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IMDbPro

El Cid

  • 19611961
  • ApprovedApproved
  • 3h 2m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
14K
YOUR RATING
El Cid (1961)
Watch ’Official Trailer’
Play trailer3:27
1 Video
99+ Photos
  • Biography
  • Drama
  • History
The fabled Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (a.k.a. El Cid) overcomes a family vendetta and court intrigue to defend Christian Spain against the Moors.The fabled Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (a.k.a. El Cid) overcomes a family vendetta and court intrigue to defend Christian Spain against the Moors.The fabled Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (a.k.a. El Cid) overcomes a family vendetta and court intrigue to defend Christian Spain against the Moors.
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
14K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Anthony Mann
  • Writers
    • Fredric M. Frank(story)
    • Philip Yordan(screenplay)
    • Ben Barzman(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Charlton Heston
    • Sophia Loren
    • Raf Vallone
Top credits
  • Director
    • Anthony Mann
  • Writers
    • Fredric M. Frank(story)
    • Philip Yordan(screenplay)
    • Ben Barzman(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Charlton Heston
    • Sophia Loren
    • Raf Vallone
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 121User reviews
    • 43Critic reviews
    • 79Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 3 Oscars
      • 7 wins & 13 nominations total

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 3:27
    Official Trailer

    Photos130

    Charlton Heston, Anthony Mann, and Gene Lester at an event for El Cid (1961)
    El Cid (1961)
    El Cid (1961)
    El Cid (1961)
    El Cid (1961)
    Charlton Heston, Sophia Loren, and Hurd Hatfield in El Cid (1961)
    El Cid (1961)
    El Cid (1961)
    Charlton Heston, Sophia Loren, and Hurd Hatfield in El Cid (1961)
    El Cid (1961)
    El Cid (1961)
    El Cid (1961)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Charlton Heston
    Charlton Heston
    • El Cid Rodrigo de Vivaras El Cid Rodrigo de Vivar
    Sophia Loren
    Sophia Loren
    • Jimenaas Jimena
    Raf Vallone
    Raf Vallone
    • Count Ordóñezas Count Ordóñez
    Geneviève Page
    Geneviève Page
    • Princess Urracaas Princess Urraca
    • (as Genevieve Page)
    John Fraser
    John Fraser
    • Prince Alfonsoas Prince Alfonso
    Gary Raymond
    Gary Raymond
    • Prince Sanchoas Prince Sancho
    Hurd Hatfield
    Hurd Hatfield
    • Ariasas Arias
    Massimo Serato
    Massimo Serato
    • Fanezas Fanez
    Frank Thring
    Frank Thring
    • Al Kadiras Al Kadir
    Michael Hordern
    Michael Hordern
    • Don Diegoas Don Diego
    Andrew Cruickshank
    Andrew Cruickshank
    • Count Gormazas Count Gormaz
    Douglas Wilmer
    Douglas Wilmer
    • Moutaminas Moutamin
    Tullio Carminati
    Tullio Carminati
    • Priestas Priest
    Ralph Truman
    Ralph Truman
    • King Ferdinandas King Ferdinand
    Christopher Rhodes
    • Don Martínas Don Martín
    Carlo Giustini
    Carlo Giustini
    • Bermúdezas Bermúdez
    Gérard Tichy
    Gérard Tichy
    • King Ramírezas King Ramírez
    • (as Gerard Tichy)
    Fausto Tozzi
    Fausto Tozzi
    • Dolfosas Dolfos
    • Director
      • Anthony Mann
    • Writers
      • Fredric M. Frank(story) (screenplay)
      • Philip Yordan(screenplay)
      • Ben Barzman(screenplay) (originally uncredited)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Charlton Heston was the first and only choice of the producers.
    • Goofs
      Alone and on horseback, Rodrigo confronts a group of mounted guards escorting the prince to a dungeon. In response to Rodrigo's demand for the release of the prisoner, the captain of the guard laughingly says, "There are thirteen of us, and you are alone!" In the ensuing fight, Rodrigo, with some help from the prince, un-horses sixteen guards, and two remaining mounted ones flee, for a total of eighteen.
    • Quotes

      Moutamin: [after El Cid claims Valencia for the King] What a noble subject, if only he had a noble King.

