After the Second World War, many countries in the West refused to have any dealings with the Franco regime. But the Cold War allowed the dictator to shuffle the cards: fiercely anti-communist, he opportunistically developed bilateral relations with the United States, which he intended to use to straighten out Spain’s finances. Within the package of measures that were put in place, Hollywood films were to play a key part: the relocation of big-budget shoots to Spain was guaranteed to bring in foreign currency; moreover, the films – whose editorial content was strictly monitored – proved to be a splendid shop window on the country, showcasing its beauty, varied natural landscapes and the originality of its culture.
United Artists, which lacked the infrastructure for filming in California, was the first major studio to make large-scale productions on Spanish soil, including Alexander the Great (1956), The Pride and the Passion (1957), and Solomon and Sheba (1959). This incursion by American filmmakers into Spain reached its zenith with independent producer, Samuel Bronston, who built a veritable empire in Madrid. He pushed the limits of convention when it came to collaborating with the powerful, even acting as an intermediary for the import of raw materials. Pharaonic sets, multitudinous extras, five-star casting … Throw in Hollywood’s most prestigious directors, and each new production got bigger and better, in an insanely ostentatious spending spree, spawning the likes of: King of Kings (1961), El Cid (1961), 55 Days at Peking (1963), The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) … Thus, in barely two decades, the “soft power” of North American cinema was pivotal in transforming Spain’s image and in the accelerated development of the tourist industry that the regime had planned. The outcome was spectacular: following in the wake of Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner and John Wayne, almost four million American tourists flocked to Madrid or Barcelona in the 1960s alone.