El Cid [1961]

Charlton Heston is at his most indomitable as Rodrigo, "The Cid", a natural leader of men and the embodiment of every manly virtue (note that he fathers twins--a sure token of his virility); Sophie Loren is ravishing as Chimene, the woman whose love for Rodrigo conflicts with her filial instincts after he kills her father, the king's champion, over a point of honour. Their scenes together create a humane warmth at the heart of this vast movie: the moment when Chimene finally declares her love (beneath a shrine of three crosses--more symbolism) to the exiled Rodrigo forms a pivotal and very intimate centrepiece. Shortly thereafter he must rise from their rural marriage bed to lead his followers into battle, and the tension between his public and private lives adds a piquancy to the film's stunning battle sequences. The international supporting cast sometimes look like makeweights, especially when chewing on the occasionally stilted dialogue, but any such faults are easily forgiven as the scale and spectacle of El Cid carries the viewer away on a tide of chivalry. --Mark Walker

The one star rating is for spelling the title right, and for the spectacle of Doctor Cameron wielding a broadsword instead of asking Janet to put the kettle on.

The box is labelled "16:9", and it lies. After starting out with the opening titles in the correct aspect ratio of around 2.3:1, the movie descends into Pan & Scan hell - two-shots with only one person in them, crowd scenes reduced to an octet, rolling vistas the size of a pocket handkerchief. Any closeups of people who weren't in the centre of the original widescreen frame are out of focus.

Avoid at all costs.


Don't buy this DVD--waste of money   July 5, 2004
E. Burt (Gainesville, FL United States)
20 out of 21 found this review helpful

This wonderful film deserves a Criterion or BFI DVD complete with a restored print. It certainly is a timely film and I find its vision of mutual tolerance and charity between Christians and Muslims particularly welcome at the present moment (especially with all those frothering neocons yapping about a clash of civilizations). It will be interesting to see Ridley Scott's forthcoming Crusades film, which looks to be an avatar of El Cid.
But do not buy this DVD. It is full screen, not widescreen. There is a DVD available from Amazon.fr, however, which does have widescreen. I saw the film when I was eight (for my birthday) in 1962 and saw it on television (wth a pan and scan edit) which butchered the 70 mm Technirama print. The fullscreen (tv) format gives one only less than two thirds of the actual frame. It's a wonder to see the French DVD version on my 23 inch flat computer screen. the only problems with htis DVD are that the print is not a great one--there are scratches every now nad then, and hte sound track is momentarily off for a few seconds. More troublesome is that the French subtitles were burned into the print, so they can't be removed when you watch the DVD in English (there is also a French dubbed version). And the various menu features don't work except for film and language tracks. Still, I'm glad I got it and recommend it until a DVD here becomes available.


Stunning Epic with Heston and Loren at their best!!   November 22, 2002
Deborah MacGillivray (US & UK)
8 out of 14 found this review helpful

Heston did so many 'costumers' it was easy to over look just how magnificent some were and this is one of the best. My favourite is the quieter War Lord, but El Cid never fails to move me. It works on many levels, the breathtaking epic, the love story between Heston and Loren, with the secondary characters, especially John Fraser and Herbert Lom, giving fine performances. The jousting sequences outstanding, the location work panoramic....a true experience.


Could and Should Have Been Better!!   July 9, 2002
E. A. Redfearn (Middlesbrough)
6 out of 11 found this review helpful

Not a great film by any standards, but a very entertaining one. Charlton Heston portrays Rodgrigo de Bivar a Spanish Knight who over a period of years, drives the Moors from Spain. Although the story is set in the 11th century, the Moors were not driven from Spain altogether until 1492 from Granada. Plenty of action and romance, enough to keep any movie buff happy. The only drawback with this video version is that it is in pan-and-scan which fails to do the film justice. Moreover, the film has a smudgy look and the colours look washed out. Sound isnt too bad, but for an epic like this one, it deserves to be shown in glorious widescreen and full digital sound. Apparantly, the DVD version lacks these features which is a shame really. A film like this one deserves the full treatment, and the fans should demand it too. Dont bother buying this, wait for a re-issue, it shoundt be long coming.


a massive, glorious spectacle   June 2, 2004
Alejandra Vernon (Long Beach, California)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

The imagery in this film is magnificent, with lavish, spectacular sets and vast battle scenes. The cast is great, with beautiful performances by Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren; they have terrific chemistry together, and how the camera loves them ! This was Heston's follow-up to Ben Hur, and he is equally heroic as Spain's hero El Cid. Others in the cast of note are Raf Vallone as Count Ordonez, the man who also vies for Loren's love, and Genevieve Page, as Princess Urraca, who is secretly enamoured with El Cid. Herbert Lom, though one can only see his eyes, is marvelous and fiery as Ben Yussuf, the Moorish invader who says to his followers, "burn your books, make warriors of your poets, and make your doctors invent new poisons for our arrows !".

Directed by Anthony Mann, the 11th century pageantry and medieval feel of this film has been meticulously created, and the cinematography, shot on location in Spain by Robert Krasker, is superb. The war-torn history of a divided Spain has been skimmed over and highly romanticized, but is very entertaining. There are family conflicts galore, murders and treachery, and lots of sword fights, where what amazed me was the sound of metal against metal; it has never to my knowledge been rendered so well, and adds much reality to the action.

Surprisingly, the art/set direction and song/score were nominated for Oscars, but did not win. The score by Miklos Rozsa is fabulous, but unfortunately it was up against Mancini's "Breakfast at Tiffanys". Sophia Loren received a Best Actress Oscar for this year, but not this film; she won it for "Two Women", which was also released in 1961. Total running time is 180 minutes.

History has many versions of El Cid (1040 ?-1099), depending on who wrote it (the Moors of course, painted him with a harsher brush), and at one point it seems he was a soldier of fortune, but based on the epic "Poema del Cid", he was both man and legend, and "one who lived and died the purest knight of all". This marvelous film has not been given the attention it deserves, and it will be enjoyed by everyone who likes historical dramas, and for Heston fans it is a must.