Full marks to Sam Bronston for having the guts to make an expensive blockbuster out of the life of a man little known in the English speaking world - the Spanish hero El Cid, who helped fight off the Moors.
The story is definitely a strong one - Cid battling against not just the Moors, but treacherous Christians, and his own family - and Bronston probably figured he had a major ace in the hole with the finale, with a dying Cid strapped to his horse to lead his troops to victory. Making a Spanish story also may have ensured co-operation from the powers that be in Spain.
White anglo Charlton Heston ensures the Cid isn't too Spanish - actually Heston is perfect in the role, imposing, regal and stuffy, which is what Cid apparently was (so devoted to duty he kills his prospective father in law for insulting his honour, saving the life of a prince who wants him dead, gets that said prince off side after he becomes king by humiliating him in front of his men and getting him to promise that he hasn't killed his brother... I kept thinking of Liam Neeson in Rob Roy constantly running around trying to defend his honour, getting into no end of trouble).
This is one of the few medieval films to take the topic of chivalry seriously - it's shown not to be some silly concept, but the way to a better future, to stop the cycle of revenge killings. Although Cid's main enemy is technically the Moors (led by Herbert Lom, very effective with his face covered), he also battles jealousy from the Spanish Court - and there are several nice Moor characters, too (some of whom want to fight against Lom but the bigoted "Christian" Spanish king won't let them - this gives the story extra resonance today).
The film goes for three hours, and it needn't have - the story fairly spanks along in some places (for instance at the beginning the Cid routs the enemy, sets free some Moors, fights a duel, etc in about ten minutes), but in others it screeches to a halt (mostly whenever Sophia Loren appears - its as if the filmmakers realised her character doesn't have that much to do apart from go "you killed my father" and "why are you never home", but they wanted to increase her role so they drag out her scenes with Heston). It's a shame they didn't aim harder for a two hour running time, I think it still would have worked.
Some of this is awesome - stunning spectacle (you really see it up there on screen). Anthony Mann was best known for his Westerns rather than his epics, but his "eye" is great here - beautifully composed shots, memorable moments (eg the scene of horses running along the beach, the final battle).
He's good on the intimate physical stuff, too: there are two terrific duels (especially the joust fight scene which is really exciting) and a suspenseful assassination. There's a bit of 1961 psychology tang in the script by emphasising a possible incestuous link between the siblings prince and princess of Spain. Similar to Braveheart in some ways, too,with the hero's sufferings causing a bratty prince (John Fraser) to become a noble king - though to be honest Fraser's character is such a prat for most of the film, even after Cid has saved his life, I can't see him being too high and mighty for long afterwards.
Note for Aussies - Frank Thring plays a villainous Moor who plunges to his death.
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