El Cid premiered on December 6, 1961 at the Metropole Theatre in London, and was released on December 14 in the United States. The film received largely positive reviews praising the performances of Heston and Loren, the cinematography, and the musical score. It went on to gross $26.6 million during its initial theatrical run. It was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Art Direction, Best Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, and Best Original Song.
Anthony Mann called the film "a Spanish Western".[4]
Plot
General Ben Yusuf of the Almoravid dynasty has summoned all the emirs of Al-Andalus to North Africa. He chastises them for co-existing peacefully with their Christian neighbors, which goes against his dream of Islamic world domination. The emirs return to Spain with orders to resume hostilities with the Christians while Ben Yusuf readies his army for a full-scale invasion.
Don Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, on the way to his wedding with Doña Chimene, rescues a Spanish town from an invading Moorish army. Two of the emirs, al-Mu'tamin of Zaragoza and al-Kadir of Valencia, are captured. More interested in peace than in wreaking vengeance, Rodrigo escorts his prisoners to Vivar and releases them on condition that they never again attack lands belonging to King Ferdinand of Castile. The Emirs proclaim him "El Cid" (Castilian Spanish for the Arabic for milord: "al-Sidi") and swear allegiance to him.
For his act of mercy, Don Rodrigo is accused of treason by Count Ordóñez. In court, the charge is supported by Chimene's father, Count Gormaz, the king's champion. Rodrigo's aged father, Don Diego, angrily calls Gormaz a liar. Gormaz strikes Don Diego, challenging him to a duel. At a private meeting Rodrigo begs Gormaz to ask the aged but proud Diego for forgiveness (for accusing Rodrigo of treason). Gormaz refuses, so Rodrigo fights the duel on Diego’s behalf and kills his opponent. Chimene witnesses the death of Gormaz and swears to avenge him, renouncing her affection for Rodrigo.
When the King of Aragon demands the city of Calahorra from Castile, Rodrigo becomes Ferdinand's champion, winning the city in single combat. In his new capacity he is sent on a mission to collect tribute from Moorish vassals to the Castilian crown. He asks that Chimene be given to him as his wife upon his return, so that he can provide for her. Chimene promises Count Ordóñez she will marry him instead if he kills Rodrigo. Ordóñez lays an ambush for Rodrigo and his men but is captured by al-Mu'tamin, to whom Rodrigo had earlier showed mercy. Rodrigo forgives the Count and returns home to marry Chimene. The marriage is not consummated: Rodrigo will not touch her if she does not give herself to him out of love. Chimene instead goes to a convent.
King Ferdinand dies and his younger son, Prince Alfonso tells the elder son Prince Sancho that their father wanted his kingdom divided between his heirs: Castile to Sancho, Asturias and León to Alfonso, and Calahorra to their sister, Princess Urraca. Sancho refuses to accept anything but an undivided kingdom as his birthright. After Alfonso instigates a knife fight, Sancho overpowers his brother and sends him to be imprisoned in Zamora. Rodrigo, who swore to protect all the king’s children, single-handedly defeats Alfonso's guards and brings the Prince to Calahorra. Sancho arrives to demand Alfonso, but Urraca refuses to hand him over. Rodrigo cannot take a side in the conflict, because his oath was to serve them all equally.
Ben Yusuf arrives at Valencia, the fortified city guarding the beach where he plans to land his armada. To weaken his Spanish opponents he hires Dolfos, a warrior formerly trusted by Ferdinand, to assassinate Sancho and throw suspicion for the crime on Alfonso, who becomes the sole king. At Alfonso's coronation, El Cid has him swear upon the Bible that he had no part in the death of his brother. Alfonso, genuinely innocent (although his ally Urraca was aware of the plot), is offended by the demand and banishes Rodrigo from Spain. Chimene discovers she still loves Rodrigo and voluntarily joins him in exile. Rodrigo makes his career as a soldier elsewhere in Spain, and he and Chimene have twin girls.
