Shields of Spanish Leather
El Cid (1961)
directed by Anthony Mann
rating: 2 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Netflix
In my typically lazy post-movie trivia troll, I came across an interview that Charlton Heston did with a columnist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - or rather, her memories of that interview, conducted at the time of El Cid's release, in the wake of Heston's Alzheimer's diagnosis. I wanted the dirt on the friction between the movie's stars, but Barbara Cloud only teases that John Charles Carter (of Illinois, not Mars) called Sophia Loren a "double helping of woman." Mutual dislike was more professional back then, I suppose.
Financed by the DuPont family as a way to sell oil in Spain without being paid in pesetas, El Cid is one pageant after the next, and if battlefield tableaus across every plain in Franco's great nation are your cup of tea, this double helping of Castilian history probably looks better on your TV than mine. My own hopes that the fizzling Heston/Loren pairing would be usurped by a sexy incestuous romance between a brother and sister who want the "triple crown" of Spain's divided kingdoms died with the death of the second brother/third wheel late in Act 1. The rest of the time, El Cid is either thrown out of court or welcomed back, holding fast to dull honor all the while.
The Chuck we know and love would never demand that King Ferdinand force Sophia Loren to be the Cid's bride, only to mope at the fireplace when his wedding night came. This kind of open-air biography is done more justice by sillier, less historical enterprises like The Vikings or Knives of the Avenger. But every roadshow spectacular has its silver lining, and here it comes courtesy of Heston's thanks to a Moorish ally at a post-battle barbeque. His mouth stuffed with roast chicken, and the rest of it on the end of his foot-long knife, El Cid can barely choke out the words: "You'll make a Muslim of me yet, m'lord."
directed by Anthony Mann
rating: 2 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Netflix
In my typically lazy post-movie trivia troll, I came across an interview that Charlton Heston did with a columnist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - or rather, her memories of that interview, conducted at the time of El Cid's release, in the wake of Heston's Alzheimer's diagnosis. I wanted the dirt on the friction between the movie's stars, but Barbara Cloud only teases that John Charles Carter (of Illinois, not Mars) called Sophia Loren a "double helping of woman." Mutual dislike was more professional back then, I suppose.
Financed by the DuPont family as a way to sell oil in Spain without being paid in pesetas, El Cid is one pageant after the next, and if battlefield tableaus across every plain in Franco's great nation are your cup of tea, this double helping of Castilian history probably looks better on your TV than mine. My own hopes that the fizzling Heston/Loren pairing would be usurped by a sexy incestuous romance between a brother and sister who want the "triple crown" of Spain's divided kingdoms died with the death of the second brother/third wheel late in Act 1. The rest of the time, El Cid is either thrown out of court or welcomed back, holding fast to dull honor all the while.
The Chuck we know and love would never demand that King Ferdinand force Sophia Loren to be the Cid's bride, only to mope at the fireplace when his wedding night came. This kind of open-air biography is done more justice by sillier, less historical enterprises like The Vikings or Knives of the Avenger. But every roadshow spectacular has its silver lining, and here it comes courtesy of Heston's thanks to a Moorish ally at a post-battle barbeque. His mouth stuffed with roast chicken, and the rest of it on the end of his foot-long knife, El Cid can barely choke out the words: "You'll make a Muslim of me yet, m'lord."
posted by NPK at 6:03 AM
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