UNINCI

The Unión Industrial Cinematográfica (which can be translated as "Industrial Film Group"), was a production company set up in 1949 in the context of dissatisfaction with dominant trends in the commercial film industry. Early projects includedEl sótano(The Cellar, Jaime de Mayora, 1949) andCuentos de la Alhambra(Tales from the Alhambra,Florián Rey, 1950). AfterRicardo Muñoz Suayand others joined the Communist Party (illegal in Spain at the time), the company was systematically used to support films that could convey ideas from the Left and support the work of Leftist filmmakers. Muñoz Suay soon called his fellow ValencianLuis G.Berlangaand the latter'sEsa Pareja Feliz(That Happy Couple, 1953) co-directorJuan Antonio Bardemto participate in a new project coalescing around star Lolita Sevilla. The directors were meant to become part of UNINCI and profit from the release. Bardem had to move on to another project after working on the script.

The success of¡Bienvenido Míster Marshall!(Welcome Mr. Marshall!1953) helped the company for a while, but by the mid-1950s it had become clear that ideological interference from the Party was making it difficult to turn out good films: besides balancing artistic and party concerns, directors had to deal with the fact that communist influence could never be too obvious. Most of the films produced during the decade were unremarkable, with the exceptions beingFulano y Mengano(Such and Such, Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent, 1959),Tal vez mañana(Maybe Tomorrow, Glauco Pellegrini, 1957), andA las cinco de la tarde(At Five O'Clock in the Afternoon, Juan Antonio Bardem, 1961). By the late 1950s, UNINCI had become something of a network of Left-wing or dissident filmmakers, includingFernando Fernán Gómez,Joaquín Jordá, Jesús Fernández Santos,Antxón Eceiza, andCarlos Saura.

UNINCI's next coup was to produce (withPerePortabella's Films 59)Viridiana(Luis Buñuel, 1961), but the sanctions that followed the film's presentation at Cannes put financial pressure on the company. Ricardo Muñoz Suay, who had been the main force within it, left in the early 1960s, and UNINCI disappeared until its brief revival under Juan Antonio Bardem in 1977.