En un lugar de La Manga (1970) Poster

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6/10
Funny and charming musical comedy with the best interpreters of Spanish cinema at the time
ma-cortes28 February 2024
An important real estate company is proposing the expansion of an urbanization it has on the coast of La Manga del Mar Menor. To do this he needs to buy the land from different owners, all of them sell, except two farms owned by a spinster, the 'solterona' Angustias Rodríguez (Gracita Morales) and another by Juan (Manolo Escobar) and his grandfather(Joaquín Roa). That's because the company sends two main office workers (José Luís López Vázquez, Manolo Gómez Bur) and a secretary (Concha Velasco) to negotiate in order to get the land at any cost.

This is a joyful as well as entertaining Spanish musical comedy, ordinary but nicely realized by Mariano Ozores and well produced by Alfredo Fraile, an usual cameraman, and occassionally producer who financed most films starred by Manolo Escobar. The film deals in background with the problems of urban speculation in coastal territories at the time of the tourist boom, with the respective attempt to enrich real estate companies. In fact, you can see the barely urbanized spaces of La Manga del Mar Menor before the urban explosion with the giant buildings. This a diverting and feeling movie, in Mariano Ozores style, and in which the over-the-top main and support actors stand out. Special mention mention for José Luís López Vazquez who here's sublime, along with a number de familar secondaries, such as: Joaquín Roa, Rafael Hernández, Goyo Lebrero, Álvaro de Luna, Jose Maria Tasso, José María Caffarel and Luis Sánchez Polack- José Luis Coll, ¨Tip and Coll¨ making their usual comical show.

Adding attractive musical numbers at charge of Manolo Escobar and in the final takes place the ordinary happy end . This is an attractive story proceeded in simplicity and delicacy and the sunny , shining exteriors pgotographed by cameraman Emilio Foriscot from Madrid and Hotel Galúa, La Manga del Mar Menor, Urbanización Dos Mares, La Manga del Mar Menor, Murcia, providing a lot of chances of singing . The main role "Manolo" is played by himself in a phenomenal way , can be said that he is perfectly adequate to his measure . Of course , Manolo Escobar steals the show as a splendid singer in Spanish style . Here Manolo plays catchings songs , some of them composed by musician Adolfo Waitzman , such as : ¨Viva el sol de España¨, ¨A la lima y al limón¨ written by Rafael de León and Manuel L. Quiroga, ¨Guitarra con alma¨ written by Alejandro Cintas and Rafael Jaén, ¨Así soy yo¨, ¨Moderno pero español¨ written by Juan Gabriel and Manolo Escobar and the popular ¨Mi carro¨ written by Alejandro Cintas and Rafael Jaén performed by Manolo Escobar

The great Manolo Escobar started playing the flute and the piano in his early years. When he was 14, he moved from Almería to Barcelona with his brothers, working as an apprentice in various trades. He began his career in show business between Badalona and Barcelona's red-light district (currently known as El Raval), with the group Manolo Escobar y sus guitarras (Manolo Escobar and his guitars) . His siblings were guitarists who accompanied him on stage at the outset of his career. His brothers Salvador and Baldomero were also in the group . Being brother of the actors Baldomero García Escobar, Juan Gabriel García Escobar, Salvador García Escobar and the composers José María García Escobar and Juan Manuel García Escobar. Later, when the group started to become successful, Juan Gabriel, another brother, joined. Juan Gabriel and sister, Maria José, would later write songs for the group . In 1959 Manolo met the German-born Anita Marx, Escobar married her. They were married in Cologne, Germany, without knowing how to speak each other's language . They were married for 53 years until his death. He adopted her daughter, Vanessa and dedicated the song "Mi pequeña flor" (My little flower) to her. In 1962, he rose to fame with Canciones by Maestro Solano , his debut in Madrid and Barcelona, and the premiere of the movie filmed in the town of Arcos de la Frontera (Cádiz) : Los Guerrilleros . He starred a lot of films as a notorious singer , such as : Me has hecho perder el juicio , Entre dos amores , Me debes un muerto , En un lugar de La Manga , Juicio de faldas , Relaciones casi públicas , El padre Manolo , Un beso en el puerto , Mi canción es para ti , Pero... ¿en qué país vivimos? , La mujer es un buen negocio , Eva, ¿qué hace ese hombre en tu cama?, Cuando los niños vienen de Marsella , Donde estará mi niño , among others . Manolo Escobar wrote and sang successful and popular songs , such as : Mujeres y vino , La Minifalda , Mi carro , Que guapa estás , Soy un hombre de campo , El Porrompompero , Ni se compra Granada . And he sang his main recording : "Y Viva España," released in 1973, sold an estimated 6 million copies, making him one of Spain's best-selling recording artists . Even after , when the copla genre's popularity was in decline, Escobar topped record sales lists, and was one of the few artists who had his own company and show. In the early 1990s, he moved into his "Porompompero" chalet in Benidorm, named after his acclaimed song. He appeared in more than 20 films and recorded almost 80 albums , 24 of which are gold records. He also had a platinum selling cassette. His best-selling album was Y viva España , which sold 6 million (10 million in subsequent official reprints) copies . It was the best-selling album in Spain from 1973 to 1992 . Escobar died of colon cancer on 24 October 2013, at the age of 82.
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