El Cid (Allied Artists) (1961)

EL CID MAT 2C Charlton Heston (left) is pictured as he battles to the death with Christopher Rhodes for the possession of the city of Calahorra in this scene from “El Cid,’ in Super Technirama Technicolor, currently at the Renee ies oe theatre, The story of Spain’s warrior-hero of the 11th Century is a Samuel Bronston Production in association with Dear Film Productions. Heston and Sophia Loren star in the epic drama which was directed by Anthony Mann, Allied Artists is releasing the feature in the Western Hemisphere. Spectacular Scenes Featured In ‘El Cid’ There is an astonishing bigness in three major scenes in ‘El Cid’? — the Tournament at Calahorra, the Coronation at Burgos and the Siege and Battle of Valencia — and they help to make this epic of Spain’s great warrior-hero one of the screen’s greatest spectacles. The Samuel Bronston production with Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren in the top star roles opens a special engagement............. LU ULC se ccseon cc eapages ors; Siac theatre. One of the most memorable tests of strength and endurance ever filmed, the Tournament of Calahorra saw Heston, in the title role, and Christopher Rhodes, as Don Martin, giant champion of Aragon who had killed 27 rivals in similar matches, fighting in a joust to the death. In the 11th Century of El Cid, the medieval tournament was the supreme spectacle of the day, likened, because of the bloodshed, to the gladiatorial fights in the arenas in Rome. In El Cid’s day, disputes between monarchs often were resolved in a “trial by single combat” like that on the field at Calahorra where El] Cid became the proudest champion ever known. For eleven suspense-packed minutes, the screen rocks with the clash of steel and thud of human flesh as Heston and Rhodes battle, first on horses and then on the ground. The tournament stands in the minds of veteran film viewers with other unforgettable scenes— chariot race in “Ben-Hur,” crossing of the Red Sea in “Ten Commandments” and burning of Atlanta in “Gone With the Wind.” Backdrop for the scene is the castle of Belmonte, one of the several castles in Spain used in the production which was filmed in part in that country. With several thousands appearing in it, the spectacular Coronation at Burgos on the steps of the great cathedral is not the creation of a fictionist. History speaks of it as the Oath of Santa Gadea— the highly dramatic episode wherein El Cid forced King Alfonso (John Fraser) to swear his innocence in the murder of his brother, King Sancho (Gary Raymond). So humiliated by this act of El Cid was the new king that the first decree he. issued banished the warrior from the country he loved. The ancient Spanish walled city of Peniscola on the seacoast was selected as the only present-day counterpart of El Cid’s Valencia and 348 technicians reconstructed the walls of the town and castle to appear as they did when El Cid led a drive of united Christians and Moors against the black-robed Islamic fanatics led by Ben Yussuf (Herbert Lom). Under the direction of Anthony Mann, the Siege and Battle of Valencia were filmed over a monthlong period. Taking part in this spectacular sequence were 1700 well trained troops of the Spanish Army, 500 horsemen of Madrid’s Municipal Honor Guard ‘and thousands of able-bodied men engaged in the province to appear as warriors. After the last scenes had been completed, Bronston donated to the city council the giant Moorish gates installed at a great cost for the film. “Fl Cid,” written by Fredric M. Frank and Philip Yordan, is a Samuel Bronston Production in association with Dear Film Productions. The Super Technirama Technicolor film is being distributed in the Western Hemisphere by Allied Artists. Spectacular ‘El Cid’ Set To Open Here (Advance) One of the great film spectacles, “El Cid,” starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren, will soon open here. The Samuel Bronston production telling the romantic and turbulent story of Spain’s 11th Century warrior-hero, El Cid, has been set for a special engagement at the Bers ERE Tee theatre beginning next “El Cid,’ a motion picture epic in Super Technirama Technicolor, was included in countless “10 Best Motion Pictures of the Year” lists selected by metropolitan newspapers and top national magazines. The film opens here after scoring as a sensational hit in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas and many other cities where it played as a roadshow attraction. Heston portrays the _ warriorhero, whose name is derived from the Arabic “Seid,” meaning