Passable war movie set pre-Spanish Civil War , during the dictatorship of General Miguel Primo De Rivera (1923-30) , being full of drama , thrills , patriotism , and battles . A jingoist picture , concerning about Spanish army in Africa , and the triumphs of the Spaniard forces against the rebellious Moroccan , blending real deeds , fiction , as well as stock shots . It's 1922 , in North Africa , in a detachment of the Spanish Army . From Madrid that opposes the war , arrives destined to the North of Africa , the Infantry Captain Fernando Salas (Julio Peña) who gives the impression of hiding some dark secrets , he will incorporate the battalion of the Commander Almendro (Jose Bódalo) , a veteran of the African war along with other captains (Tony Leblanc , Adriano Rimoldi) , all of them under command of a strict colonel (Rafael Calvo) . But the stiff-upper-lip Almendro soon observes a clear lack of vocation in the Captain . As Salas resigns in going on at African Army and asks for destination at peninsula , as he is branded as a coward , being rejected . Later on , determined to save his honor he will take part at Alucemas landing . It was a landing operation which took place on 8 September 1925 at Alhucemas of the Spanish Army and Navy and , in lesser numbers, an allied French contingent, that would put an end to the Rif War. It is considered the first amphibious landing in history involving the use of tanks and massive seaborne air support. As the better-equipped Spanish forces fight rebels until the defeat . The operations consisted on disembarking a force of 13,000 Spanish soldiers transported from Ceuta and Melilla by a combined Spanish-French naval fleet. The executive head of the landing forces at the beach of Alhucemas bay, general José Sanjurjo, under whose orders were the columns of the other chief generals . Among the participating officers, there was the then colonel Francisco Franco who, for his leadership of the Spanish Legion troops, was promoted to brigadier general.
Propaganda film packed with strong ideological charge , it contains breathtaking warlike set-pieces , comradeship , and extreme patriotism . It belongs to sub-genre about warlike feats , praising the Spanish glory , such as ¨¡A mi la legion¡¨ by Juan De Orduña , ¨Harka¨ and the famous ¨Raza¨ by José Luis Saenz De Heredia , one of the more successful pictures by that time . Here Julio Peña as the without much enthusiasm officer delivers a passable performance , and José Bodalo gives an acceptable acting as the courageous commandant , he was considered to be one of the greatest stars of the 40s and 50s . Atmospheric cinematography by Pérez Cubero and Mariano Ruiz Capillas , shot on location in San Fernando, Cádiz , Tetuan , Protectorado of Morocco , Spanish colony in Morocco. In fact , producers thanks to military authorities of Morocco Protectorado . And evocative score by Manuel Parada with great number of military and Legion songs . Professionally shot but in old style , boasting the Spanish past grandeur , being regularly directed by José López Rubio , as it has a lot of flaws and gaps .
The picture is based on facts , these are the followings : After the disaster of Annual in July 1921 , the Spanish army was unable to regain lost territory . Therefore, a containment policy was taken , aimed at preventing the expansion of the rebel zone , executed by limited military actions of local nature . In parallel , the Minister of War ordered the creation of an inquiry commission , led by General Juan Picasso González , which developed the report known as Expediente Picasso , while political forces , public opinion and even the army were divided between supporters of leaving the Protectorate and advocates of restarting the military operations as soon as possible . In September 1923 , the coup of general Primo de Rivera occurred, who at first supported the abandonment of the Protectorate but , in 1924 and after new attacks by Abd El Krim that required a new Spanish retreat to the areas of Tetuan, Ceuta and Melilla, became a strong supporter of going on the offensive to defeat the Riffian leader and restoring Spanish authority in the Protectorate . In April 1925 a crucial event occurred : Abd el-Krim, confident of his success against the Spanish, attacked the French zone of the Protectorate . This opened the doors for a Spanish-French agreement to make a common front against the Riffians. To this end, in June 1925 the Madrid Conference took place, which set out the necessary actions . Among the agreements reached there were the plan for a Spanish landing on the Alhucemas bay , with the cooperation and support of a combined air and naval Spanish-French forcé . Alhucemas , home of the Kabyle (tribe) of Abd El Krim , was the focus of the ongoing Rif rebellion . All Spanish land operations , included the Disaster of Annual in 1921 , aimed at the occupation of Alhucemas, but all of them failed , mainly due to too long re-supply lines . The operation initially proposed the landing of 18,000 men, although 13,000 would eventually be landed, to occupy a base of operations in the area of Al Hoceima and deal with an estimated force of 11,000 Riffians. This operation was the first amphibious action that involved Spain in the modern era and this , together with the failure of a similar Anglo-French operation at Gallipoli in 1915 during the First World War, posed a concern . As if it was not enough, the terrain presented difficulties in performing the landing , besides being a well-known area for the Riffians . This led to Primo De Rivera to investigate the reasons for the disaster at Gallipoli and carefully plan the landing.
