Gibraltar in popular culture
Encyclopedia
Film
- In the film The Captain's ParadiseThe Captain's ParadiseThe Captain's Paradise is a 1953 British comedy film starring Alec Guinness and directed by Anthony Kimmins. It is set in Gibraltar and northern Morocco, and on a ship that travels between them....
, Alec GuinnessAlec GuinnessSir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
plays the captain of a ship that travels between GibraltarGibraltarGibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
and MoroccoMoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. - The film The Silent EnemyThe Silent Enemy (film)The Silent Enemy is a 1958 action film directed by William Fairchild. It stars Laurence Harvey as Lionel "Buster" Crabb and describes his exploits during World War II...
was filmed on location in Gibraltar in 1958. It is a dramatisation of the period during the Second World War when Lionel "Buster" CrabbLionel CrabbLionel "Buster" Crabb OBE, GM was a British Royal Navy frogman and MI6 diver who vanished during a reconnaissance mission around a Soviet cruiser in 1956.-Early life:...
served as a mine and disposal officer in Gibraltar while frogmen of the Italian NavyRegia MarinaThe Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...
's Tenth Light Flotilla were sinking vital shipping. - The 1982 film Tangiers is partly set in Gibraltar.
- The opening scene of the film The Living DaylightsThe Living DaylightsThe Living Daylights is the fifteenth entry in the James Bond series and the first to star Timothy Dalton as the fictional MI6 agent 007. The film's title is taken from Ian Fleming's short story, "The Living Daylights"...
(from the James BondJames BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film series) takes place in Gibraltar. - In the German-language film Das BootDas BootDas Boot is a 1981 German epic war film written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen, produced by Günter Rohrbach, and starring Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, and Klaus Wennemann...
, a German U-boat struggles in its attempt to get past the British navy in Gibraltar to relocate to a base in the Mediterranean sea. - In the 1981 animated feature film Heavy MetalHeavy Metal (film)Heavy Metal is a 1981 Canadian fantasy-animated film directed by Gerald Potterton and produced by Ivan Reitman and Leonard Mogel, who also was the publisher of Heavy Metal magazine....
, in the section entitled Den, the character of Katherine Wells states that she is a native of Gibralter. - The popular BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
90's TV show The DetectivesThe DetectivesThe Detectives is a British comedy television series, starring Jasper Carrott, Robert Powell, and George Sewell. It was a spoof of police dramas, which were numerous in the 1990s, and it was aired on BBC One...
, has an episode set in Gibraltar and features a ride in the cable car.
Literature
- Stieg LarssonStieg LarssonKarl Stig-Erland Larsson , who wrote professionally as Stieg Larsson, was a Swedish journalist and writer, born in Skelleftehamn outside Skellefteå. He is best known for writing the "Millennium series" of crime novels, which were published posthumously...
's novel The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest has several chapters set in Gibraltar. - Anthony BurgessAnthony BurgessJohn Burgess Wilson – who published under the pen name Anthony Burgess – was an English author, poet, playwright, composer, linguist, translator and critic. The dystopian satire A Clockwork Orange is Burgess's most famous novel, though he dismissed it as one of his lesser works...
's novel A Vision of BattlementsA Vision of BattlementsA Vision of Battlements is a 1965 novel by Anthony Burgess based on his experiences during World War II in Gibraltar, where he was serving with the British army....
(1965), chronicling the troubled love-life of the British soldier Richard Ennis, is set in Gibraltar. - The satirical novel Gil BraltarGil BraltarGil Braltar is a satirical short story by Jules Verne parodying British colonialism. It was first published together with The Flight to France as a part of Voyages Extraordinaires series in 1887....
by Jules VerneJules VerneJules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
(1887) describes an almost successful attack of the monkeys on the fortress. - "The Day of an American Journalist in 2889", an 1889 Jules Verne short story, also mentions Gibraltar as the last territory of a British EmpireBritish EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
, with even Great BritainGreat BritainGreat Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
having been annexed by the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. - Raffles' Crime in Gibraltar by Barry PerowneBarry PerowneBarry Perowne was a pseudonym of the British writer Philip Atkey , best known for crime fiction. Another pseudonym was Pat Merriman. He continued the A. J. Raffles series after its creator E. W. Hornung's death, as well as other stories with his own characters.-External links:*...
, a Sexton BlakeSexton BlakeSexton Blake is a fictional detective who appeared in many British comic strips and novels throughout the 20th century. He was described by Professor Jeffrey Richards on the BBC in The Radio Detectives in 2003 as "the poor man's Sherlock Holmes"...
story set in Gibraltar in 1937 (U.S.United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
title: They Hang Them in Gibraltar). - Scruffy by Paul GallicoPaul GallicoPaul William Gallico was a successful American novelist, short story and sports writer. Many of his works were adapted for motion pictures...
is set on Gibraltar during World War II. It follows the steady decline in the size of the Macaque colony and the possible fulfilment of the superstition that Gibraltar will fall if it disappears. - As Molly BloomMolly BloomMolly Bloom is a fictional character in the novel Ulysses by James Joyce. The wife of main character Leopold Bloom, she roughly corresponds to Penelope in the Odyssey. The major difference between Molly and Penelope is that while Penelope is eternally faithful, Molly is not, having an affair with...
is a native Gibraltarian, references to Gibraltar appear throughout James JoyceJames JoyceJames Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
's UlyssesUlysses (novel)Ulysses is a novel by the Irish author James Joyce. It was first serialised in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach on 2 February 1922, in Paris. One of the most important works of Modernist literature,...
(1922). A sculpture of Molly Bloom as imagined by local artist Jon Searle is on display in the Alameda GardensThe Alameda Gibraltar Botanic GardensThe Gibraltar Botanic Gardens or La Alameda Gardens are a botanical garden in Gibraltar, spanning around . -History:The gardens were founded in 1816 by Governor of Gibraltar General George Don in order to provide a recreational area for the Garrison at the time...
