The Tyrant of Castile (1963)
"Sfida al re di Castiglia" (original title)

In the late 14th century, Pedro the Cruel is justifiably deposed from the throne of Castile by his bastard brother and usurper Enrique de Trastamare... See full synopsis »

Director:

Ferdinando Baldi

Writers:

Ferdinando Baldi (story), Adriano Bolzoni,

Stars:

Mark Damon, Rada Rassimov, Paolo Gozlino

Cast

Cast overview:
Mark Damon	...	Pietro I - Re di Castiglia
Rada Rassimov	...	Anna Coronel (as Victoria Rada)
Paolo Gozlino	...	Enrico di Trastamara
María Teresa Orsini	...	Maria Coronel
Carlos Estrada	...	Diego
Anna Maria Surdo	...	Bianca di Borbone
Fernando Cebrián
Andrés Mejuto	...	Albuquerque
José Luis Pellicena
Goffredo Unger	...	(as Fredy Ungher)
Ricardo Valle
German Grech
Antonio Moreno
Luis Villar
Adriana Ambesi

Storyline

In the late 14th century, Pedro the Cruel is justifiably deposed from the throne of Castile by his bastard brother and usurper Enrique de Trastamare... See full synopsis »

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Plot Keywords:

character name in title

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama

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Details

Country:

Italy Spain

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

24 December 1963 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The Tyrant of Castile

Box Office

Gross:

ESP 15,169,727 (Spain)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alexandra Produzioni Cinematografiche, Procinsa

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

User Reviews

Epic tale of the mighty and powerful causing widespread suffering....

This is one of the few films that can stand beside Samuel Bronston's El Cid in dealing with the history of medieval Spain. It has the realistic ambiance of the period because the settings are real period castles, not sets on a sound stage. The plot is loosely based on history, with it's main fault being that it casts Pedro the Cruel ( Mark Damon) as altogether too romantic and much more sympathetic than the vicious lout he apparently was in reality. Likewise, the bastard usurper brother Enrique de Trastamare (convincingly played by Paolo Gozlino) is made out to be much more of a heel than he actually was. He certainly would have been the better ruler since he had better judgment and more self control. Nevertheless, it's a fast moving blood and thunder tale well rendered and at least rooted in fact, and has a good feel for the period. It's interesting to have a look at somewhere else in medieval Europe besides England and France for a change. After all, Spain, Portugal, and the Italian states and some other principalities were big players at that time, too.