Benito Perojo

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Perojo and the second or maternal family name is González.
Benito Perojo
Born
Benito Perojo González

(1894-06-14)14 June 1894
Madrid, Spain
Died11 November 1974(1974-11-11) (aged 80)
Madrid, Spain
Occupations
Years active1926–1971
SpouseCarmen Carreras Torres
ChildrenCarmen Perojo Carreras
AwardsOrder of Civil Merit Grand Cross

Benito Perojo González (Madrid, 14 June 1894 – Madrid, 11 November 1974) was a Spanish film director and film producer.

Biography

Born into a wealthy family, he was the son of the Cuban-born journalist and politician José del Perojo y Figueras (1850–1908) and his wife Ana María de la Cortina Fuentes (1871–1954).[1] He studied electrical engineering in London, where he became familiar with emerging technologies that he later applied to filmmaking.[2]

On 18 July 1966 he was honoured by the Caballero Gran Cruz de la Orden del Mérito Civil.[3]

He died in Madrid on 11 November 1974 aged 80 and he was survived by his daughter Carmen Perojo Carreras.[4]

Career

He is generally regarded as one of the pioneers of Spanish cinema, contributing to its formative years through a preference for literary adaptations and the recurrent use of themes drawn from Spanish folklore. He worked in all areas of film production and also appeared as an actor.[5]

His earliest films date from the early 1910s. In 1913, working for the production company Patria Film, he directed Cómo se hace un periódico. In 1915 he sought to capitalize on the popularity of Charlie Chaplin’s character The Tramp by creating and portraying the comic figure “Peladilla”, starring in and directing several short films that brought him widespread recognition.[6] He subsequently worked in France before returning to Spain in 1923.[7][5]

His use of folkloric themes associated with flamenco culture, which enjoyed broad popular appeal, was criticized by Luis Buñuel and other members of the Generation of '27, who identified “Perojismo” as one of the endemic shortcomings of Spanish cinema.[8] Nevertheless, he continued to develop a national musical style frequently associated with Andalusian themes.

During the Spanish Civil War, like Florián Rey—Cifesa’s other emblematic director—he directed several films with a distinctly Spanish character at the UFA studios in Nazi Germany, including El barbero de Sevilla (The Barber of Seville 1938), Suspiros de España (Sighs of Spain 1939), and Mariquilla Terremoto (1939), all three starring Estrellita Castro.[9]

Among his most successful films were Malvaloca (1926), adapted from the rural drama by Serafín and Joaquín Álvarez Quintero; El negro que tenía el alma blanca (1934), based on the novel by Alberto Insúa; La verbena de la Paloma (Paloma Fair 1935), adapted from the celebrated zarzuela; and Goyescas (1942), starring Imperio Argentina, who became one of the leading figures of Spanish cinema in this period.[10] He later worked with her in Argentina on La maja de los cantares (The Songstress 1946) and La copla de la Dolores (La copla de la Dolores 1947), the latter of which was selected for the 1947 Cannes Film Festival.[11]

After returning to Spain in 1948, he founded a film production company, a role that came to overshadow his work as a director, which he largely abandoned until his death in Madrid in 1974. He is buried in the San Isidro Cemetery in Madrid.[12]

Selected filmography

Director

Producer

References

  1. ^ "Perojo y Figueras, José". Biblioteca Nacional de España (in Spanish).
  2. ^ Gubern, Román (2017). Historia del cine español (in Spanish). Cátedra.
  3. ^ Franco, Francisco (26 July 1966). Castiella y Maíz, Fernando María (ed.). "DECRETO 1965/1966, de 18 de iu!io~ /lDr el que se concede la Gran Cruz de la Orden aeı Meri/o Civil a don Benito Peroio Gonzci.lez" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). No. 177. p. 9594. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  4. ^ "El excelentísimo señor don Benito Perojo González (viudo de doña Carmen Carreras Torres). Productor y director cinematográfico falleció en Madrid el día 11 de Noviembre de 1974 habiendo recibido los santos sacramentos y la bendición apostólica de su santidad". ABC (in Spanish). Madrid: Vocento. 13 November 1974. p. 107. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  5. ^ a b Gubern, Román (2000). Historia del cine español (in Spanish). Cátedra.
  6. ^ "Peladilla". Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes (in Spanish).
  7. ^ Caparrós Lera, José María (1992). El cine español en su historia (in Spanish). Universidad de Barcelona.
  8. ^ Buñuel, Luis (1982). Mi último suspiro (in Spanish). Plaza & Janés.
  9. ^ "Perojo, Benito (1894–1974) – Autoridad". Portal de Archivos Españoles (PARes) (in Spanish). Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte (España). Retrieved 2 February 2026.
  10. ^ "Imperio Argentina". IMDb.
  11. ^ "Festival de Cannes 1947". Festival de Cannes.
  12. ^ "Cementerio de San Isidro". Ayuntamiento de Madrid (in Spanish).
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