Cabina, La
Date: 1972
Director: Antonio Mercero
Production Company: Televisión Española (TVE)
Stars: José Luis López Vázquez
Location(s): Castile and León, Madrid (Spain)
Region(s): Spain
Storyline:
A surreal film in which a man gets trapped inside a telephone box and nobody is able to free him.
Additional Information:
Original research by Phil Wilkinson with updated screen captures by David Wilson
Also known as ‘The Telephone Box’ (English title)
Click on this link to read Ashley Bristow’s in depth article about the film on The Artifice https://the-artifice.com/la-cabina/
Can you help:
If you have any information regarding this production, the locations or, even better, some comparison shots please contact us. Images submitted must be in Landscape orientation, as would be seen on the cinema screen, not Portrait.
We are aware that there are films on the site that were added when the criteria for the inclusion of locations was very different from today and, as a result, there may be scenes missing from some productions. Please do not forward additional screen captures to us but bring the detail to our attention, for we do, and are, 're-addressing' these older entries as time allows.
- Capture 1
- 'Now' required
The day dawns over Madrid. Looking towards Calle Rodríguez San Pedro with the tower of Iglesia Nuestra Señora de los Dolores visible upper left.
- Capture 2
- 'Now' required
Tilting down, we see a truck approach carrying a telephone booth. Plaza de Arapiles situated between Calla Rodriguez San Pedro, Calla Arapiles, Calle San Bernardo and Plaza del Conde del Valle de Súchil in Madrid.
- Capture 3
- 'Now' required
The camera follows the truck as it backs up to the square. Plaza de Arapiles in the Arapiles district of Madrid. Ashley Bristow advises that the plaza doesn't have an official name but is sometimes referred to by locals as Plaza de Arapiles.
- Capture 4
- 'Now' required
Telephone company workers carry the booth into position. Plaza de Arapiles. Andy Hall updates us that the local council erected a red phone booth at the top end of Plaza Conde del Valle de Súchil (Calle de Arapiles) in December 2021 as a tribute to Mercero.
- Capture 5
- 'Now' required
After installing the booth, the workers depart leaving the door ajar. Plaza de Arapiles, Madrid.
- Capture 6
- 'Now' required
The workers drive away. Facing south towards Calle Rodríguez San Pedro in Plaza de Arapiles.
- Capture 7
- 15 Jun 2024
A gardener waters plants in the square. Plaza de Arapiles in Madrid.
The square where the film was shot is private and gated. However, Stuart Robins found a replica of the prop phone box erected in homage at the north end of Plaza del Conde del Valle de Súchil, Madrid, next to the square where La Cabina was filmed.
- Capture 8
- 'Now' required
The booth stands silent as the morning passes. Plaza de Arapiles.
- Capture 9
- 'Now' required
A Man (José Luis López Vázquez) and his Son (Moisés García) enter the park from the east. Plaza de Arapiles, Madrid.
- Capture 10
- 15 Jun 2024
The Son retrieves his football from inside the new phone booth. Plaza de Arapiles.
Stuart Robins found the closest viewpoint is from the Plaza del Conde del Valle de Súchil.
- Capture 11
- 'Now' required
When the school bus arrives, the Man says goodbye to his Son. Plaza de Arapiles to the north of central Madrid.
- Capture 12
- 'Now' required
The Man watches his Son leave. Plaza de Arapiles.
- Capture 13
- 'Now' required
Deciding to make a call, the Man enters the new booth. Plaza de Arapiles, Madrid.
- Capture 14
- 'Now' required
The booth's door slowly closes. Plaza de Arapiles.
- Capture 15
- 15 Jun 2024
With the door firmly closed, the Man realises that he cannot get out of the booth. Plaza de Arapiles with the offices of Aresa Seguros (Aresa Insurance) on Calle Arapiles in the background. Madrid 28015, Spain.
Taken from the adjacent Calle de Rodríguez San Pedro by Stuart Robins.
- Capture 16
- 'Now' required
Two workers (Felipe Martín Puertas and José Montijano) attempt to release the Man. Plaza de Arapiles.
- Capture 17
- 'Now' required
As the square gets busier, an audience gathers. Plaza de Arapiles in Madrid.
