The Pride and the Passion (1957)

During the Napoleonic Wars, a British captain is sent to Spain to help prevent the French from stealing a powerful cannon.

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	...	Gen. 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:

1800s | 1810s | napoleonic wars | peninsular war | avila spain | 

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Taglines:

The Most Magnificent Motion Picture Ever Made!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Romance | War

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Roger Ebert's review of the film 'Papillon' uses this movie as a guideline: "Sophia Loren was once in a movie named 'The Pride and the Passion,' which involved hauling an enormous cannon halfway across Europe through deep mud. By the time they heaved the cannon into position, I had long since stopped caring, and even had a little difficulty remembering why they were doing it in the first place. The movie had expended enormous energy without cause." Throughout the 'Papillon' review he kept referencing Sophia and the cannon as something he cared less about. Both this and 'Papillon', in his opinion, had big budgets, big stars, but didn't move him.

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Goofs

The French commander at Avila threatened local peasants to tell him where the cannon was shortly after the journey to Avila with the cannon started, but Avila was far away from the cannon and the cannon was heading toward Avila and the peasants couldn't have even known where it was or even known about it. Word did not travel that fast in those days.

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Quotes

General Jouvet: Pretty picture - the invincible French army running with our nightgowns on fire.

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Connections

Featured in Hollywood: The Gift of Laughter (1982)

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Soundtracks

The British Grenadiers
(uncredited)
Traditional
Heard as a theme

User Reviews

The Big Gun...or, Accents in Europe's Southwest

It's 1810 and the Spanish are retreating from Napoleon's French army battered and beaten; they ditch a mammoth, cumbersome cannon over a cliff, but an English Captain, also against Napoleon, helps resurrect it to defeat the French battalions. Stanley Kramer directed this failed epic visualization of C.S. Forester's book "The Gun", complete with miscast stars and a one-sided view of history (it's no doubt the French weren't crazy about this picture--it makes them look like heartless monsters picking on defenseless saints). Cary Grant's Brit is the subject of some levity (which is welcomed), but Frank Sinatra's Spanish fighter is taken very seriously (which was a mistake). Heavily pancaked and talking like an educated bandito, Sinatra looks and sounds ridiculous (one has to wonder: did Kramer pick Sinatra for this role or was the actor foisted upon him by United Artists?). Sophia Loren, as a Spanish girl who falls for both men, doesn't attempt an accent, but her Flamenco is as unreal as her red-tinted hair; she smiles a bit in the beginning but is otherwise quite dour, and Grant doesn't even seem to notice her until the script calls for him to fall in love. Some of the landscapes are attractive, the castles and churches are impressively photographed by the great Franz Planer, but the studio-bound melodrama and the outdoor battle scenes are an erratic mix, both visually and emotionally. For those who stick with it, the finale is surprisingly sensitive. ** from ****

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish French

Release Date:

10 July 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Pride and the Passion

Filming Locations:

Avila, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Stanley Kramer Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1