Many historical epics produced during the 50’s and 60’s haven’t aged all that well because of the lack of depth. An epic costume drama, “El Cid” was a rarity during the period when movies such as “Lawrence of Arabia” were trotted out in massive and long road show versions to attract a diminishing audience back to theaters who had defected to TV. Epic film producer Samuel Bronston had brought “King of Kings”, “John Paul Jones” and brought later epics such as “55 Days at Peking” and “The Fall of the Roman Empire” to the screen focusing on utilizing the best set designers, writers, actors and directors in bringing these historical epics to the screen. While many producers would produce films that were just this side of cheese, Bronston’s films were marked by their fierce intelligence, well developed characters and epic production values. ***

Rodrgio Diaz de Vivar (Charlton Heston) fights to reunite Spain in the face of challenges from the Moors and even the royals that he often serves. When the father of his fiancée Chimene (Sophia Loren) dies in a dual after accusing Rodrgio of treason for showing clemency to some of his foes, he alienates Chimene who vows revenge. Ultimate the two are married but peace is impossible for Rodgrige as he continues to fight the Moors and various plots to destroy his attempt to unite the Christian kingdoms of Spain. ---

Image & Sound:

“El Cid” has had a problematic history on home video. This is its first appearance on DVD primarily because of issues with a decent looking film source. While this isn’t a perfect presentation of the film (the negative is still missing evidently) and is drawn from a secondary source, the colors are robust and the image free of damage. The main flaw is that the images are a bit soft at times due to the aging of the inter-positive used as a source. Nevertheless, “El Cid” probably hasn’t looked this good on home video at all before and certainly not this clean since its road show presentation in 1961. ***

The audio has been enhanced with a bold and beautiful sounding Dolby Digital soundtrack that highlights the lovely score by Miklos Rozsa and nice use of the Surround speakers in this original mix from the road show version of the film. ---

Unlike a lot of DVDs, this version comes complete with a replica of the 1961 sourvenir booklet that was available for those that went to see the roadshow verson of the film. We also get a booklet that includes a reproduction of the original Dell Comic Book that was a tie-in with the film as well as reproductions of the original lobby cards. Director Martin Scorsese provides a brief introduction in the booklet but accurately captures the elusive quality that makes “El Cid” a special and worthwhile epic. ***

The bulk of the special features on DVD are located on disc two. Disc one, however, also has some nice extras. We get a commentary by Bill Bronston the son of the producer discussing the film’s production and history along with Samuel Bronston’s biographer Neal M. Rosendorf. ***

We also get vintage radio interviews done by Charlton & Lydia Heston and Sophia Loren to promote the film. We also get a solid still gallery as well as a filmographies for key members of the cast and crew. ***

Disc two features a number of terrific featurettes on everything from screenwriter Phil Yordan (WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE), vintage interviews with Heston and a trailer gallery. “Hollywood Conquers Spain” focuses on the making of the film while “Behind the Camera” and The Epic Journey of A Dreamer” focuses respectively on the great film director Anthony Mann and producer Bronston. Even composer Miklos Rozsa gets his own featurette focusing on his contribution to cinema and this film. Finally we “Preseving Our Legacy” a featurette on the restoration of the film and the importance of preserving the classic films made during the 20th century. ---

Final Words: