"The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War found most of the film studios (and filmmakers) behind Republican lines. Owing to their close ties with Hitler, the Nationalists (Franco's forces) soon set up some co-production deals for films starring Spanish stars but filmed in Spanish in Germany; for the Germans, it was not only support for an ally, but also a way to break into the lucrative Latin American market. The only noteworthy outcome of this development was Rey's Carmen, The Girl from Triana, featuring Rey's wife, Imperio Argentina, the biggest Spanish screen star of the era. Hitler had originally wanted Rey to make a gloss on the 'Lola Montes Story,' featuring Nazi troopers instead of students. Instead, Rey suggested Carmen, but soon found that the Spanish censors wouldn't abide the presence of either an Army deserter or an erotic woman, so José now dies an honorable military death and Carmen is left a smoldering widow. Rey's flair for exotica was never used to greater effect, and Argentina's singing and dancing (especially her Los Piconeros) was never better." -Richard Peña