lord or leader. Miss Loren is cast as Chimene, whose romance with the warrior knew burning passion, then turned to almost fatal hate, and eventually was changed again into a strong love. Among locations used were sites known to El Cid as he united Christian and Moor and defeated the Islamic hordes that crossed the Mediterranean and would have driven hard into the heart of Europe. “El Cid,” a Samuel Bronston Production in association with Dear Film Productions, was directed by Anthony Mann and is being distributed in the Western Hemisphere by Allied Artists. Viewers Applaud Big ‘Cid’ Scenes The extraordinary bigness and dramatic impact of three major scenes in “El Cid,” starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren, have prompted viewers of the spectacle to class the film with the greatest productions in the annals of motion pictures. In the day of El Cid, Spain’s warrior-hero who lived in the 11th Century, disputes between monarchs often were resolved in “trial by single combat.” In the Tournament of Calahorra scene Heston, as El Cid, goes on such a trial in his joust to the death with Christopher Rhodes, portraying Don Martin, champion of Aragon. This is one of the highlights in the Samuel Bronston presentation directed by Anthony Mann now in a special engagement at the See ie a theatre. The eleven-minute, suspensepacked fight, first on horseback and then on the ground, rocks the screen to rank it, many viewers have said, with three other memorable scenes: chariot race in ‘“BenHur,” crossing of the Red Sea in “Ten Commandments” and burning of Atlanta in “Gone With the Wind.” Several thousand actors appear in “El Cid’s” Coronation at Burgos scene, a re-enactment of the dramatic episode where El Cid forces King Alfonso (John Fraser) to swear his innocence in the murder of his brother, King Sancho (Gary Raymond). The Siege and the Battle of Valencia required a month for filming, with 1700 Spanish Army troops, 500 horsemen of Madrid’s Municipal Honor Guard and two thousand men hired in the province to appear as warriors being used. The Super Technirama Technicolor film is a Samuel Bronston Production in association with Dear Film Productions and is being distributed in the Western Hemisphere by Allied Artists. Bronston Proves Goldwyn Dictum Samuel Goldwyn once = said, “There’s nothing wrong with the motion picture industry that good pictures can’t cure.” Today a bold, imaginative “new tycoon” of the industry is proving it. “New tycoon,” implying freshness of approach as well as magnate status, is the tag Hollywood is applying to Samuel Bronston, whose gratefully-hailed presentation, ‘El Cid,” is playing a special engageMENG =AC— CNC ve ne. cso are pete theater The Super Technirama Technicolor production stars Charlton Heston as Spain’s great warrior hero, known as El Cid, and Sophia Loren as the Lady Chimene, under the direction of Anthony Mann. Bronston has emerged with seeming suddenness as one of the most important figures in the film industry today, following this production and its predecessor on his crowded schedule, “King of Kings.” A dynamic man whose burgeoning young company sprawls over Madrid’s two largest studios, takes up an entire office building, and occupies sundry warehouses and subsidiary workshops as well, Bronston is definitely a new type of moviemaker —a _ soft-spoken, cultivated graduate of the Sorbonne in Paris. Bronston filmed “El Cid” on the vast Spanish landscape where the original story took place in the 11th century, restoring castles, converting modern ships into a Moorish armada, creating armies and taking over an entire foundry to arm them. But he saw El] Cid, who fought to reconcile ancient enemies on terms of brotherhood, as a modern man, and the story as paralleling modern times. His next production is “55 Days At Peking,’ which will also star Heston. After that he plans films on fall of the Roman Empire and the French Revolution. GIGANTIC PICTURE ON LOCAL SCREEN “Rl Cid,’ a gigantic production telling the story of Spain’s celebrated 11th Century warrior-hero, Is) now-atthes s..t. eee theatre with Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren starred. The film in Super Technirama Technicolor is a Samuel Bronston Production in association with Dear Film Productions. It was directed by Anthony Mann. Director Anthony Mann Appraises Sophia Loren “She has the warmth, the size, the beautiful body, the looks all it takes to be an epic figure and to make a man an epic figure. “She’s proud of her size (most girls of her height have a tendency to stoop and get round-shouldered), and she walks like a queen.” Director Anthony Mann was talking about Sophia Loren, whom he directed opposite Charlton Heston in “El Cid,’ Samuel Bronston’s undeniably epic presentation in Super Technirama Technicolor, which opens a special enagement......... ab then ok ess theatre after spectacular runs as a road show in key cities. If Mann sounds lyrical, it’s because that’s the way he feels about the lady who has walked off with countless “best actress” awards. But he confesses that at first Sophia said she could not fit the role of Chimene into her film making schedule. 