''Calabuch'' (US title: ''The Rocket From Calabuch'') is a 1956 comedy film directed by

Luis García Berlanga Luis García-Berlanga Martí Medal of Merit in Labour, MMT (12 June 1921 – 13 November 2010) was a Spanish film director and screenwriter. Acclaimed as a pioneer of modern Spanish cinema, his films are marked by social satire and acerbic criti ...

Synopsis

Calabuch is a little village in the coast of Spain. There arrives Dr. George Hamilton (

Edmund Gwenn Edmund Gwenn (born Edmund John Kellaway; 26 September 1877 – 6 September 1959) was an English actor. On film, he is best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in the Christmas film ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947), for which he won t ...

), a scientist expert in rockets who is tired of his job. Hamilton decides to help people of Calabuch in a

firework Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...

s competition. He wins and his photo appears in the local newspaper and then NASA and the army find him.

Production background

This Spanish-Italian co-production was filmed in

Peniscola Peñíscola () or Peníscola () and officially Peñíscola/Peníscola, anglicised as Peniscola, is a municipality in the Province of Castellón, Valencian Community, Spain. The town is located on the Costa del Azahar, north of the Serra d'Irta a ...

, Castellón, and features an international cast led by British-American actor Edmund Gwenn in his last film role, and Italians

Valentina Cortese Valentina Elena Cortese Rossi di Coenzo (1 January 1923 – 10 July 2019), sometimes credited as Valentina Cortesa, was an Italian film and theatre actress. Her screen career spanned over 100 productions across over five decades, from 1941 until ...

and

Franco Fabrizi Franco Fabrizi (; 15 February 1916 – 18 October 1995) was an Italian actor. Life and career Son of a barber and a cinema cashier, Franco Fabrizi started his career as a model and an actor in fotoromanzi. Fabrizi also starred on several re ...

. Berlanga won the OCIC Award at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

References

External links

* 1956 films 1950s Spanish-language films Italian comedy films Spanish black-and-white films Spanish comedy films Films set in Spain Films directed by Luis García Berlanga 1956 comedy films 1950s Spanish films 1950s Italian films Films with screenplays by Ennio Flaiano {{1950s-Spain-film-stub