El Cid

El Cid is a historical epic about Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, the eleventh-century Castilian nobleman known as El Cid. Set in Spain around 1080 during the Reconquista, the film follows Rodrigo as he fights the Moorish forces advancing into Christian territory while trying to uphold a strict code of honour. After capturing several high-ranking Muslim prisoners, including the emir of Zaragoza, he defies the king's orders and releases them, hoping to break the cycle of vengeance along the border. His devotion to Jimena, the daughter of a prominent count, complicates matters, and a duel with her father turns her against him. Political intrigue, rivalry with Count Ordóñez and conflict with King Alfonso VI drive Rodrigo into exile, from which he rises to lead the struggle against the invaders.

Anthony Mann directed the film, the eighteenth of the twenty he made, between Cimarron and The Fall of the Roman Empire. Samuel Bronston produced, and Ben Barzman, Philip Yordan and Fredric M. Frank wrote the screenplay. Charlton Heston plays Rodrigo, with Sophia Loren as Jimena, Raf Vallone as Count Ordóñez, Geneviève Page as Princess Urraca, John Fraser as Prince Alfonso and Gary Raymond as Prince Sancho, among thirty-one credited cast members.

Released in October 1961, the film runs 187 minutes and was made for about 6 million dollars, returning roughly 27 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds a 7.2 rating from around 17,000 votes; on TMDB it has a 6.8 from 312 votes. Its critics' rating of 6.8 comes from 14 reviews, close to the audience score on TMDB and somewhat below the IMDb figure.