. - Arthur C. ClarkeArthur C. ClarkeSir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
's novel The Fountains of ParadiseThe Fountains of ParadiseThe Fountains of Paradise is a Hugo and Nebula Award–winning 1979 novel by Arthur C. Clarke. Set in the 22nd century, it describes the construction of a space elevator. This "orbital tower" is a giant structure rising from the ground and linking with a satellite in geostationary orbit at the...
mentions the 'Gibraltar BridgeGibraltar BridgeA Strait of Gibraltar crossing is a hypothetical bridge or tunnel spanning the Strait of Gibraltar that would connect Europe to Africa.The Spanish and Moroccan governments appointed a a to investigate the feasibility of linking the two continents...
', a novel infrastructure connecting Europe and Africa. - John MastersJohn MastersLieutenant Colonel John Masters, DSO was an English officer in the British Indian Army and novelist. His works are noted for their treatment of the British Empire in India.-Life:...
' book The Rock is a collection of short stories set in Gibraltar: ranging from a story set in prehistoric times to one suggesting a possible future for the Rock. - In Maud Hart LovelaceMaud Hart LovelaceMaud Hart Lovelace was an American author best known for the Betsy-Tacy series.-Early life:Maud Palmer Hart was born in Mankato, Minnesota to Tom Hart, a shoe store owner, and his wife, Stella . Maud was the middle child; her sisters were Kathleen and Helen...
's book Betsy and the Great WorldBetsy and the Great WorldBetsy and the Great World is the ninth volume in the Betsy-Tacy series of children's fiction by Maud Hart Lovelace. The novel is set in 1914 and focuses on the newly adult Betsy Ray's adventures while spending a year traveling through Europe in place of attending college. The novel is based on...
, the heroine goes on a cruise to Europe and makes a stop at Gibraltar, where she learns about its history and legends, and goes shopping. - Raymond Benson's James Bond novel DoubleshotDoubleshotDoubleShot, first published in 2000, was the sixth novel by Raymond Benson featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond . Carrying the Ian Fleming Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton and in the United States by Putnam...
deals with a fictional plot to forcibly return Gibraltar to Spain. The climax takes place in Gibraltar. - Vicente Blasco IbáñezVicente Blasco IbáñezVicente Blasco Ibáñez was a Spanish realist novelist writing in Spanish, a screenwriter and occasional film director....
's Luna Benamor tells the story of an impossible love story between a Spanish diplomat and a Gibraltarian woman, of Jewish descent, Luna Benamor. - In James Barrington's novel Overkill, a Russian ship containing a nuclear device is left in the Port of Gibraltar by a Russian politician as a 'demonstration'. The device is dismantled by SAS forces.
- In Anthony HorowitzAnthony HorowitzAnthony Craig Horowitz is an English novelist and screenwriter. He has written many children's novels, including The Power of Five, Alex Rider and The Diamond Brothers series and has written over fifty books. He has also written extensively for television, adapting many of Agatha Christie's...
's novel, Scorpia Rising, an identical copy of Alex Rider, the protagonist, is being held in a secret prison on Gibralter.
Music
- In 1782 Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
composed a fragment for voice and piano to celebrate the Great Siege of GibraltarGreat Siege of GibraltarThe Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the American War of Independence. This was the largest action fought during the war in terms of numbers, particularly the Grand Assault of 18 September 1782...
titled Bardengesang auf Gibraltar: O Calpe! Dir donnert's am FusseBardengesang auf Gibraltar: O Calpe! Dir donnert's am FusseBardengesang auf Gibraltar: O Calpe! Dir donnert's am Fusse is the title of a fragment for voice and piano composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1782 to celebrate the Great Siege of Gibraltar...
. - The Beatles' song The Ballad of John & Yoko identifies Gibraltar as the place where John LennonJohn LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
and Yoko OnoYoko Onois a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
were married. - "In time GibraltarGibraltarGibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
may tumble" is found in the lyrics of the song, "Our Love is Here to Stay"Our Love Is Here to Stay"Our Love Is Here to Stay" is a popular song and a jazz standard. The music was written by George Gershwin, the lyrics by Ira Gershwin, for the movie The Goldwyn Follies which was released shortly after George Gershwin's death. It is performed in the film by Kenny Baker...
, written by George and Ira Gershwin in 1938 for the movie The Goldwyn FolliesThe Goldwyn FolliesThe Goldwyn Follies is a 1938 Technicolor film written by Ben Hecht, Sid Kuller, Sam Perrin and Arthur Phillips, with music by George Gershwin, Vernon Duke, and Ray Golden, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. Some sources credit Kurt Weill as one of the composers, but this is apparently incorrect...
. - Amos Lee sings "I'm like the rock of Gibraltar" in his song "Sweet Pea".
- Jason MrazJason MrazJason Thomas Mraz , also known as Mr. AZ and Mr. Raz, is an American singer-songwriter. Mraz released his debut album, Waiting for My Rocket to Come, which contained the hit single "The Remedy ", in 2002, but it was not until the release of his second album, "Mr. A-Z", in 2005, that Mraz achieved...
sings "Why don't you tell me about the sunsets in Sweden and the laws of Eden / And how you were the rock of Gibraltar" in the song "Zero Percent" from his 2001 album "Live & Acoustic". - English rapper ExampleExample (rapper)Elliot John Gleave , better known by his stage name Example, is an English singer and rapper signed to Data Records. His name arose due to his initials being E.G., which is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase "exempli gratia", which means, "for example".Example's third album Playing In The Shadows...
references Gibraltar in his song "Something in the Water".