Operation Torch was an Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa while allowing American armed forces the opportunity to begin their fight against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy on a limited scale. It was the first mass involvement of US troops in the European–North African Theatre and saw the first large-scale airborne assault carried out by the United States.
María Antonia Abad FernándezMML, known professionally as Sara Montiel, also Sarita Montiel, was a Spanish-Mexican actress and singer. She began her career in the 1940s and became the most internationally popular and highest paid star of Spanish cinema in the 1960s. She appeared in nearly fifty films and recorded around 500 songs in five different languages.
Mathilde Carré, née Mathilde Lucie Bélard and known as "La Chatte", was a French Resistance agent during World War II who betrayed the Franco-Polish resistance organization, Interallie, and, as a double agent, was responsible for the arrest of dozens of Interallié operatives by the German occupiers of France. French Resistance leader Pierre de Vomécourt persuaded her to leave France with him and become an agent for the British. Upon arrival in Britain she was interrogated and imprisoned for the remainder of the war. After the war she was deported to France and convicted of treason and sentenced to death. The sentence was later reduced and she was released from prison in 1954.
During World War II, the Spanish State under Francisco Franco espoused neutrality as its official wartime policy. This neutrality wavered at times, and "strict neutrality" gave way to "non-belligerence" after the Fall of France in June 1940. Franco wrote to Adolf Hitler offering to join the war on 19 June 1940 in exchange for help building Spain's colonial empire. Later in the same year Franco met with Hitler in Hendaye to discuss Spain's possible accession to the Axis Powers. The meeting went nowhere, but Franco did help the Axis—whose members Italy and Germany had supported him during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)—in various ways.
Desert Commandos is a 1967 French/Italian/West German international co-production war film set during World War II in Morocco where it was filmed. The Italian title refers to a German commando group with a mission to assassinate Churchill, Roosevelt and de Gaulle at the Casablanca Conference.
Maurice Ronet was a French film actor, director, and writer.
General Della Rovere is a 1959 Italian–French drama film directed by Roberto Rossellini. The film is based on a story by Indro Montanelli which was in turn based on a true story.
Franco Fabrizi was an Italian actor.
The Road to Corinth is a 1967 French-Italian Eurospy film directed by Claude Chabrol. It was based on the 1966 novel by Claude Rank, pseudonym of Gaston-Claude Petitjean-Darville (1925-2004).
Leopoldo de Anchóriz Fustel was a Spanish actor and writer, most notable for appearing in Spaghetti Western films.
Enough Rope is a 1963 French-Italian-West-German neo noir crime film directed by Claude Autant-Lara and starring Marina Vlady, Robert Hossein, Maurice Ronet, Yvonne Furneaux and Gert Fröbe. The film is an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's 1954 novel The Blunderer.
The Black Chapel is a 1959 political thriller film directed by Ralph Habib and starring Dawn Addams, Peter van Eyck and Ernst Schröder. It is based on the novel Die schwarze Kapelle by Olav Herfeldt. It is a co-production between West Germany, Italy and France.
Les Parias de la Gloire English title Pariahs of Glory or Outcasts of Glory is a 1964 French/Italian/Spanish international co-production filmed in Spain. Directed and co-written by Henri Decoin, it is set during the First Indochina War and is based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Roger Delpey who also co-wrote the screenplay. Delpey served as an infantryman in the 151st Infantry Regiment from 1947–1949 in French Indochina then remained as a war correspondent writing four volumes of Soldats de Boue.
The Violet Seller, better known under its Spanish title La Violetera, is a 1958 Spanish–Italian historical jukebox musical film produced by Benito Perojo, directed by Luis César Amadori and starring Sara Montiel, Raf Vallone, Frank Villard, Tomás Blanco and Ana Mariscal.
A Girl Against Napoleon or The Devil Made a Woman, also known under its Spanish title Carmen, la de Ronda, is a 1959 Spanish historical adventure film directed by Tulio Demicheli and starring Sara Montiel, Jorge Mistral and Maurice Ronet. It is loosely based on the story of Prosper Mérimée's Carmen, with the setting changed to the Peninsular War era. Carmen is involved with the guerrillas fighting against the French occupation.
Lucky, the Inscrutable is a 1967 spy film directed by Jesús Franco and starring Ray Danton.
My Last Tango is a 1960 Spanish drama film directed by Luis César Amadori and starring Sara Montiel, Maurice Ronet and Isabel Garcés. A former maid enjoys success as a tango performer in Argentina.
Storm Over Ceylon is a 1963 adventure film directed by Gerd Oswald and Giovanni Roccardi and starring Lex Barker, Ann Smyrner and Magali Noël. It was made as a co-production between West Germany, Italy and France.
During World War II, Morocco was occupied by Nazi Germany. However, after the North African campaign, Morocco was liberated by the Allies and was thus active in Allied operations until the end of the war.
The Viscount is a 1967 crime film directed by Maurice Cloche and starring Kerwin Mathews, Sylvia Sorrente and Jean Yanne. The film's sets were designed by the art director Jean Douarinou. It was made as a co-production between France, Italy and Spain. Warner Brothers distributed the film in Britain and America.
