A HOLMFIRTH teacher is to appear in a film . . . as an American Army colonel.

And the screen starhe role could not have been tougher for elocution teacher Susan Mallinson - the film was shot in Spain in extreme heat and she had to speak in Spanish as well as English with an American accent, dance flamenco for the first time, and sing!

She is starring in the movie called Los Managers, a big budget musical comedy spoof about the pop industry, which is being made by one of Spain's top film directors, Fernando Guillen Cuervo.

He had seen 62-year-old Susan in another Spanish film, a psychological thriller called Second Name in which she played the landlady of a hostel for down-and-outs.

The film was about a daughter's search for truth after her father's suicide.

It was filmed in 2002 and was released in the USA earlier this year, where it is in the top 10 most watched films in recent months.

In the new film she plays Colonel Frankenheimer, the American commander of an Army base in southern Spain. She flew out to do the filming in June with Spanish soap stars and pop idols.

"It was incredibly hot during the filming with temperatures reaching 50°C (122°F) and I had to wear full uniform all the time," she said.

"But it was great fun and I can't wait to see it when it is premiered in Spain next spring."

The film will also be shown in South America. Susan, of Upperthong, near Holmfirth, has also appeared as a barmaid in Last Of The Summer Wine and got the first Spanish role after meeting the film's casting director while on holiday in Barcelona.

She taught elocution classes at Wakefield Girls' High School for 12 years up to July and still teaches at The Mount School in Edgerton and the religious College of the Resurrection in Mirfield. She also teaches privately.

Susan lived in Spain for four years in the 1960s and is fluent in Spanish.

While living there she performed professionally as a classical singer and released an album of songs under her maiden name of Susan Colledge.