The representation of Basque immigration in American Cinema: Wild is the Wind (1959) or the quest for elucidating what a Basque is

Abstract

In previous studies I have presented a general overview of the way American Cinema depicted Basque people, and especially Basque immigrants in the American West, and its evolution since the times of silent cinema to our days. In this article I will analyse one of the very first films in which a Basque character is presented, not in a secondary role, but as a protagonist. Wild is the Wind (George Cukor, 1959) represents also one of the first approaches to the representation of Basque identity by a Hollywood A-movie (this is, a film with a high budget, produced by major company, with the participation of wellknown actors and actresses under the control of a renowned director) Firstly, I will summarize the main elements that characterized and conditioned the image of Basque immigrants, and Basque people as a whole, up to the decade of 1990 in the cinema of Hollywood. Secondly, I will describe the process of ellaboration of the film since its first steps, highlighting when, why and by whom was decided to introduce a Basque character in the plot. Finally, I will analyze how this Basque character is depicted in the film, both by the means of external (race, language, clothes...) and internal features (mainly, the dialogues), putting them in the context of previous and contemporary films and tv movies in which Basque characters also appeared.