    • Alternate versions
      1993 reissue restores 16 minutes of "lost" footage.
    • Connections
      Edited into Wizards (1977)
    • Soundtracks
      The Falcon and the Dove
      (uncredited)

      Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster

      Music by Miklós Rózsa

      Performed by Chorus

    User reviews121

    Review
    Top review
    Grim, Ponderous, Moving, Magnificent
    Grim, Ponderous, Moving, Magnificent

    I'm a girl and have a girl's taste in movies. If I'm going to watch a movie with a lot of sword fights, oppressed peasants, and corrupt kings, I want it to be a swashbuckler, preferably one starring Errol Flynn. Swashbucklers bring a lot of humor to otherwise unbearable dramatic situations.

    "El Cid" presents unbearable dramatic situations, and it is not a laugh riot. I saw the three-hour plus, uncut version and never felt tempted to laugh once. This is the Middle Ages without Monty Python, without the levity of an Errol Flynn - Olivia De Haviland romance or comic relief of a Little John.

    Boy oh boy was this grim. And long. You could have almost filmed the entire film with three colors: white, black, and red. Lots of red.

    But "El Cid" did to me what it wanted to do. I really believed in Rodrigo and Jimena as star-crossed, larger-than-life lovers. I really believed that the little girl who leads them from her well to her farm house lived a thousand years ago. I really believed that something like the mouth of hell itself was opening up as Ben Yusef invaded. I really believed in Rodrigo's relentless nobility and heroism. Neither Charlton Heston's strangely artificial looking hair nor the obvious non-Arab status of a couple of the "Moors" (Douglas Wilmer, who later played Sherlock Holmes, was one especially unconvincing Arab) interfered with my willing suspension of disbelief. I cried. Several times.

    There's a lot to cry about. In almost every scene, someone is either crying, usually Sophia Loren, or gritting his teeth, often Charlton Heston, but others grit their teeth a lot, also. Actually Loren doesn't so much cry, but, rather, huge, luminous tears quiver, poised, on her lower eyelid. In her final scenes, the teardrop dancing on her right eyelid is so huge, black and luminous it begins to look like a second pupil.

    If the sound of horse hoof-beats does something for you, you will love this movie. There are many horses. Many, many, many. And they are always thundering off to somewhere, more often than not, over cobblestones. Lots of horse hoof-beats on this soundtrack.

    Some viewers found the plot hard to understand; they, perhaps, saw the cut version. Having seen the uncut version, I found the plot entirely comprehensible.

    "El Cid" is like a ballad. There is one grim face-off after another, escalating in gravity, in which the hero proves that he is growing into his own heroism, through every choice he makes. Each choice is harder than the last one, until his final choice, which is truly impossible, but which he fulfills anyway. If you like medieval ballads, you may love this movie. It has the same grim beauty and power and inexorability, the same insistence on throwing whatever is divine in naked human character up against the impossible demands of earthly life.

    For such a long movie, there is scant dialogue. With few words, people prove their true character through their actions, just as characters in ancient epics did.

    One viewer complained that this movie bore no relation to the "real" El Cid legend. If that is true, the movie is all the more remarkable. The filmmakers managed to create, from scratch, a convincing and moving medieval narrative.
    helpful•79
    22
    • Danusha_Goska
    • Apr 30, 2004

    FAQ2

    • Midwest Premiere Happened When & Where?
    • "El Cid"---Was It Filmed in Spain?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 14, 1961 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Italy
      • United States
    • Languages
      • Italian
      • Arabic
      • English
      • Latin
    • Also known as
      • El Sid
    • Filming locations
      • Torrelobaton Castle, Valladolid, Castilla y León, Spain
    • Production companies
      • Samuel Bronston Productions
      • Dear Film Produzione
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $6,250,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      3 hours 2 minutes
    • Color
      • Color

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