Rodrigo Diaz Vivar, alias Cid (Charlton Heston) was a Spanish warrior and famous medieval hero , he was born in Burgos (1043) and died in Valencia(1099) . Being dead Fernando I (Ralph Truman), succeeded Sancho of Castilla (Gary Raymond). Then Sancho is killed by Bellido Dolfos (Fausto Tozzi) and Alfonso VI (John Frazer) rules over the kingdom . In the church of Santa Gadea, Cid ordered to king Alfonso swear to haven't murdered his brother Sancho . In punishment Cid is banished out Castilla . Almoravides's invasion of Spain commanded by Ben Yusuff (Herbert Lom) and defeat of Sagrajas made Alfonso VI forgot the humiliation of Cid and asked him the command of troops . Cid vanquished to Moors in Cuarte, Bairen and Valencia that lost and retrieves. Cid is married to Jimena (Sofia Loren) and were born two daughters : Elvira and Sol . El Cid and his wife Jimena Díaz lived peacefully in Valencia for five years until the Almoravids besieged the city . According to legend, El Cid was fighting one of the men when he was shot in the heart with an arrow . Valencia's troops were losing spirit when Jimena thought if she set the corpse of El Cid atop his horse Babieca, the morale of Valencia's troops would soar . Valencia was captured on May 5, 1102 and it did not become a Christian city again for over 125 years . Jimena fled to Burgos with her husband's body .
The movie is very spectacular , it's an excellent film , fitting to historical deeds . Runtime picture is overlong but is neither boring , nor tiring , but entertaining because happen many events . In the film, there are epic , mammoth spectacle , history , a love story , wonderful landscapes and is a pretty enjoyable movie . The final confrontation battle between the Cid and the Muslim enemies is overwhelming and outstanding .
By the time this was released, Allied Artists had ceased production and was only distributing independent productions , as the rights for the Western Hemisphere were acquired from Samuel Bronston ; as he produced a full-blown epic, which was given a roadshow presentation followed by a general release , two years later it distributed Bronston's "55 Days at Peking" . Evocative as well as impressive musical score by the classic Miklos Rozsa , though it wasn't until viewing the finished film at the premiere that he discovered that roughly 20% of his score had been eliminated and he didn't do another score for producer Samuel Bronston . Anthony Mann direction is splendid and Robert Krasker cinematography in Super Technirama 70 is fascinating . The motion picture will appeal to historic story buffs and spectacular film lovers.
The movie is very spectacular , it's an excellent film , fitting to historical deeds . Runtime picture is overlong but is neither boring , nor tiring , but entertaining because happen many events . In the film, there are epic , mammoth spectacle , history , a love story , wonderful landscapes and is a pretty enjoyable movie . The final confrontation battle between the Cid and the Muslim enemies is overwhelming and outstanding .
By the time this was released, Allied Artists had ceased production and was only distributing independent productions , as the rights for the Western Hemisphere were acquired from Samuel Bronston ; as he produced a full-blown epic, which was given a roadshow presentation followed by a general release , two years later it distributed Bronston's "55 Days at Peking" . Evocative as well as impressive musical score by the classic Miklos Rozsa , though it wasn't until viewing the finished film at the premiere that he discovered that roughly 20% of his score had been eliminated and he didn't do another score for producer Samuel Bronston . Anthony Mann direction is splendid and Robert Krasker cinematography in Super Technirama 70 is fascinating . The motion picture will appeal to historic story buffs and spectacular film lovers.