The fallen hat. Comical-grotesque correspondences between Miguel Mihura, Luis García Berlanga y Rafael Azcona

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to trace to what extent the humour and imaginary of Miguel Mihura and, more specifically, of his play Tres sombreros de copa (1932), may have been present in the conception of one of the most relevant sequences of the film El verdugo (1963), directed by Luis García Berlanga and scripted by Rafael Azcona. We are referring to the sequence in which which the protagonist is dragged away by the authorities to execute the condemned man. In the middle of the last century, many comical authors from different disciplines collaborated in joint creations. The playwright himself was one of the scriptwriters of Bienvenido Mr. Marshall (1953), also directed by the Valencian filmmaker. In this research we try to establish a comparative analysis between the end of the play and the aforementioned sequence, studying the relevance of the humour of the magazine La Codorniz, the comic-grotesque resources and the symbolic elements used, especially the fallen hat, which acts as a nexus and visual link between the two works.