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

User Rating:
7.2/10   4,341 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 6% 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
Genre:
Biography | Drama | History | Romance | War 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
Plot Keywords:
more
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:
Grim, Ponderous, Moving, Magnificent more (70 total)

Cast

  (in credits order) (verified as complete)

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
Carlo Giustini ... Bermúdez
Gérard Tichy ... King Ramírez (as Gerard Tichy)
Fausto Tozzi ... Dolfos
Barbara Everest ... Mother Superior
Katina Noble ... Nun
Nerio Bernardi ... Soldier
Franco Fantasia ... Soldier

Herbert Lom ... Ben Yussuf
rest of cast listed alphabetically:

Antonio Mayans ... (uncredited)
Paul Muller ... Arabian Assistant Doctor (uncredited)
Rosalba Neri ... Harem girl (uncredited)
Virgilio Teixeira ... (uncredited)
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Directed by
Anthony Mann 
 
Writing credits
(WGA)
Fredric M. Frank (story)

Philip Yordan (screenplay) and
Fredric M. Frank (screenplay) and
Ben Barzman (screenplay) originally uncredited

Produced by
Samuel Bronston .... producer
Jaime Prades .... associate producer
Michal Waszynski .... associate producer (as Michael Waszynski)
 
Original Music by
Miklós Rózsa  (as Miklos Rozsa)
 
Cinematography by
Robert Krasker 
 
Film Editing by
Robert Lawrence 
 
Production Design by
Veniero Colasanti 
John Moore 
 
Set Decoration by
Veniero Colasanti 
John Moore 
 
Costume Design by
Veniero Colasanti 
John Moore 
 
Makeup Department
Grazia De Rossi .... hair stylist
Mario Van Riel .... makeup artist
 
Production Management
Leon Chooluck .... production manager
Guy Luongo .... production manager
Tadeo Villalba .... unit manager (uncredited)
 
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Yakima Canutt .... second unit director
José López Rodero .... assistant director
José María Ochoa .... assistant director
Luciano Sacripanti .... first assistant director
 
Art Department
Stanley Detlie .... property master (as Stan Detlie)
Maciek Piotrowski .... paintings and drawings
José María Alarcón .... assistant set decorator (uncredited)
Julián Martín .... painter (uncredited)
Vicente Sempere Sempere .... assistant set decorator (uncredited)
 
Sound Department
Verna Fields .... sound editor
Gordon K. McCallum .... sound re-recordist
Jack Solomon .... sound recordist
 
Special Effects by
Jack Erickson .... special effects
Alex Weldon .... special effects
 
Stunts
Buff Brady .... stunts (uncredited)
Jerry Brown .... stunts (uncredited)
Joe Canutt .... stunts (uncredited)
Tap Canutt .... stunts (uncredited)
Enzo Musumeci Greco .... stunts (uncredited)
Jack Williams .... stunts (uncredited)
 
Camera and Electrical Department
Manuel Berenguer .... director of photography: second unit
Carl Gibson .... head grip
John Harriss .... camera operator
Norton Kurland .... supervising electrician
John Harris .... camera operator (uncredited)
 
Costume and Wardrobe Department
Gloria Musetta .... wardrobe director
 
Editorial Department
Magdalena Paradell .... assistant to editor
 
Music Department
Edna Bullock .... music editor
Eugene Zador .... orchestrator (uncredited)
 
Other crew
Pat Miller .... script supervisor
Enzo Musumeci Greco .... fencing instructor (uncredited)
Julio Sempere .... second assistant to director (uncredited)
 
