A movie island
One hundred years ago, in 1925, 'Flor de espino' was released and 'El secreto de la pedriza' was filmed, the first two Majorcan fiction productions that have survived to this day.
PalmIt hadn't been even thirty years since the new invention was unveiled – the first screening on the island dated back to January 27, 1897 – and Mallorcans were already thinking that making films could be entertaining and even profitable. A century ago, in 1925, it premiered. Hawthorn flower and it was filmed The secret of the pedriza. These are the first two fiction films, with local production and crew, filmed in Mallorca, among those that survive to this day.
Before these two emblematic titles, some early local films with a plot had already been recorded: there are a few productions from the Palma Protectorate, apparently of poor quality. But all the previous material, points out Josep A. Pérez de Mendiola, film critic, collaborator of ARA Baleares and well-versed in this period, "has been lost." That's why Hawthorn flower It is the founding title of Mallorcan cinema, followed, at a short distance, byThe secret of the pedriza.
The 1920s, following the shock of the Great War, were a time of economic prosperity for the islands. At that time, industry was flourishing. The tourism industry championed by Miquel dels Sants Oliver and his group Els Insensats was still in its infancy.
Even so, it soon became clear that film represented a very interesting tool for promoting the new travel industry. Not surprisingly, not only documentaries but also productions that told a story stood out for their abundant natural landscapes and monuments. Hawthorn flower 'recycling' images of the island's beauties that had previously been recorded by Josep Truyol, one of the pioneers of the seventh art in Mallorca.
It seems that it was in the select Círculo Mallorquín in Palma where a group of friends conceived the idea of making a film: it was about Hawthorn flower. They had no shortage of opportunities for this. In fact, the proceeds from the screening would go to a charitable cause: the Little Sisters of the City Poor.
The Pickford and Fairbanks home
Hawthorn flower It tells a story somewhere between a comedy of errors and a moralizing fairy tale: Jorge – heir to a good family – arrives in Mallorca with his servant, Fernando, to learn of the promise, of course also rich and noble, that his father has made him. Since he doesn't quite see this commitment clearly, lord and servant swap roles: each will play the other's. But Jorge – the supposed servant – falls in love with a peasant girl, Anita. Against his father's will, he marries her. When it is revealed that Anita is the heir to a considerable fortune, everything ends happily.
This story was invented by the poet and playwright Josep Maria Tous i Maroto, although he is credited as the author of the script alongside director and producer Jaume Ferrer, a dentist with a practice in the center of Ciutat de Mallorca and passionate about cinema. The performers were prominent members of Mallorcan high society, including Ana Delgado de Zaforteza—sister of Carmen Delgado, wife of Juan March Jr.—Jorge Dezcallar—Marquis of Palmer—and Fernando Dezcallar de España. According to chronicler Luis Fábregas, the artistic duo Delgado and Dezcallar were in no way inferior to Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, two of the greatest Hollywood stars of the time.
The 179 captions—essential in every film of the time, since, as is well known, they were silent—have been attributed to the poet Guillem Colom. They are clearly in Spanish, like almost everything else with some public exposure at the time. The first one already indicates that, if tourism promotion wasn't the objective, it could have been: "Palma de Mallorca, one of the most beautiful corners of SpainThe settings, some of which were provided by their aristocratic owners, included Bellver, La Seu, Can Vivot, Son Verí, Son Fortesa in Puigpunyent, and La Granja and Canet in Esporles.
Hawthorn flower It premiered at Palma's Teatro Principal on June 25, 1925, apparently with notable success. Screenings were then held at the Círculo de Obreros Católicos in Palma, at the Teatro Defensora in Sóller, and in Inca, Manacor, and Artà. At the screening in Sóller, to benefit the Women's Culture organization, the film was presented by the "father" of the story, Tous i Maroto.
If by the writer Antoni Serra Hawthorn flower It is "an insubstantial love story to flatter the raw sensitivity of the Mallorcan aristocracy", its contemporary The secret of the pedriza "It has a vindictive character and not a few critical elements regarding society," focusing, as it did, on "smuggling in a time period where poverty was an unquestionable reality, especially in rural areas." Pérez de Mendiola goes further: The secret of the pedriza It is "the most important film ever shot in the Islands" and "is among the best ever shot in the entire Spanish state."