Years later, Rodrigo, now known widely as "El Cid", is called back into the service of the king to protect Castile from Yusuf's North African army. However, Alfonso rejects an alliance with El Cid's Muslim friends, and rather than work directly with the king, El Cid allies himself with the emirs to besiege Valencia, where the cowardly al-Kadir has violated his oath of allegiance to Rodrigo and come out in support of Ben Yusuf.
After being defeated by the Moors at the Battle of Sagrajas, Alfonso seizes Chimene and her children and puts them in prison. Count Ordóñez rescues the three and brings them to Rodrigo, wanting to end his rivalry with El Cid and join him in the defense of Spain. Knowing that the citizens of Valencia are starving after the long siege, Rodrigo wins them over by throwing bread into the city with his catapults. Al-Kadir tries to intercede, but the Valencians kill him and open the gates to the besiegers. Emir al-Mu'tamin, Rodrigo's army, and the Valencians offer the city's crown to El Cid, but he refuses and instead sends the crown to King Alfonso.
Ben Yusuf arrives with his immense invasion army, and Valencia is the only barrier between him and Spain. Ordóñez is tortured and killed after being captured on a reconnaissance mission. The ensuing battle goes well for the defenders until El Cid is struck in the chest by an arrow and has to return to the city in plain sight of the Moorish army. Doctors inform him that they can probably remove the arrow and save his life, but he will be incapacitated for a long time after the surgery. Unwilling to abandon his army at this critical moment, Rodrigo obtains a promise from Chimene to leave the arrow and let him ride back into battle, dying or dead. A guilt-ridden King Alfonso comes to his bedside and asks for his forgiveness. Rodrigo grants it, and Alfonso promises to look after Rodrigo's children.
Rodrigo dies, and a rumor of his death spreads. His allies honor Rodrigo's final wish. With help of an iron frame they prop up his body, its eyes staring straight ahead. Dressed in full armor and holding an unfurled banner, he is strapped to the back of his horse, Babieca. Guided by King Alfonso and Emir al-Mu'tamin riding on either side, the horse leads a mounted charge against Ben Yusuf's now terrified soldiers, who believe that El Cid has risen from the dead. In the panic that ensues, Ben Yusuf is thrown from his horse and is crushed beneath Babieca's hooves, leaving his scattered army to be annihilated. King Alfonso leads Christians and Moors alike in a prayer for God to receive the soul "of the purest knight of all".
In 1958, producer Samuel Bronston first considered filming El Cid prior to his work on King of Kings (1961), but the production proved to be so troublesome that it would be set aside until King of Kings reached completion.[5] In April 1960, Variety announced that Bronston was independently producing three films in Spain, one of which included El Cid. It was also reported that Bronston had purchased the rights to Fredric M. Frank's 140-page treatment for the film.[6] In July 1960, Anthony Mann had signed on to direct the film.[7]
However, principal photography was nearly delayed when Cesáreo González's Aspa Films filed an infringement claim against Bronston over the project's title and theme.[8] Previously, in July 1956, it was reported that two biopics of El Cid were in development: an American-Spanish co-production with Anthony Quinn set to star, and a collaboration between RKO, Milton Sperling, and Marvin Gosch.[9] By August 1960, Bronston reached a deal to have Aspa Films and Robert Haggiag's Dear Film involved in the production making the project an American-Italian-Spanish co-production.[8]
Writing
The first writer assigned was Fredric M. Frank. He was flown into Spain to begin finalizing the screenplay for the initial start of shooting by July 1960.[6] On that same month, Philip Yordan had been hired to co-write the screenplay.[7] Yordan remarked he had found Frank's treatment to be a "terrible script" and rewrote it.[10] By their mid-November start date, the script had been rewritten, with Heston describing it to be an improvement over the first draft.[11]
Two days prior to filming, Sophia Loren had read the latest draft and was displeased with her dialogue. She then recommended hiring blacklisted screenwriter Ben Barzman to revise it. Mann subsequently got Barzman onto a plane to Rome, after which he gave him the current screenplay draft. Barzman read the draft and found it to be unusable.[12] With filming set to begin, Barzman received a copy of the tragicomedy play Le Cid by Pierre Corneille from the library of the French embassy in Madrid and used it as the basis for a new screenplay.[13][12] Years later, in 1967, Mann told Bertrand Tavernier that "not one line" in the shooting script was written by Yordan.[14] However, Barzman's screen credit would not be added to the film until 1999.[15]
