What unites Orson Welles, Cantinflas and Wes Anderson? Chinchón, a city-set on the outskirts of Madrid

45 km from the center of Madrid, 1 hour by car, is Chinchón. It is a small but charming town; It has a very large square, 17th-century buildings, an anise with a denomination of origin – Chinchón – that reaches 74° alcohol content, as well as “a church without a tower, and a tower without a church”, because it has separate structures, As Rosa Barranco, a neighbor of the town and guide, tells us with mischievous irony.

Much can be told about Chinchón, which we have arrived at as part of an invitation to the tenth edition of the Platino Awards. But here we will talk about her cinematographic spirit, which is wonderful. Because it looks like a municipality made a set. Let’s go back to 1956, when it was the scene of the film “Around the World in 80 Days”by Michael Anderson.

In a memorable sequence, the town’s main square was turned into an arena, with colorful fabrics hung from the 234 balconies that surround the place. But the show is stolen by the endearing Mario Moreno ‘Cantinflas’, when he jumps into a fight with an unforgettable nervous attitude. There are still locals – the oldest ones – who remember the filming.

Years later, for the recording of the tape “The Fabulous World of the Circus” (1964) by Henry Hathaway, Chinchón was chosen as the location where two of those divas would walk: the Italian Claudia Cardinale and the American Rita Hayworth they also left a mark of their dazzling beauty in the city, since the film was recorded in various parts of Madrid.

FROM WELLES TO ANDERSON

Another of Chinchón’s memorable movie episodes took place when the mythical Orson Welles got there to film his film “Chimes at midnight”, in which he himself starred, posing as a UK landscape. A few years later, he would transfigure her again, but this time as Macao, for his film “An Immortal Story” (1968).

The director of “Ciudadano Kane” liked Chinchón so much that he settled there for a while. And he had a favorite restaurant: Cuevas del Vino, which literally looks like a set of labyrinthine catacombs that exchange bones for huge vats of fermented wine. In one of his rooms, in fact, Jars with famous signatures are preservedincluding Welles’ signature, with the silhouette of his face drawn next to it.

There are more famous autographs: that of Yul Brynner, for example, who came to Chinchón to film “The Magnificent Seven” with Charles Bronson and Steve McQueen; the one of Carmen Maura, diva and muse of Pedro Almodóvar; the signature of Matt Dillon, with an alien next to it; and more recently that of Adrien Brody and Tom Holland. The “Spider-Man” actor wanted to stamp his name on the same jar as Orson Welles’s. And he was granted the whim.

The curious thing is that the influence that Chinchón generates among filmmakers is not just a thing of the past. Less than two years ago, the location was chosen by director Wes Anderson (“The Wacky Tenembaums,” “Grand Budapest Hotel”). to develop his eleventh feature film, “Asteroid City”which will premiere in a few weeks at the Cannes Film Festival.

Although the plot takes place in a fictitious city, Chinchón met the requirements that Anderson needed. And the city was practically shut down during the weeks that the filming lasted. In fact, about 200 chinchonetes –4% of the total local population– worked as extras, but no one talks about what they saw because they all signed confidentiality agreements.

Meanwhile, various figures from the impressive ‘cast’ of “Asteroid City” –Scarlett Johansson, Adrien Brody, Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, Tilda Swinton, etc.– had to confine themselves to the Chinchón Paradora luxury hotel run by the Spanish government that was once a liquor store, and before that a prison, but first of all an Augustinian convent around 1700. A beautiful old cloister that was once again to protect the aforementioned stars of Hollywood.

They say that around 3 million dollars could have entered the coffers of Chinchón thanks to Anderson’s film. An unequivocal sign of the importance of local governments promoting the film industry in a sustained manner. Example for Peru, perhaps? It’s worth thinking about.