El Cid (Allied Artists) (1961)

EL CID ‘El Cid’ Masterpiece Of Motion Picture Making (Review) Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar, Spain’s much revered hero of the 11th Century best known as El Cid, whose bravery on the battlefield and great romance with a noblewoman have gripped poets for nearly 1,000 years, has been brought — gS © MAT 3D Spain’s great warrior-hero El Cid (Charlton Heston) is pictured here with part of his vast army as they march on the city of Valencia in this scene from “El Cid,” currently showing at the................... theatre. The film is a Samuel Bronston Production in association with Dear Film Productions and is in Super Technirama Technicolor, Heston and Sophia Loren star in the drama which was directed by Anthony Mann and is being released in the Western Hemisphere by Allied Artists. EI Cid, Story of World Famed Hero, Plays Here (Advance) History numbers but few figures who have stirred the imagination of poets, dramatists and balladeers as much as Spain’s much revered warrior-hero who was born Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar but is best known as El Cid. The exploits of this courageous nobleman on the battle field, his unquenchable devotion to his God and king and his turbulent and undying love for the beautiful Chimene are brilliantly told in “El Cid,” which opens a special CNP ASCUIENUKON oko icc 58 at the The Samuel Bronston presentation co-starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren comes here after being a sensational hit as a roadshow attraction in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas and scores of other cities, This epic film spectacle in Super Technirama Technicolor was named one of the best 10 motion pictures of the year by many metropolitan newspapers and outstanding nateonal magazines, including the New York Times and Time Magazine. Heston is cast as the warrior who dreamed of peace, the romantic figure who early in his life was tried as a traitor but later acclaimed, even by his enemies, as “El Cid,” a term adapted phonetically from the Arabic “Seid,” meaning lord or leader. This was a title which never again was to be bestowed on any other hero — an appelation as unique as the giant of a man who bore it. Miss Loren portrays Chimene, the beautiful Castilian noblewoman, both fiery and proud. Her romance with El Cid was, at first, tender and warm, and then it flamed into consuming hate and almost fatal revenge; her forced marriage to him began in deep bitterness, but her old love was renewed and grew strong enough to endure long separation, lonely exile and the hardships of battle. The cast of thousands includes Raf Vallone, Genevieve Page, John Fraser, Gary Raymond, Hurd Hatfield, Massimo Serato and Herbert Lom. Director Anthony Mann has deployed the thousands of actors against tthe gorgeous panoply of sets and costumes by Veniero Colasanti and John Moore depicting the royal pageantry of Spain. The film was photographed in Spain, and many of the historic and pictorially magnificent sites where El Cid lived, loved and fought were used. For the first time, El Cid’s story now has been brought to the screen through the screenplay by Academy Award winners Fredric M. Frank and Philip Yordan, with the musical score by three-time Academy Award winner Miklos Rozsa. In addition to scoring so successfully in its roadshow engagements in America, “El Cid” has reaped awards and broken box-office records in Europe and South America. “Fl Cid” is a Samuel Bronston Production in association with Dear Film Productions, and is being distributed in the Western Hemisphere by Allied Artists. MEMORABLE The Tournament of Calahorra, a battle to the death enacted by Charlton Heston and Christopher Rhodes in “El Cid,” now at the ihe Gea ee theatre, has been given a strong stamp of approval by viewers who place it alongside other memorable cinema scenes, including the Chariot Race in “BenHur.” With Sophia Loren as Heston’s co-star in the story of Spain’s llth Century hero, “El Cid” is in Super Technirama Technicolor and is a Samuel Bronston Production in association with Dear Film Productions. It was directed by Anthony Mann and is being distributed in the Western Hemisphere by Allied Artists. ae MAT 1 EL CID Sophia Loren portrays Chimene, _whose tender love for El Cid (Charlton Heston) turns to an almost fatal hatred in “El Cid,” currently at: the-.c% -.35-. 3. 23 theatre. The Super Technirama Technicolor picture is a Samuel Bronston Production in association with Dear Film Productions and tells the story of Spain’s immortal warrior. Anthony Mann directed the film which Allied Artists is releasing in the Western Hemisphere. THE CAST Prince Anonso...20 Se =. ee eS Prince Sancho” =... SS Ange eS Se See DONIOGO) 3. Diss Counters. 3 ea DG Padre oS. ee ee ee eae, RALPH TRUMAN ...... CHRISTOPHER RHODES Ao eee GERARD TICHY Saas are eee CARLO GIUSTINI King Ferdinund...7.-. >. Siac. Den. Marit + Kino Nopnre <2. Beriiited oe eae, Se Stites CHARLTON HESTON oe aR REE SOPHIA LOREN Re 0s Ee hs pres RAF VALLONE Se ae GENEVIEVE PAGE i. 2 a ORL EO Bat Sr ae GARY RAYMOND Sok Bee HURD HATFIELD ee ae MASSIMO SERATO oe ees Ge ee HERBERT LOM tee ee FRANK THRING Sa ae DOUGLAS WILMER ........ MICHAEL HORDERN ee ANDREW CRUICKSHANK ....... TULLIO CARMINATI for the first time, and brilliantly so — to the motion picture screen. In “El Cid,” that man of lasting greatness, that man who fought furiously because he desperately wanted his world to know the joys of peace, sweeps majestically across the screen, giving full view to the two contrasting sides of his being. At once he is big and powerful, fighting fiercely as an invincible warrior; and now he is the warm and tender El Cid enslaved by his love for the beauteous Chimene of Castile. The Samuel Bronston presentation starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren opened yesterday as a special engagement at the....... theatre, coming here after scoring tremendously as a roadshow attraction in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas and many other cities. Academy Award winners top the cast—Heston for his role in “BenHur” and Miss Loren for hers ‘in “Two Women’’—and are also found in its writers, music composer and cinematographer, and this gathering of top-calibre talent reflects the wisdom exercised by Bronston as he set about to make a motion picture that could be compared, and, indeed, has been favorably compared with “Ben-Hur” and other highly successful screen spectacles. To put it frankly, “El Cid” is a masterpiece of motion picture making, It has all the expected elements of good drama, and there is a rich blending of fast action and serene beauty. It has the authenticity of locale for the story was filmed in Spain, on the very sites across which El Cid moved and in castles that have dotted that romantic country for centuries. And it has the brilliant, knowing direction of Anthony Mann. It was a man of great strength and vision, a man with a deep devotion to his God and his king, who finally was able to unite Christian and Moor in a victorious fight against the Islamic hordes that made their way across the Mediterranean into his beloved Spain and would drive hard into the heart of Europe. It was a man with a huge capacity for love who refused to give up the woman whose father he killed in a duel, who refused to give her up even after he knew she plotted his own death. It was a man of understanding who seemingly was not surprised when this same woman, her first love for him rekindled and overcoming hate and bitterness, comes to join him in exile. El Cid was such a man. And Heston plays that man admirably. Miss Loren gives to the role of Chimene a necessary mixture of burning passion for the man she loves, a hatred of great depth when circumstances prompt her to turn against that same man, sly scheming when she _ plots her lover’s death at the hands of his rival, that fine tenderness known only by a mother for her children, and an ineffable anxiety when she watches her man ride off to battle. It takes the best to portray a character like Chimene, and Miss Loren does it flawlesly. “El Cid” will be remembered for many things. On the list of them and high at the top is the Tournament at Calahorra where El Cid, after being accused of a traitorous act, wins not only the disputed city for his king, but also acquittal of the charge against him for, according to the custom of trial by combat, God would judge his guilt or innocence. Seldom has a more exciting battle scene been filmed than that in which El Cid leads his brave warriors in an offensive against the Islamic forces led by Ben Yussuf (Herbert Lom) at Valencia and drives them into the sea. For this spectacle in Super Technirama ‘Technicolor, a cast of thousands was used, and among those who gave strong support to Heston and Miss Loren were their co-stars, Raf Vallone, Genevieve Page, John Fraser, Gary Raymond, Hurd Hatfield, Massimo Serato and Lom. The screenplay was written by Fredric M. Frank and Philip Yordan with the music by Miklos Rozsa, cinematography by Robert Krasker and the production and costume designs and set decorations by Veniero Colasanti and John Moore. The film is a Samuel Bronston Production in association with with Dear Film Productions and is being distributed in the Western Hemisphere by Allied Artists. DIRECTOR “El Cid,” starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren, telling the story of Spain’s immortal hero of the 11th Century, and now on the SCreen gate the wins wets theatre, was directed by Anthony Mann. Mann also directed such hits as “Strategic Air Command,” “The Glenn Miller Story,” “Winchester 73” and “God’s Little Acre.” “El Cid,” in Super Technirama Technicolor, is a Samuel Bronston Production in association with Dear Film Productions, and is being distributed in the Western Hemisphere by Allied Artists. BIG PRODUCTION NOW PLAYING HERE “El Cid,” one of the biggest of motion picture productions, is now DIAVING= GbeuN One cat tan theatre with Charlton Heston starred as the Spanish warrior-hero of the 11th Century, and Sophia Loren as the famed Chimene. CREDITS A Samuel Bronston Production in association with Dear Film Productions; Produced by Samuel Bronston, Directed by Anthony Mann, Associate Producers, Jaime Prades and Michael Waszynski; Screenplay by Philip Yordan and Fredric M. Frank, Original Story by Fredric M. Frank, Music by Miklos Rozsa, Love Theme, Music by Miklos Rozsa, Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster: Director of Photography, Robert Krasker; Art Directors, Set Decorators, Production & Costume Designers, Veniero Colasanti and John Moore; Film Editor, Robert Lawrence; Director of Photography, 2nd Unit, Manuel Berenguer; Special Effects, Alex Weldon and Jack Erickson; 2nd Unit Director, Yakima Canutt; Production Managers, Leon Chooluck and Guy Luongo: Assistant Directors, Luciano Sacripanti; Jose Maria Ochoa and Jose Lopez Rodero; Master of Properties, Stanley Detlie: Supervising Technician, Carl Gibson; Supervising Electrician, Norton Kurland; Sound Recordist, Jack Solomon; Re-Recorded by Gordon K. McCallum; Sound Editor, Verna Fields; Music Editor, Edna Bullock; Wardrobe Director, Gloria Mussetta; Hair Styles by Grazia de Rossi, Makeup Created by Mario van Riel, Murals by Maciek Piotrowski, Script Supervisor, Pat Miller, and in Super Technirama Technicolor. EL CID MAT 2E Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren are pictured in their roles as the turbulent lovers in “El Cid,” currently playing at the............ theatre. The film is a Samuel Bronston Production in association with Dear Film Productions and is in Super Technirama Technicolor. Anthony Mann directed the epic drama and Allied Artists is releasing it in the Western Hemisphere.