IMDb > El Cid (1961)
El Cid
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El Cid (1961) -- MattTrailer.com - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
7.2/10   4,314 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 10% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Anthony Mann
Writers (WGA):
Fredric M. Frank (story)
Philip Yordan (screenplay) ...
more
Contact:
View company contact information for El Cid on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
14 December 1961 (USA) more
Tagline:
The GREATEST ROMANCE and ADVENTURE in a THOUSAND YEARS!
Plot:
Epic film of the legendary Spanish hero, Rodrigo Diaz ("El Cid" to his followers), who, without compromising his strict sense of honour... more | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 5 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(5 articles)
The Weinstein Co. Partners with Vivendi Entertainment for Home Video
 (From MovieWeb. 14 September 2009, 7:08 AM, PDT)

Walter Hill: The Hollywood Interview
 (From The Hollywood Interview. 9 September 2009, 12:07 AM, PDT)

User Comments:
Simply, the best more (70 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Charlton Heston ... El Cid Rodrigo de Bivar

Sophia Loren ... Jimena
Raf Vallone ... Count Ordóñez
Geneviève Page ... Princess Urraca (as Genevieve Page)
John Fraser ... Prince Alfonso
Gary Raymond ... Prince Sancho
Hurd Hatfield ... Arias
Massimo Serato ... Fanez
Frank Thring ... Al Kadir
Michael Hordern ... Don Diego
Andrew Cruickshank ... Count Gormaz
Douglas Wilmer ... Moutamin
Tullio Carminati ... Priest
Ralph Truman ... King Ferdinand
Christopher Rhodes ... Don Martín
more
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Additional Details

Runtime:
182 min
Country:
Italy | USA | UK
Language:
Latin | English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.20 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Charlton Heston himself was not overly impressed by the finished film, suggesting in his 1995 autobiography "In the Arena" that the film might have been better if William Wyler had directed it instead of Anthony Mann. more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: When he is fighting another king's champion, the figure of Rodrigo, as he is being run into by his opponent's horse, is clearly a motionless stick-figured dummy with Rodrigo's armor on it. more
Quotes:
El Cid: [to the king, who refused Muslim aid] You risk having no Spain at all! more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "The Bold and the Beautiful: (#1.1675)" (1993) more
Soundtrack:
Phir tere shehar mein more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
45 out of 67 people found the following comment useful.
Simply, the best, 13 February 2003
10/10
Author: Critical Eye UK from Lake District, England

It does, of course, make for very expensive home viewing, to whit; one widescreen television (28 inch minimum); one set of surround-sound speakers; one good quality DVD player. But after that though, just sit down and sit back.

Because every penny that's been invested in a Home Cinema set-up will earn its keep -- just as every dime that went into the making of this movie likewise pays back many times over.

Mann didn't invent the epic. But with 'El Cid', he took it to heights it had rarely reached before. And has never attained since. An astonishing achievement for its era, the passage of time has done little to diminish its scale or its power -- indeed it seems, in a curious way, to have gained in stature, in dignity, and in sheer, blissful watchability.

Heston was never better than this. Nor was Loren. And as for those closing seconds, whilst intimations of legend take wing upon the thunderous organ coda of Miklos Rosza's finest score. . . Words really do fail, now as then.

10 out of 10 -- but remember: this is cinema at its best; watch this at home on a set-up that's anything less than that spelt out at the beginning of this review, and you're not doing yourself, or the film, any favours.

After all, every masterpiece deserves a decent frame.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for El Cid (1961)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
uk daily mail free dvd of el Cid is widescreen ian-785
Favourite Scenes... Starrios
remake? mrharper77
Is it me or is El Cid kind of a self-righteous jerk? LFUTOL2
Swordsfight at Calahorra peterderijcker
How did El Cid capture the Moor Princes? angmc43
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