Crew verified as complete


Production CompaniesDistributors
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parents
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)
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 more
Company:
Rank Organisation, The more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
According to the legend of El Cid, in his youth Rodrigo came across a leper sinking in quicksand crying for help, but none of the bystanders dared touch him. Rodrigo pulled him from the bog, clothed him in his cloak, housed him in a barn and went to get him some food. When he returned, he found the leper had transformed into an angelic figure that identified himself as St. Lazarus. He said "For your bravery and kindness you will enjoy success as a warrior. You will win battles upon battles and never know defeat". In a nice nod to the legend, the film contains a scene wherein the banished Rodrigo encounters a thirsty leper who begs a drink. After unhesitatingly offering his own pouch, the Leper thanks him by name. "Who are you?" asks Rodrigo. "I am called Lazarus." The leper answers. Then he crosses Rodrigo with his staff. "May helping hands be extended to you everywhere you go, my Cid." more
Goofs:
Crew or equipment visible: When El Cid and his army are charging down the beach at Valencia the tire tracks from the camera truck are briefly visible in the sand. more
Quotes:
Jimena: Why did you come?
El Cid: I tried not to come. I tried, I told my love it had no right to live. But my love won't die...
Jimena: Kill it.
El Cid: You kill it! Tell me you don't love me.
Jimena: [long pause] I cannot. Not yet. But I will make myself worthy of you Rodrigo, I will learn to hate you.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Beneath Still Waters (2005) more
Soundtrack:
The Falcon and the Dove more

FAQ

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
38 out of 57 people found the following comment useful.
Grim, Ponderous, Moving, Magnificent, 30 April 2004
Author: Danusha_Goska

Grim, Ponderous, Moving, Magnificent

I'm a girl and have a girl's taste in movies. If I'm going to watch a movie with a lot of sword fights, oppressed peasants, and corrupt kings, I want it to be a swashbuckler, preferably one starring Errol Flynn. Swashbucklers bring a lot of humor to otherwise unbearable dramatic situations.

"El Cid" presents unbearable dramatic situations, and it is not a laugh riot. I saw the three-hour plus, uncut version and never felt tempted to laugh once. This is the Middle Ages without Monty Python, without the levity of an Errol Flynn - Olivia De Haviland romance or comic relief of a Little John.

Boy oh boy was this grim. And long. You could have almost filmed the entire film with three colors: white, black, and red. Lots of red.

But "El Cid" did to me what it wanted to do. I really believed in Rodrigo and Jimena as star-crossed, larger-than-life lovers. I really believed that the little girl who leads them from her well to her farm house lived a thousand years ago. I really believed that something like the mouth of hell itself was opening up as Ben Yusef invaded. I really believed in Rodrigo's relentless nobility and heroism. Neither Charlton Heston's strangely artificial looking hair nor the obvious non-Arab status of a couple of the "Moors" (Douglas Wilmer, who later played Sherlock Holmes, was one especially unconvincing Arab) interfered with my willing suspension of disbelief. I cried. Several times.

There's a lot to cry about. In almost every scene, someone is either crying, usually Sophia Loren, or gritting his teeth, often Charlton Heston, but others grit their teeth a lot, also. Actually Loren doesn't so much cry, but, rather, huge, luminous tears quiver, poised, on her lower eyelid. In her final scenes, the teardrop dancing on her right eyelid is so huge, black and luminous it begins to look like a second pupil.

If the sound of horse hoof-beats does something for you, you will love this movie. There are many horses. Many, many, many. And they are always thundering off to somewhere, more often than not, over cobblestones. Lots of horse hoof-beats on this soundtrack.

Some viewers found the plot hard to understand; they, perhaps, saw the cut version. Having seen the uncut version, I found the plot entirely comprehensible.

"El Cid" is like a ballad. There is one grim face-off after another, escalating in gravity, in which the hero proves that he is growing into his own heroism, through every choice he makes. Each choice is harder than the last one, until his final choice, which is truly impossible, but which he fulfills anyway. If you like medieval ballads, you may love this movie. It has the same grim beauty and power and inexorability, the same insistence on throwing whatever is divine in naked human character up against the impossible demands of earthly life.

For such a long movie, there is scant dialogue. With few words, people prove their true character through their actions, just as characters in ancient epics did.

One viewer complained that this movie bore no relation to the "real" El Cid legend. If that is true, the movie is all the more remarkable. The filmmakers managed to create, from scratch, a convincing and moving medieval narrative.

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