The Pride and the Passion (1957)

The story in this movie deals with the perseverance of Spaniards to take back their country from the French who have conquered Spain under Napoleon as he marched over Europe. A huge cannon,... See full summary »

Director:

Stanley Kramer

Writers:

Edna Anhalt (screen story and screenplay), Edward Anhalt (screen story and screenplay),

Stars:

Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, Sophia Loren

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cary Grant	...	Anthony
Frank Sinatra	...	Miguel
Sophia Loren	...	Juana
Theodore Bikel	...	General Jouvet
John Wengraf	...	Sermaine
Jay Novello	...	Ballinger
José Nieto	...	Carlos (as Jose Nieto)
Carlos Larrañaga	...	Jose (as Carlos Larranaga)
Philip Van Zandt	...	Vidal
Paco El Laberinto	...	Manolo (as Paco el Laberinto)
Julián Ugarte	...	Enrique
Félix de Pomés	...	Bishop (as Felix de Pomes)
Carlos Casaravilla	...	Leonardo
Juan Olaguivel	...	Ramon
Nana DeHerrera	...	Maria (as Nana de Herrera)

Storyline

The story in this movie deals with the perseverance of Spaniards to take back their country from the French who have conquered Spain under Napoleon as he marched over Europe. A huge cannon, perhaps the largest in the world at that time, is discarded by the army as they retreat from the French invaders. A "ragtag" group of Spanish loyalists find "The Gun" and begin to restore it so they may tow it across Spain to the French stronghold in Avila and use it to open the giant walls for an invasion. Luckily Britain has sent someone to retrieve the cannon for England so they can have it to fight the French also AND to make sure that the French don't get the gun! A shoemaker and his voluptuous girl friend are the leaders of the peasants trying to get the gun to Avila. The Brit can't get help to get the giant gun back to his ship without the peasants and the shoemaker won't help him unless they all go blast Avila open first. The Brit has the knowledge needed to fire the weapon and the ...

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Plot Keywords:

french | spain | cannon | british | napoleonic | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Romance | War

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

10 July 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Orgullo y pasión

Filming Locations:

Ciudad Encantada, Cuenca, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Stanley Kramer Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

133 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

With seven weeks of shooting in Spain still left on the schedule Frank Sinatra, who hated Spain, told Kramer, "Hot or cold, Thursday I'm leaving the movie. So get a lawyer and sue me," according to Kramer biographer Donald Spoto. Kramer tried to solve the problem with two days of shooting in a Hollywood studio with potted palms.

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Goofs

On the wall of the French army general staff there is a map of the region of "Las Cruces" (actually Galicia, northwest Spain). The river passing through Orense city is marked like Rio Duero. In fact it is Miño river which passes through Orense and delineates a section of the border between Spain and Portugal. The Duero river is further south, crosses the Castilian plateau and has its mouth at the Portuguese city of Porto. In the film it is named Rio Cano.

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Connections

Featured in Biography: Sophia Loren: Actress Italian Style (1997)

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Soundtracks

"Rule, Britannia! "
(uncredited)
Lyrics by James Thomson and music by Thomas Augustine Arne
Heard as a theme

User Reviews

" If you cannot find the Gun, the General will find work for both of us in the stables "

During the Napoleonic wars, a magnificent 7 ton, forty two foot cannon was discarded by the retreating Spanish army. They had hoped to keep it out of French hands by dropping it into a deep ravine. At nearly the same time, a British naval Officer Anthony Trumbull (Cary Grant) is sent on a secret mission to recover the weapon from Miguel, the leader (Frank Sinatra) of the Spanish Guerreros. Since he cannot read, a beautiful native girl (Sophia Loren) must interpret the naval orders. Other interested parties include General Jouvet of the French Occupying forces in the walled city called Avila. Distrustful of each other, Trumball and Miguel must co-operate to accomplish both their aims. Trumbull wants to take it back to England, while Miguel wants to haul it across the country and lay siege to French Headquarters in Avila. With the French army searching for the rebels and their huge cannon, the movie centers on the awkward romantic triangle between the three main characters. However, this situation impedes the crux of the story and except for tense moments of personal conflicts, nearly loosing the cannon to natural obstacles and great loss of life, the movie eventually arrives at its destination. The cast of Grant as an Englishman is tolerable. Sinatra is a great Singer, but makes for an unconvincing Spaniard. Finally as the leading lady, Sophia is hard pressed to favor either intended. Nevertheless, the film does have some exciting segments, enough to mark it as a reluctant Classic. ****