Vintage Spanish collector's card. Empresa Cinematografica Barcelona, No. A-12. Scene from the Franco-Spanish production La vida de Cristóbal Colon/ Vida de Cristóbal Colón y su descubrimiento de América/ La vie de Christophe Colomb/ Christophe Colomb/ The Life of Christopher Columbus (Gérard Bourgeois, Argos P.C., Films Cinematographiques 1916), starring Georges Wague (Columbus, Jean Garat (Bartholomew Columbus) and Léontine Massart (Queen Isabella). Script by Charles Jean Drossner. Cinematography by Edouard Renault, Ramón de Baños, and José María Maristany. Caption: Soon after the conquering of Granada, Columbus meets the Catholic Royal Couple. While Ferdinand of Aragon is a practical man and doesn't care about theory nor ideals, Queen Isabella is inclined to help Columbus' visions, feeling her generosity may also offer new stars to her crown. This card shows the actors at the Alhambra in Granada.
During the First World War, the Spanish company Argos Films of José Carreras, together with the French company Films Cinématographiques, embarked on what was claimed to be the most expensive film made in Spain until then, costing a million pesetas. While the director, scriptwriter and main actors were French, the crew was mostly Spanish. The film was made in two parts, released in France as La Vie de Christophe Colomb and La Découverte de l'Amérique. In France, the second part of the film was only first released in 1919, while the first already had been shown in 1916. For the full film, see also www.europeanfilmgateway.eu/detail/La%20vida%20de%20Crist%....
Sources: Cine-Ressources, IMDb, Europeana.