2 “T fought like a madman to get her to do it,” he says. “I felt it would take a real woman like her to give the role the strength it called for, I knew that the chemistry of Sophia and a man like Heston, who won an Academy Award for ‘Ben-Hur, would give the love scenes the rare quality I wanted. “After she’d turned me down, I did everything but act out the role for her from beginning to end, And when I got through showing her Chimene as history knows her—a woman whose love turned to hate and then, when the Cid was in disgrace, back to love again, and who in fact sacrificed the rest of her life for love—then I knew she was sold. “When I put Sophia and Heston together in their first scene, I could feel her drawing the warmth out of him, looking at him with those marvelous eyes of hers. It comes across as something pretty wonderful,’ adds Mann with a smile. He calls working with Sophia “a joy,’ and is nothing loath to describe it: “In that first scene, I wanted to Pet the feeling of a woman who was not aware of her lover’s greatness, but who loved him so much he could do no wrong. She reacted very emotionally to this—it was an idea on &@ Woman’s ground, a thing she could be sure of. “Actors sometimes tend to freeze up when they can’t get the right feeling for a scene. She’s the kind who would stop and tell you she can’t feel it, after trying a time or two, and you go from there. “Maybe the scene isn’t right, and if it isn’t, she’l] feel it. She not only knows her business, she has a kind of intuitive perception, and is highly sensitive to what is true or false. “She doesn’t really need a lot of direction. But she needs to be spoken to gently, never shocked. I might yell at someone else, but I’d never think of anything but quiet communication when talking to her. “To get the best from her, I’d say you have to have an open and obvious love for her—and_ that,” Mann, concludes, “is obviously not hard to do.” “El Cid” is a Samuel Bronston Production in association with Dear Film Productions, It was filmed in the actual El Cid country of Spain and is being distributed in -the Western Hemisphere by Allied Artists. The screenplay was written by Fredric M. Frank and Philip Yordan. Seo MAT 1 EL CID Charlton Heston portrays Spain’s legendary warrior-hero in the title role of “El Cid,” currently showing StUsthe.. ee. theatre. The film, in Super Technirama Technicolor, also stars Sophia Loren and is a Samuel Bronston Production in association with Dear Film Productions. Anthony Mann directed the epic drama and Allied Artists is releasing it in the Western Hemisphere. Making ‘EI Cid’ Was Vast Project The creation and marshaling of material for “El Cid,” the assembling and preparing of its people, and then the filming of the Super Technirama Technicolor spectacle, now in a special engagement at aN cer ager oe ee ee theatre, makes a story reminiscent of a full-scale military operation. And Charlton Heston, co-starred with Sophia Loren in the Samuel Bronston presentation, probably felt like a combat-ready soldier by the time he faced the cameras as Spain’s medieval warrior-hero of the title. The already lean and rugged actor had stripped off 12 pounds training with battle axe and broadsword during a six-weeks’ conditioning program. The picture was a full year in preparation and eight months in the actual filming, with director Anthony Mann’s troupe ranging from Madrid to the beaches of the Mediterranean, to the castle country, and then to Rome for the final scenes. “El Cid” is a Samuel Bronston Production in association with Dear Film Productions. The screenplay is by Fredric M. Frank and Philip Yordan. EL CID MAT 2G Director Anthony Mann is pictured here with Sophia Loren as they prepare to film a scene from “El Cid,” currently showing at the............. theatre. Starring in the Super Technirama Technicolor picture with Miss Loren is Charlton Heston. It is a Samuel Bronston Production in association with Dear Film Productions and is being released in the Western Hemisphere by Allied Artists.