However, Barzman's script lacked powerful romantic scenes, which again displeased Loren. Screenwriter Bernard Gordon, who was also blacklisted, was hired to rewrite these scenes. He stated, "So [Philip] Yordan yanked me from what I was doing in Paris and said, 'Write me three or four love scenes for Loren and Heston.' Well, what the hell – he was paying me $1500 a week, which was a lot more than I made any other way, and I just took orders and I sat down and I wrote four scenes, about three or four pages each. Whatever love scenes there are in the picture I wrote. And they sent them to Loren and said, OK, she'll do the picture, so I was a little bit of a hero at that point".[16][17] Loren had also hired screenwriter Basilio Franchina to translate the dialogue into Italian and then back into simpler English, with which she felt comfortable.[18]
For script advice and historical truth, Spanish historian Ramón Menéndez Pidal served as the historical consultant to the screenwriters and the director of the film. The naturalist Felix Rodriguez de la Fuente also helped to use raptors and other birds.[19]
Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren were Bronston's first choices for the two leads.[5] Writing in his autobiography, in the summer of 1960, Heston had received Frank's draft which he described as not "good, ranging from minimally OK to crappy", but he was intrigued with the role. He then flew out to Madrid, Spain to meet with Bronston, Yordan, and Mann who all discussed the role with him.[20] On July 26, 1960, his casting was announced.[21] As he conducted research into his role, Heston read El Cantar de mio Cid and arranged a meeting with historian Ramón Menéndez Pidal.[22][a]
Initially, Loren was unavailable to portray Ximena, and Jeanne Moreau was briefly considered as a replacement.[5] Another account states Ava Gardner was approached for the role, but she backed out feeling Heston's part was bigger than hers. Mann then suggested his wife Sara Montiel, but Heston and Bronston refused.[23] Ultimately, Loren became available but only for ten to twelve weeks,[5] in which she was paid $1 million. At the time, Loren became the second actress, after Elizabeth Taylor, to earn $1 million for a film.[24] Furthermore, Bronston also agreed to pay $200 a week for her hairdresser.[25]
Orson Welles was initially approached to play Ben Yusuf, but he insisted a double do his on-set performance while he would dub in his lines during post-production. Bronston refused.[26] British actors were primarily sought for the other male roles,[26] for which most of the principal casting was completed by early November 1960.[27] That same month, on November 30, Hurd Hatfield had joined the cast.[28] At least four actresses screen-tested for the role of Doña Urraca. Geneviève Page won the part, and her casting was announced on December 16, 1960.[29]
Filming
The battle of Valencia was shot on location along the beaches of Peñíscola.
Principal photography began November 14, 1960 at Sevilla Studios in Madrid, Spain.[30] Filming was reported to spend at least four months of exterior shooting in Spain which would be followed by a final month of interior shooting at the Cinecittà Studios in Rome.[27]
Loren's scenes were shot first as her availability was initially for twelve weeks. Shooting lasted for eight hours a day as the production employed French hours.[31] By January 1961, her part was considerably expanded in response to the early dailies.[1] Simultaneously, second-unit filming for the battle sequences were directed by Yakima Canutt. As filming had progressed, by December 1960, location shooting for action sequences were shot along the Guadarrama Pass. Specifically for the film's second half, Heston suggested growing a gray-flecked beard and wearing a facial scar to showcase Don Rodrigo's battle scarring within the ten-year gap.[32]
With the film's first half nearly complete, shooting for the battle of Valencia was filmed on location in Peñíscola as the actual city had become modernized.[33] For three months, hundreds of production design personnel constructed city walls to block off modern buildings. 1,700 trained infantrymen were leased from the Spanish Army as well as 500 mounted riders from Madrid's Municipal Honor Guard.[34] 15 war machines and siege towers were constructed from historical artwork, and 35 boats were decorated with battlements to serve as the Moorish fleet.[35] Tensions between Mann and Canutt rose as Mann sought to shoot the sequence himself. With the sequence nearly finished, Canutt spent three days filming pick-up shots, which would be edited within the longer, master shots that Mann had earlier shot.[36] In his autobiography, Heston expressed his dissatisfaction with Mann's insistence on shooting the battle scenes himself, feeling Canutt was more competent and efficient.[37]
In April 1961, the last sequence to be shot for the film—the duel for Calahorra—was filmed near the Belmonte Castle. The scene was directed by Canutt. Prior to filming, Heston and British actor Christopher Rhodes trained for a month in the use in weaponry under stunt coordinator Enzo Musumeci Greco. The fight took five days to shoot, totaling 31 hours of combat before editing. 21,000 metres (69,000 ft) of film was shot for the sequence, which was ultimately edited down to 330 metres (1,080 ft) remaining in the film.[38]
Score
The score was written by Miklos Rozsa, based on an extensive study of mediaeval Spanish music. The score has been re-recorded several times on its own and is regarded as one of the finest film scores. 20% of it was cut from the movie during post-production.
