El Cid

“The GREATEST ROMANCE and ADVENTURE in a THOUSAND YEARS!”

In 11th-century Spain, the Christian kingdoms of Castile and Aragon have the Moors pressing on one side and each other on the other. Rodrigo de Vivar (Charlton Heston), a Castilian knight with a strict sense of honour, is bound to Jimena (Sophia Loren) and to a king he is expected to serve. Anthony Mann fills the screen with riders, banners and Charlton Heston in armor, the whole frame crowded with them.