Michael mihura

Miguel Mihura Santos (Madrid, July 21, 1905 - Madrid, October 28, 1977) was a Spanish playwright, cartoonist and journalist.

Biography

Son of Miguel Mihura Álvarez, he studied high school with his brother at the Colegio San Isidro on Calle de las Infantas in Madrid. After his father died, he dropped out of school to dedicate himself to humor and comics in magazines such as Gutiérrez , Macaco , Buen Humor and Thank you very much . During the 1920s, he worked as a journalist: these were years of a certain bohemia, of gatherings in cafes, where he would meet important journalists of the humorous genre, such as Tono, Edgar Neville and Enrique Jardiel Poncela; the latter had a powerful influence on his style.

Although he began writing before the war, his recognition was late, since he only premiered regularly from the 1950s: in 1932 he wrote Three top hats, which he did not publish until 1947, and was not performed until 1952 (twenty years after it was written); it is a comedy considered one of the masterpieces of humorous theater and that anticipates some aspects of the theater of the absurd; In it, the world of restrictions and conventions and that of freedom and imagination confront each other, a theme that will be a constant in his work.

During the Spanish Civil War, he took refuge in San Sebastián with the rebels and was a member of the Spanish Falange. There he was director of a propaganda magazine for soldiers at the front, La Ametralladora .

After the war, he would collaborate with the weekly Tajo, where he directed the humorous section “La Ametraldora”. In 1941 he began to collaborate with La Codorniz, considered the parodic banner of the social conventions of the moment, a publication that Mihura directed between 1941 and 1944. The theme of freedom will also appear in ¡ Sublime decision! (1955), My beloved Juan (1956) and La bella Dorotea (1963), although from different perspectives: in the first, the emancipation of women at the end of the XIX century; in the second, he invites the viewer to live outside the strict and conventional social norms; in the latter, it reflects Dorotea's confrontation with a mean and cruel society.

Starting in the fifties, a small change took place in Mihura's work: satire prevailed over humor. This shift, which can already be seen in The Case of the Stupendous Lady (1953), is consolidated in A media luz los tres. She will also participate in the script for the film Welcome, Mister Marshall in 1952 together with Bardem and Berlanga.

Work

Miguel Mihura renewed the Spanish comic theater with his facility for semantic games and the entanglement with some absurdity. In his works the attempt to hide the pessimism and disenchantment with society is reflected. He anticipates the theater of the absurd due to the illogical situations and the lack of coherence in the discourse.

Mihura also worked with his brother for the cinema. His comedy work is classified into two eras:

• First period (between 1932 and 1946). The confrontation between the protagonists and their social environment prevails. Three cup hatsand other composite works in collaboration with other authors as Long live the impossible! or the accountant of stars (1939), Not poor or rich, but the opposite (1943), The case of the murderous woman (1946).
• Second period. Comic-costumbrist, police and entanglement works, with titles like Maribel and the strange family (1959) or Ninette and a gentleman from Murcia (1964).

List and year released

• Long live the impossible! or the accountant of stars (1939).
• Not poor or rich, but the opposite (1943).
• The case of the murderous woman (1946).
• Three cup hats (1952).
• Any woman (1953).
• The case of the wonderful lady (1953).
• Half-light all three (1953).
• The case of the man dressed in violet (1954).
• Three appointments to the destination (1954).
• Make up your mind! (1955).
• The basket (1955).
• My beloved John (1956).
• Carlota (1957).
• Melocoton in syrup (1958).
• Maribel and the strange family (1959).
• The house of Madame Renard (1961).
• The entertaining (1962).
• The beautiful Dorotea (1963).
• Miracle at the house of the López (1964).
• Ninette and a gentleman from Murcia (1964).
• Ninette, Paris fashions (1966).
• The kettle (1965).
• The decent (1967).
• Only love and moon bring fortune (1968).

Awards

Medals of the Film Writers Circle