Costume design
Costume designersVeniero Colasanti and John Moore oversaw a staff of 400 wardrobe seamstresses which spent roughly $500,000 on manufacturing medieval-style clothing at a local supply company, Casa Cornejo, near Madrid. The most expensive costume piece was a black-and-gold velvet robe worn by King Alfonso VI during the film, which was tailored in Florence, Italy from materials specially woven in Venice. In total, over 2,000 costumes were used for the film.[1][39] For the weaponry, Samuel Bronston Productions sought several local Spanish companies. Casa Cornejo provided 3,000 war helmets and hundreds of iron-studded leather jerkins. The Garrido Brothers factory, located in Toledo, Spain, worked under an exclusive contract for eight months producing 7,000 swords, scimitars, and lances. Anthony Luna, a Madrid prop manufacturer, crafted 40,000 arrows, 5,780 shields, 1,253 medieval harnesses, 800 maces and daggers, 650 suits of mail (woven from hemp and coated with a metal varnish), and 500 saddles.[39][1]
Release
El Cid had its world premiere at the Metropole Theatre, Victoria, London on December 6, 1961. On December 14, 1961, the film premiered at the Warner Theatre in New York City and premiered at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles on December 18.[40] For the film's international release, distributors included the Rank Organization releasing the film in Britain, Dear Film in Italy, Astoria Filmes in Portugal, Filmayer in Spain, and Melior in Belgium.[41]
In August 1993, the film was re-released in theaters by Miramax Films having undergone a digital and color restoration supervised by Martin Scorsese. The re-release added 16 minutes of restored footage back to the film's initial 172-minute running time for a total of 188 minutes.[42][43]
Home media
The film was released on January 29, 2008 as a deluxe edition and a collector's edition DVD. Both DVDs included bonus materials including archival cast interviews, as well as 1961 promotional radio interviews with Loren and Heston; an audio commentary from Bill Bronston (son of Samuel Bronston) and historian-author Neal M. Rosendorf; a documentary on the importance of film preservation and restoration; biographical featurettes on Samuel Bronston, Anthony Mann, and Miklos Rozsa; and a "making of" documentary, "Hollywood Conquers Spain." The collector's edition DVD also included a reproduction of the premiere's souvenir program and a comic book, as well as six color production stills.[44]
Reception
Box office
By January 1963, the film had grossed $8 million in box office rentals in the United States and Canada.[45] The film finished its box office run, earning $26.6 million in the United States and Canada.[3] Overall, it returned $12 million in box office rentals (the distributor's share of the box office gross).[46]
Critical response
Contemporary reviews
Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote "it is hard to remember a picture--not excluding Henry V, Ivanhoe, Helen of Troy and, naturally, Ben-Hur--in which scenery and regal rites and warfare have been so magnificently assembled and photographed as they are in this dazzler ... The pure graphic structure of the pictures, the imposing arrangement of the scenes, the dynamic flow of the action against strong backgrounds, all photographed with the 70mm color camera and projected on the Super-Technirama screen, give a grandeur and eloquence to this production that are worth seeing for themselves".[47]Variety praised the film as "a fast-action color-rich, corpse-strewn, battle picture...The Spanish scenery is magnificent, the costumes are vivid, the chain mail and Toledo steel gear impressive."[48] A review in Time magazine felt that "Surprisingly, the picture is good—maybe not as good as Ben-Hur, but anyway better than any spectacle since Spartacus." They also noted that "Bronston's epic has its embarrassments. El Cid himself, too, crudely contemporarized seems less the scourge of the heathen than a champion of civil rights. And there are moments when Hero Heston looks as though he needs a derrick to help him with that broadsword. Nevertheless, Anthony Mann has managed his immense material with firmness, elegance, and a sure sense of burly epic rhythm."[49]
