Summers, Manuel

(1935-1993)

   Manuel Summers studied film direction at the Instituto de Investigaciones y Experiencias Cinematográficas and was one of the filmmakers identified with the Nuevo cine español movement. He was also a cartoonist, and his film work was a mixture of satire and bittersweet comedy. Del rosa al amarillo (From Pink to Yellow, 1963), his film debut, was a port-manteau film consisting of two independent stories revolving around different attitudes to love. His next film, La niña de luto (The Girl in Mourning, 1964), was a gentle satire on Spanish village life that featured a woman who was prevented by mourning customs from becoming engaged to the man she loved. This project established his reputation as a keen observer of social life and witty scriptwriter. It was followed in 1966 by Juguetes rotos (Broken Toys, 1966), a documentary on the lives of has-been performers, bullfighters, and sports personalities when they reach old age.

   After this solid period, Summers' career became more conventional. Aunque la hormona se vista de seda (Even If Hormones Are Dressed in Silk, 1971) was a weird approach to homosexuality in which he starred with Ana Belén. Although in Adiós cigüeña, adiós (Goodbye, Mr. Stork, Goodbye, 1971), on adolescent sexuality, and in Ángeles gordos (Fat Angels, 1982), there were still traces of a personal outlook, most of his post-1960s films are comedies that increasingly exploit sexual freedom. His candid-camera film To er mundo e güeno (People Are Good, 1982) was a big box-office hit and spawned two sequels. He was also the father of pop singer Guillermo Summers, a member of the group Hombres G, and in 1987, they starred in the musical Sufre mamón (Suffer, You Sucker, 1987).