It was a Mallorcan company, Balear Films, that launched this project. It was formed by a group of friends who met at Joan Mas Quetglas's gramophone shop, on what is now Sant Domingo Street in Palma. Initially, they thought of adapting the novel for the screen. Gemini, by Antoni Frates Sureda. Finally, they chose The secret of the pedriza.
Smugglers vs. Carabineros
The secret of the pedriza It was a novel by the writer from Vilafranca del Penedès, Adolf Vázquez Humasqué, founder of the Alfonso XIII football club, now Real Mallorca. The title refers to the place name La Pedrissa, in Deià. It seems that the author was inspired by a real case, the mysterious 'Tuent crime', in which a carabiniere was allegedly killed. The novel was published with a prologue by Gabriel Alomar y Villalonga, who was very complimentary, describing it as "the best and most typical on Mallorcan affairs".
Key piece ofThe secret of the pedriza It was directed by Francesc Aguiló, who was also one of its protagonists, along with Rosita Barberán, Ketty Murci and Manuel Cortés. It is curious that the two main actors had lineages of those considered 'chuetas' - considered to be the only descendants of the converted Jews, when in reality there were many more -: it was precisely in the world of entertainment, always more open and liberal in spirit, where they found an environment where they did not feel so systematically discriminated against. Aguiló had moved to live in Barcelona, where he created a theater school, and coincided with the Mallorcan Fortunio Bonanova in Don Juan Tenorio Made by Ricard de Baños.
Unlike the friendly and 'white' Hawthorn flower, The secret of the pedriza It is a rather crude story starring smugglers: an activity of course illegal but common in Mallorca before the boom tourist. In the film, a smuggler's sister is harassed by a policeman and, in defending herself, kills him. Her brother disposes of the body. This leads to a series of complications, including his passion for the gang leader's daughter, who is engaged to someone else.
A plot like this, with a not-exactly-happy ending, doesn't seem to be used as a tourism promotion tool. But, if we go by the film's advertising, "selling" Mallorca was one of the objectives:A highly original plot, brimming with suggestive scenes vibrant with emotion, set against the imposing cliffs and marvelous landscapes of Isla Dorada (Mallorca).". Not everyone thought it was such a good idea, judging by this comment at the time: "The worst thing will be if a tourist wants us to show him the secret [La Pedriza]. How could you go down those smugglers' paths to satisfy the curiosity of four fools!
The secret of the pedriza It premiered in January 1926 at Palma's Teatro Principal and was a huge success, but the producers encountered an unintended effect. The audience didn't side with the "good guys"—the police, the authorities—but with the "bad guys"—the smugglers—which sparked a protest from law enforcement. The film was recut, adding folkloric scenes and changing its ending. Legend followed its screenings in Mallorca: it was said that, in some town, the smugglers had taken advantage of the police's attendance at the screening to carry out their performance without a hitch. As you know, cinema is the factory of dreams.
Both Flor de espino and El secreto de la pedriza were lost for over half a century, until José A. Pérez de Mendiola's almost detective-like search succeeded in recovering them and reintroducing them to the Balearic cinematic heritage. Furthermore, the Sa Nostra Foundation has made them available to the general public, in DVD format and accompanied by an explanatory booklet, in the Temps moderns collection, the name of the film magazine edited by the same organization, directed by Jaume Vidal.
Curiously, it was in Ibiza where someone mentioned to Mendiola a person close to the creators of The Secret of Pedriza . In his house, in a storage room, he kept a wooden box containing "the negative and positive aspects" of the film, as well as a tourism promotion documentary based on its images. With the owner's permission and the collaboration of editor Miquel Font, Mendiola managed to secure the necessary funds for the restoration from institutions, both in Mallorca and abroad.
As for Flor de espino , during one of his visits to the Spanish Film Library in Madrid, Mendiola himself located a folder with the title of this film on the cover. Nothing inside. It couldn't be: if the folder was there, there must be something else. And, indeed, among a pile of 35mm cans still awaiting cataloging, Flor de espino appeared in nitrate. In this case too, public agencies made the restoration of the original possible.
Information prepared from the texts of Luis Fábregas, Jaume Vidal, José Luis Martínez Montalbán, Antonio Serra, Miguel S. Font Poquet, José Antonio Pérez de Mendiola and Catalina Aguiló, Cristóbal Miguel Sbert, Magda Rubí, Margalida Pujals, Miguel Ángel Casasnovas, Francisco Sáez Isern Blázquez.