- Capture 18
- 'Now' required
When the workers fail to free the captive, a Well Built Man (Tito García) also attempts to open the door. Plaza de Arapiles.
- Capture 19
- 'Now' required
Firemen arrive and their Chief (Goyo Lebrero) prepares to break the booth's glass. Plaza de Arapiles, Madrid.
- Capture 20
- 'Now' required
Before the Fireman can inflict any damage, telephone workers appear and take the booth with the man inside. Plaza de Arapiles.
- Capture 21
- 'Now' required
Local residents cheer and wave as the booth is taken away. Unconfirmed location.
- Capture 22
- 15 Jun 2024
Children follow the telephone truck as it leaves the square. Calle de Rodríguez San Pedro, Madrid, Spain confirmed by Stuart Robins.
Stuart found that the background tower black has been refurbished during the intervening years.
- Capture 23
- 'Now' required
The bemused Man is taken on a journey. Andy Hall advises that the truck makes its way over the flyover on Calle Raimundo Fernández Villaverde with part of the AZCA building complex at Edificio Castellana 79 in the background.
- Capture 24
- 'Now' required
The truck drives along Madrid highways. The flyover, crossing La Castellana from Calle Raimundo Fernández Villaverde, showing the building on the corner of Calle de Joaquín Costa 1 located by Andy Hall.
- Capture 25
- 'Now' required
Young occupants of a following car spot the Man. Unknown location.
- Capture 26
- 'Now' required
The Man becomes embarrassed when the car catches up.
- Capture 27
- 'Now' required
Another man in a booth is passed . . . . he leaves when his call is finished.
- Capture 28
- 'Now' required
The truck negotiates its way out of the city. Los 'scalextric' de Atocha near Plaza del Emperador Carlos V, Madrid. The 'fly-over' roads have been removed in recent years. The spray of one of the two "Fuente de la Alcachofa" (Artichoke fountains) is visible just above the middle part of the shot.
- Capture 29
- 'Now' required
The truck emerges from an underpass. This seems to be the Tunel de Maria de Molina in Madrid 28006 that emerges next to the Calle de María de Molina. This exit point is just next to the junction for the Calle de Lopez de Hoyos.
- Capture 30
- 'Now' required
The truck passes through suburbs.
- Capture 31
- 'Now' required
The Man's fear grows when he sees a corpse in a glass coffin. Parroquia Jesús de Nazaret on Avenida de San Luis identified by Andy Hall. The building was demolished mid-70s.
- Capture 32
- 'Now' required
When the truck stops at traffic signals, another truck pulls alongside carrying Another Man (Agustín González) in a similar predicament. The next few shots are all along the same road. This is approx. No.5 Calle de Jazmin in Madrid 20833 (the trees have grown a lot in the subsequent years, making the buildings hard to see).
- Capture 33
- 'Now' required
The second booth is driven away. Calle Arturo Soria 330, Pinar de Chamartín recognised by Andy Hall.
- Capture 34
- 'Now' required
People stare as the glass prison passes. Ashley Bristow identifies this as No.32 Calle de Jazmin in Madrid 20833.
- Capture 35
- 'Now' required
The Man's journey continues. Thanks to the ID work done for capture 34, it means that this shot is located just along the same road at about No.9 Calle de Jazmin in Madrid 20833.
- Capture 36
- 'Now' required
High rise buildings are seen through the glass panels of the booth. Located by Andy hall, this is Calle Arturo Soria 330, Pinar de Chamartín.
- Capture 37
- 'Now' required
A last view of the city as the Man is carried into the country.
- Capture 38
- 'Now' required
After hours of travelling, a helicopter appears and hovers overhead. Possibly Calle Poblado del Salto, Castile and León, Spain.
- Capture 39
- 'Now' required
Nearing the end of the journey. This appears to be Calle Poblado del Salto, a winding road near La Presa de Aldeadávila (Aldeadávila Dam) across the Douro River on the border between Spain and Portugal some 60 miles west of Salamanca.
- Capture 40
- 06 Jan 2015
The final view of the world that the man sees. Aldeadávila Dam, Castile and León, Spain.
In 1998, some 26 years after the film was made, Retevision made a television commercial featuring José Luis López Vázquez in which the door of the booth opened and the Man walked free.