A coolly elegant masterpiece from 1950s Spain, THE LOVEMAKER brilliantly balances a delicate psychological drama with a style that has a hint of Federico Fellini, a touch of Douglas Sirk, and a lot of neo-realism. Betsy Blair is Isabel, a sweet and pious mid-thirties spinster in a small Spanish town. When the local boys decide to play a provocative trick on her, Isabel falls hopelessly in love - and that difficult moral dilemma remains at the heart of the plot. Director Juan Antonio Bardem was considered a threat to Franco's political agenda and, in spite of its seemingly censor-proof appearance, THE LOVEMAKER (film titled CALLE MAYOR at that time) swayed the Spanish government enough to thwart its competition in the 1956 Venice Film Festival. Since it was a French co-production, however, the officials relinquished and it went on to win the festival's International Critics' Award. Betsy Blair, with her warm and intelligent rendering of Isabel, won two awards for her role. (Margaret Parsons)

Director: Juan Antonio Bardem
Producers: Cesáreo González, Manuael J. Goyanes

At sixteen, Gene Kelly picked Betsy Blair out of a New York chorus line and whisked her off to Hollywood. Declining the glamorous lifestyle, she became a political activist and was blacklisted-finally landing the plum role of Ernest Borgnine's girlfriend in MARTY (for which she won Cannes' top acting honors). As an expatriate in Paris, Betsy worked with Antonioni and Gavras and finally moved to London with a new husband, director Karel Reisz.