Isabel is an unmarried woman in a provincial Spanish town. A group of bored local men cruelly plot to embarrass her by feigning a romantic interest. Their prank is linked to the wider class-based social structures of Spain at the time by writer-director Juan Antonio Bardem.
Isabel is played with great subtlety by Betsy Blair, who at the time was a victim of the Hollywood blacklist. She only agreed to travel to Spain to make Calle Mayor once she had been informed of Bardem’s political opposition to General Franco. Today, the film is considered a classic of Spanish cinema.
Screening from a 35mm print.