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 th...