedies such as "The Quiet Man", "The Titfield Thunderbolt" or "Local Hero", you surely will love this one if you can understand what is going on. Take my word for it.