El Cid (1961)

Director:

Anthony Mann

Writers (WGA):

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

Release Date:

14 December 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | 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:

11th Century | Siege | Epic | Historical | Incest

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Charlton Heston	...	El Cid
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

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Netherlands:12 (2008) | Iceland:L | 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:

Charlton Heston was unable to campaign for John F. Kennedy due to the long filming schedule.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: At the end of the film, when El Cid rides out the castle gates, you can see the cheese cutter hat of one of the crew members.

Quotes:

El Cid: People of Valencia! I bring you bread!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Beneath Still Waters (2005)

Soundtrack:

Phir tere shehar mein

Indellible

I watched this on the big screen when I was very very young, but this epic film left an indellible impression on me. I have to consider this to be one of the best films I ever watched.

Heston and Loren made a beautiful pair in this epic. The transformation of Loren's hatred to love for Heston was a highlight of the show.

A few scenes that stood out in my mind was: 1. The jousting scene 2. The scene where Heston catapulted buns into the besieged city and won the heart of the people. 3. The epic fighting scene at the beach where arrows rained upon the shielded soldiers ...and who can forget the famous riding scene at the very end with the already dead Rodrigo tied to the mount riding out of the city that one last time. Combined with the underlying score, that was one of the most moving scenes of all times. Years later, when I happened upon the show on TV again, I still could not help but felt a little misty in my eyes when I watched that last scene.