How the War was Won


Sometimes I look at the road ahead for today and wonder what to do with the world in the write about.  The only thing of note was the layby ahead and you know, we can go into this Area de Descanso - so we shall!  Toni reviewed it eight months ago and gave it three stars.  There appears to be some improvised conceptual art at the end.  Maybe they are just there to pee behind.






With the wide open spaces being wide, an open, and spaced, it made me think of the Westerns.  I suppose it is known that some of the Spaghetti Westerns were shot in Spain.  The list of films is quite impressive.  We may get back to the Western laters. 





While Spain was unofficially out of the Second World War - somehow sending a Division to invade the Soviet Union doesn’t count, the war of cameras came to Spain big time.  The beach front at Huelva stood in for Dunkirk and the Spanish version of the Heinkel 111 0 the 1112 ML, were deployed as the horrible Hun in their last hurrah before retirement.

Of other films the French ‘Un Taxi pour Torbrouk’ saw French chaps fight across the Western Deserts.  Tobruk was the theme of the unsurprisingly named ‘Tobruk’. Filmed in 1967 and seeing Rock Hudson and George Peppard attack Rommel’s fuel bunkers.  John Lennon appeared in a Black Comedy called ‘How I won the War.’  Michael Crawford starred as an inept Lieutenant Goodbody and I include the link so you can work out if it needs to be rediscovered. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_I_Won_the_War 




There are several and many more examples.  Patton is perhaps one of the more famous.  The Tunisia and Sicily were enacted on the sunny fields of Spain.  The not so sunny ones were used as well.  When it was reported that snow had fallen near Segovia the production team rushed there to shoot the Battle of the Bulge films.  The interior shots were done in Seville.



I am sure we will have an opportunity to go back to this theme, but I’m off to find ‘How I Won the War’


















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Much a do about something

Image
  In North Lincolnshire there is an OS square which is all but empty,  In a single corner stretches a few metres of power cables to spoil the virgin whiteness.  Today’s walk is not so blessed with flat calm.  We will see trees.  We will see ups.  Views are compulsory.  Houses aren’t.  Let's talk about Asturias in the years from 718 to 757. In 711 the full force of the Islamic tide swept from North Africa into Visigothic Spain. At the Battle of Guadalete King Roderic and much of the nobility were killed and the Iberian Peninsula collapsed before the all conquering crescent.  The thing is, Asturias is a long way from the main body of Spain. It is a bit wet and more to the point lacking the plunder which was the way of paying the Army of the Conquest.  The Caliphate’s hold on Asturias was tenuous to say the least.  Enter  Pelagius. Pelagius has many myths swirling around him and a very butch Victorian statue in Gijon.  Accord...
Read more

In which a Roman Bridge and a Funeral Parlour are reviewed.

Image
  We are rising again. We are rising 20 of your earth metres today. We will be 818m above the level sea. We are about at the highest point in the Cheviot Hills. We cross the Rio Porma and into Villarente and Puente Villarente. Both these twin settlements, lurking along the roadside, have generally grown in size since 2000.   https://www.turismocastillayleon.com/en/art-culture-heritage/great-routes/way-saint-james/puente-villarente First we must cross the Roman Bridge. Coyotuco is back with a five star review: A beautiful BRIDGE with a lot of history but it is not PEDESTRIAN. For pedestrians they have made a PEDESTRIAN WALKWAY right next to it. We are passing by the Artesanias Luyma so let us gaze at their ceramic goodness. Let us wonder  https://www.artesaniasluyma.com/categorias/pereruela/ While we are here and we are passing the Tanatorio Camino de Santiago let us visit this 39 reviewed funeral home. It gets an average of 4.9 stars.  https://www.antamontalvo.es/esq...
Read more

Mini Pieces of Supposed tuna

Image
  Pina de Ebro has something for everyone who enjoys the architecture of Spanish pueblos.  It has the tiny lanes, on which houses have been rebuilt for generations without a care for the needs of the modern motorist.  We have the pathways which have been tiled over but once were dirt tracks.  We have the modern suburban developments of low rise houses and 80s hopefully aspiring shacks.  First all, however, we have a park. One thing we noticed, especially with a small boy in tow, was the number of parks with interesting play equipment.  This is because, in Spain, people seem to like children.  This does make them a semi-public property and people feel free to indulge them with sweetmeats and pass comments. ‘I think sucking thumbs makes children look ugly’ said one elderly woman.’ My Spanish for ‘well desiccated prune face, no one asked you’ deserted me.  The play equipment is in the Plaza Pilarin Artigas.  Honestly I’ve looked and was giving u...
Read more