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Bookmark this pageEl Cid (1961)
Director: Anthony Mann
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
One of the very finest epics produced by Samuel Bronston, equally impressive in terms of script (by Philip Yordan, who mercifully steers clear of florid archaisms) and spectacle. Heston is aptly heroic as the 11th-century patriot destined to die in the fight for a Moor-less Spain, Mann's direction is stately and thrilling, and Miklos Rosza's superb score perfectly complements the crisp and simple widescreen images. Sobriety and restraint, in fact, are perhaps the keynotes of the film's success, with the result that a potentially risible finale (in which Cid's corpse is borne into the realm of legend, strapped to his horse as it leads his men to battle) becomes genuinely stirring.Author: GA
Cast & crew
Director: Anthony Mann
Producer: Samuel Bronston, Robert Haggiag
Cast: Charlton Heston, Sophia Loren, Raf Vallone, Geraldine Page, John Fraser, Hurd Hatfield, Herbert Lom, Michael Hordern, Douglas Wilmer, Frank Thring full cast
Genre(s): Epics
Duration: 184 mins
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