Harrison's Reports praised the performances from Heston and Loren and summarized the film as "raw and strong, brooding and challenging, romantic and powerfully dramatic. It is motion picture entertainment ascending new heights of pomp, pageantry, panoply."[50] Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times opened his review writing, "El Cid brings back the excitement of movie-making; it may even bring back the excitement of movie-going. It's as big as Ben-Hur if not bigger. If it had put a few more connectives in the narrative, if it had not thrown in an excess of everything else in three hours running time, it might have been great."[51] A review in Newsweek described the film as being "crammed with jousts and battles, and its sound track is reminiscent of Idlewild airport on a busy day, but the dramatics in it explode with all the force of a panful of popcorn." It also derided Mann's direction as "slow, stately, and confused, while Miss Loren and Heston spend most of the picture simply glaring at each other."[52]
Sophia Loren had a major issue with Bronston's promotion of the film, an issue important enough to her that Loren sued him for breach of contract in New York Supreme Court. As Time magazine described it:[24]
On a 600-sq.-ft. billboard facing south over Manhattan's Times Square, Sophia Loren's name appears in illuminated letters that could be read from an incoming liner, but—Mamma mia!—that name is below Charlton Heston's. In the language of the complaint: "If the defendants are permitted to place deponent's name below that of Charlton Heston, then it will appear that deponent's status is considered to be inferior to that of Charlton Heston... It is impossible to determine or even to estimate the extent of the damages which the plaintiff will suffer".
Retrospective reviews
During its 1993 re-release, Martin Scorsese praised El Cid as "one of the greatest epic films ever made". James Berardinelli of Reel Views gave the film three stars out of four. In his review, he felt that "El Cid turns more often to the ridiculous than the sublime. Perhaps if the movie didn't take itself so seriously, there wouldn't be opportunities for unintentional laughter, but, from the bombastic dialogue to the stentorian score, El Cid is about as self-important as a motion picture can be. Regardless, there are still moments of breathtaking, almost transcendant splendor, when the film makers attain the grand aspirations they strive for.[53]Richard Christiansen for the Chicago Tribune gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four. He commented that "...watching the movie today is something of a chore. Much of its celebration of heroic romanticism seems either silly, inflated or crudely flat in this non-heroic age." He also felt Heston and Loren lacked romantic chemistry.[54]
Richard Corliss, reviewing for Time, wrote that "Like the best action films, El Cid is both turbulent and intelligent, with characters who analyze their passions as they eloquently articulate them. The Court scenes, in particular, have the complex intrigue, if not quite the poetry, of a Shakespearean history play. This richness is especially evident in the film's love story."[55] At the film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 92% based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10.[56] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 79 based on 19 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[57]
^In his autobiography, Heston claims he met with Juan Menéndez Pidal, but he had already died in 1915. His brother, Ramón, was still alive in 1960 and as described was in his 90s.
Citations
^ abcdWelles, Benjamin (January 1, 1961). "'Reign in Spain'". The New York Times. p. X5. Archived from the original on August 19, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
^Scheuer, Philip K. (July 26, 1960). "Heston Accepts Lead in 'El Cid'". Los Angeles Times. Part I, p. 23. Archived from the original on March 26, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
^ abCorliss, Richard (2007-09-26). "DVD and Conquer". Time. Archived from the original on 2022-05-27. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
^Connolly, Mike (December 10, 1960). "New Hemingway Picture Planned". Valley Times Today. p. 15. Archived from the original on March 26, 2020. Retrieved March 17, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
