Dawn of America

1951 film

José Rodulfo Boeta
Luis Carrero Blanco
Juan de Orduña

Starring

António Vilar
María Martín
José Suárez
Virgílio Teixeira

CinematographyAlfredo FraileEdited byPetra de NievaMusic byJuan Quintero

Production
company

CIFESA

Distributed byCIFESA

Release date

20 December 1951 (1951-12-20)

Running time

112 minutesCountrySpainLanguageSpanish

Dawn of America (Spanish: Alba de América) is a 1951 Spanish historical adventure film directed by Juan de Orduña and starring António Vilar, María Martín and José Suárez. The film depicts the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus in the late fifteenth century.

Production

The film was made by the largest Spanish studio CIFESA. The production was conceived as a response to the 1949 British film Christopher Columbus. The British film had attempted a realist depiction of Columbus (portraying him as only partly successful, and his achievements being in spite of the Spanish monarchy). The Spanish response portrayed Columbus as a single-minded adventurer whose discovery led to the greater glory of the Spanish monarchy and the Catholic Church.^[1]

It was also designed as part of the celebrations for the 500th anniversary of the Catholic Monarchs. The film's patriotic theme was strongly backed by the Spanish State of Francisco Franco. The film was made on a comparatively large budget of ten million pesetas, part of which was supplied by the government. The film did not make a profit, partly due to its large budget and because the plot was not melodramatic enough for audience tastes.^[2] The film originally lost out on the prestigious National Interest prize to Furrows but José María García Escudero, who had made the decision, was removed and the prize was awarded to Dawn of America.^[3]

Plot

The film narrates the adventures of Christopher Columbus (António Vilar) from his stay in the Convent of La Rábida to his meeting with the Catholic Monarchs and his feat in crossing the Atlantic and reaching the shores of America, ushering in a new era in the history of mankind.