Set in the early 16th century, the story follows the exploits of Spaniard Pedro De Vargas (Tyrone Power), the son of a noble family who is forced to become a fugitive by the Inquisition, under the local control of the corrupt Diego De Silva (John Sutton). Vargas escapes to Cuba along with new friend Juan Garcia (Lee J. Cobb) and lowly servant girl Catana (Jean Peters). They all join the expedition of Hernando Cortez (Cesar Romero) into central Mexico and the land of the Aztecs in search of gold and glory.
Based on a then-recent bestseller, this was a very expensive movie for Fox, and it wasn't without production troubles. Original leading lady Linda Darnell was yanked away to try and save Forever Amber, and the little-known Jean Peters was her replacement. I don't dislike Peters, but Darnell would have been much better. The film also had to tone down several aspects of the book: the Catholic Church complained about the depiction of the Spanish Inquisition, so the filmmakers put a non-clergy civilian in charge (the villain played by John Sutton, who does a good job with the role); and the atrocities committed by Cortez and his army against the natives are whitewashed almost completely out of the picture.
On the plus side, the costumes and sets are fantastic, and the score is very good. The film only covers about half of the book's contents, despite running nearly 2 and a half hours, and the resolution to the movie is weak. I don't know if they planned a follow-up since that wasn't as common at the time, but the film's poor box office negated the prospect. It still ended up earning an Oscar nomination for Best Score (Alfred Newman).
Based on a then-recent bestseller, this was a very expensive movie for Fox, and it wasn't without production troubles. Original leading lady Linda Darnell was yanked away to try and save Forever Amber, and the little-known Jean Peters was her replacement. I don't dislike Peters, but Darnell would have been much better. The film also had to tone down several aspects of the book: the Catholic Church complained about the depiction of the Spanish Inquisition, so the filmmakers put a non-clergy civilian in charge (the villain played by John Sutton, who does a good job with the role); and the atrocities committed by Cortez and his army against the natives are whitewashed almost completely out of the picture.
On the plus side, the costumes and sets are fantastic, and the score is very good. The film only covers about half of the book's contents, despite running nearly 2 and a half hours, and the resolution to the movie is weak. I don't know if they planned a follow-up since that wasn't as common at the time, but the film's poor box office negated the prospect. It still ended up earning an Oscar nomination for Best Score (Alfred Newman).