Captain from Castile (1947)

The invasion of Mexico by Cortez, as seen by a young Spanish officer fleeing the Inquisition.

Director:

Henry King

Writers:

Lamar Trotti (screenplay), Samuel Shellabarger (novel)

Stars:

Tyrone Power, Jean Peters, Cesar Romero

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Tyrone Power	...	Pedro De Vargas
Jean Peters	...	Catana Perez
Cesar Romero	...	Hernando Cortez
Lee J. Cobb	...	Juan Garcia
John Sutton	...	Diego De Silva
Antonio Moreno	...	Don Francisco De Vargas
Thomas Gomez	...	Father Bartolome Romero
Alan Mowbray	...	Prof. Botello (the astrologer)
Barbara Lawrence	...	Luisa De Carvajal
George Zucco	...	Marquis De Carvajal
Roy Roberts	...	Capt. Alvarado
Marc Lawrence	...	Corio

Storyline

Spain, 1518: young caballero Pedro De Vargas offends his sadistic neighbor De Silva, who just happens to be an officer of the Inquisition. Forced to flee, Pedro, friend Juan Garcia, and adoring servant girl Catana join Cortez' first expedition to Mexico. Arriving in the rich new land, Cortez decides to switch from exploration to conquest...with only 500 men. Embroiled in continuous adventures and a romantic interlude, Pedro almost forgets he has a deadly enemy...

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Plot Keywords:

mexico | inquisition | spain | expedition | cuba | 

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Taglines:

My sword shall make a new world . . . your kiss will make it paradise !

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | History

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Nahuatl

Release Date:

January 1948 (USA)

Also Known As:

Capitaine de Castille

Filming Locations:

Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$4,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

140 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When the action of the story shifts to North America, Alfred Newman re-uses the rousing main theme from his score to 'The Black Swan' made in 1942 and also starring Tyrone Power.

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Goofs

Pedro constantly refers to the Inquisition as LA SANTA HERMANDAD=THE HOLY BROTHERHOOD, which any reader of DON QUIXOTE can tell you was actually a rural constabulary that was a predecessor of the Guardia Civil. The correct name of the Inquisition, which did not arrive in Mexico until after Cortes' death, is SANTO OFICIO DE LA INQUISICION=HOLY OFFICE OF THE INQUISITION.

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Quotes

Juan Escudero: Believe me, gentlemen, a lame goat takes no siesta. If something's got to be done, do it.

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Connections

Featured in Conquistadors (2000)

User Reviews

The best picture made on the conquest of the Americas

There are many pleasant surprises in this epic movie. For one, it was filmed in spectacular Technicolor and was superbly photographed in actual locations. Piramids were built, volcanoes were erupting for real and ancient ship replicas were destroyed at sea. One of the main surprises was seeing that the beautiful Jean Peters could act. This actress without much dramatic training did an excellent job in her movie debut. She practically steals the picture from Tyrone Power - Impossible? She does, and he's very good in this one. See her last scene, while waiting to move deeper into Mexico with Cortez; it's a treasure. I became a fan after seeing Miss Peters in the pirate flick "Anne of the Indies" (she plays 'the pirate'), and have seen most of her movies since. It's a shame Fox didn't use her talents in better fares, such as Susan Hayward's "I Want to Live", but then Howard Hughes came into the picture while she was doing Castille and, I imagine, his obsession over her beauty ruined a promising career. This film is partly based on true events and has an excellent cast, a fantastic screenplay and a musical score by Arthur Newman that rivals any other composed for anepic flick -then and even now. It's on DVD now. Get it before they become extinct. It's worth seeing. Beautiful vistas, a handsome Ty Power and a gorgeous Jean Peters.