Goyescas was the third film that Perojo directed in Spain after the end of the Civil War. The picture opens in a theater in Madrid where the singer Petrilla is performing for an enthusiastic crowd of aristocrats and commoners. Among the spectators is the Countess of Gualda, who has come to see the woman who is rumored to be her rival for the love of the dashing Marquis de Nuvalos. That night, following a rendezvous with the countess, the marquis kills an officer of the law in a swordfight and must flee the court. Blaming the countess for Nu�valos’s misfortune, Petrilla seeks to avenge herself; in exchange for a private performance, she persuades a minister to transfer the countess’s new lover, Captain Pizarro, to South America. Determined to keep the captain in Spain, the countess obtains a remission of the minister’s order from the queen and, dressed as a man, rides off in hopes of reaching Pizarro before he boards his ship. Captured by a band of outlaws before she reaches her destination, the countess finds Nuvalos in their company. Concealing her aristocratic identity from the bandits, the marquis passes the countess off as Petrilla and procures her escape, but, as she finds her way home dressed as a maja, she is arrested by soldiers squelching an uprising; taken for a commoner due to her attire, the countess is thrown into prison. Here she stumbles across Petrilla, who is also in jail. Locked together in close quarters, they finally come to a mutual understanding. Eluding their guards, both women take flight and separately set off to find their respective lovers. —Gérard Dapena (Findarticles.com)
