El Cid (1961)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Anthony Mann

Writers (WGA):

Fredric M. Frank (story)
Philip Yordan (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

14 December 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History | Romance | War

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...

Plot Keywords:

Spain | Epic | Siege | Beautiful Woman | Horse Riding

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

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

Runtime:

182 min

Country:

Italy | USA | UK

Language:

Latin | English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Netherlands:12 (2008) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:U | USA:Unrated | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Bamburgh Beach, Bamburgh, Northumberland, England, UK

Company:

Rank Organisation, The

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.

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.

Quotes:

El Cid: [to the king, who refused Muslim aid] You risk having no Spain at all!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Bold and the Beautiful: (#1.1675)" (1993)

Soundtrack:

Phir tere shehar mein

Simply, the best

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.