Father Luis Lastra (Rafael Durán) is a young and pious, good-tempered priest who does his job in the village of Peñascosa assisting the titular parson (Juan Espantaleón) . There he meets Marta (Amparo Rivelles) , a beautiful parishioner very interested in religious matters and in other love affairs . So much so that Marta convinces the priest to accompany her to enter the convent as a nun , but then things go wrong.
In post-Civil War Spain and just after World War II, there were few reasons to go to the cinema to have a good fun , and this is a thorny story of love affairs and religious entanglements to pass the time without further ado . A Spanish drama from the 40s with commendable sense of rhythm that has a somewhat more agile pace than might be expected , and belongs to a time when corny sentimental comedies predominated in Spanish cinema . After the exceptional success of ¨El Escándalo¨ (1943) by José Luis Saenz de Heredia , and El Clavo (1944) by Rafael Gil , production company Suevia Films commissioned Rafael Gil (who had just filmed the hit Eloisa Está Debajo de un Almendro) a new literary adaptation , this time based on a story by the prestigious author Armando Palacios Valdés . Surely Gil was encouraged by the success he had obtained with the previous film, and receiving the generous economic grant given by the Francoist government . Rafael Gil will demonstrate his skills to transform this twisted story into a remarkable film , from the contribution of certain details of the religious genre, as well as the agreeable atmosphere , making the viewer ignore some improbability of a plot based on too much ingenuousness . It remains partially unaltered by the trace of time , providing an enjoyable concept of the conscience of the human being, with a good-natured priest who's always navigating in stormy waters, mediated by the hypocrite society that surrounded him . A bold and very daring story for the time, creating a range of interesting suggestions and questions that any human being has asked himself at some point in his life: "Who am I? What is my path to feel good about myself? An important blockbuster based on the known novel by Armando Palacio Valdés, with stupendous photography in black and white by Alfredo Fraile and evocative sets by the great designer Enrique Alarcón, adding an excellent cast of actors headed by Rafael Durán playing the priest Luis Lastra. Stars Rafael Durán who was a gallant actor , successful in the 40s and 50s , starring in known films such as : Elosia está debajo un almendro , La Fe , El Gran galeoto, El capitán Loyola , Tuvo la culpa Adan, El Clavo, Jeromin , Paz , Sin uniforme , La gran barrera, among others . Co-stars Amparo Rivelles who had one of her most outstanding roles in the cinema here, playing a jelaous femme fatal and who had already worked together on "El clavo", another excellent film by Rafael Gil . Accompanied by the ineffable Juan Espantaleón as a mature and grumpy priest, with great experience and humanity , as well as Guillermo Marín who embodies an atheist intellectual who questions, stirs conscience of our protagonist , Joaquin Roa as a veteran priest , José Prada as judge Don Martín , Fernando Fernández de Córdoba as Sr. Osuna and Camino Garrigó as the endearing and faithful housekeeper . And others as Ángel de Andrés, Irene Caba Alba, Arturo Marín, Manuel Guitián, Julia Lajos and Cándida Losada .
The motion picture was lavishly produced by Suevia Films/Cesareo Gonzalez Producciones Cinematográficas that along with Cifesa were the most known production companies during Francoist period , that often financed these false but breathtaking historical spectacles . Displaying an atmospheric cinematography in black and white with plenty of lights and shades by cameraman Alfredo Fraile , adding evocative musical score by Manuel Parada .This movie was well realized by Rafael Gil , shooting a hastily assembled attractive picture . He created a dignified and honest film, dealing with such a serious and profound subject without fanfare and sentimentality . Director Gil took advantage of the marvelous settings from Enrique Alarcón. The film has a religious feeling along with ¨La Señora de Fátima¨ , in fact Pope Pius XII himself , praising the films of Rafael Gil, commented to him: "With your films , you have done more for the faith than many priests from the pulpit". Being filmed in usual style of the forties and in stylistic scholarship , without leaving a trace the historical issues , in terms of dramatic and narrative excitement . Rafael was one of the best filmmakers from Spanish cinema , directing several classic movies , such as : ¨Don Quijote De La Mancha¨ , ¨El Clavo¨ , ¨La Fe¨ , ¨La Señora De Fatima¨, ¨La Reina Santa¨ , ¨La Guerra De Dios¨ , ¨El Beso De Judas¨ , and several others. In his filmography there are films of all kinds of genres , such as: "La señora de Fátima" (1951), about the apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the small Portuguese town. It continues with important titles such as "God's War" (1953), in which a priest who has to carry out his mission in a mining town full of hatred and social conflict. We must also highlight "El beso de Judas" (1954), with Rafael Rivelles, where the Passion of Christ is seen through the prism of Judas Iscariot, a true blockbuster. Then "Sister Intrepid" (1952), the vicissitudes of a missionary nun in Africa. And finally, "El canto del gallo" (1956), with Francisco Rabal and Gerard Tichy: a priest imprisoned by a communist dictatorship that has outlawed faith and the very name of God . Years later, in 1977, Gil signed "La boda del señor cura", an adaptation of the novel by Fernando Vizcaíno Casas about the moral and vital fall of a priest in the confusing decade of the seventies of the last century.
