Captain from Castile (1947)
Country: US
Technical: col 140m
Director: Henry King
Cast: Tyrone Power, Jean Peters, Lee J. Cobb
Synopsis:
16th century Spain: fleeing the inquisition, a young squire joins Cortez's Mexican expedition, along with his best friend and doting servant girl.
Review:
Long and good-looking Fox spectacular, which cannot make up its mind between epic and swashbuckler, and founders somewhere in between. Along the way there is a good early appearance from Cobb, Peters in figure-hugging Spanish blouses, and colourful Mexican locations. Having adopted a more or less jingoistic, 'death to Aztecs-New World up for grabs' attitude, the film then wisely ends before the actual slaughtering business of the conquest gets under way. There is an uneasy balance between condemnation of the inquisition and this pragmatic espousal of the cause of bloodthirsty capitalism, and at times there seems to be a liberal conscience struggling to get out (an Indian is saved by, and then saves, Power), but all this is lost in the damningly glorifying final shot of Cortez and his men.
Country: US
Technical: col 140m
Director: Henry King
Cast: Tyrone Power, Jean Peters, Lee J. Cobb
Synopsis:
16th century Spain: fleeing the inquisition, a young squire joins Cortez's Mexican expedition, along with his best friend and doting servant girl.
Review:
Long and good-looking Fox spectacular, which cannot make up its mind between epic and swashbuckler, and founders somewhere in between. Along the way there is a good early appearance from Cobb, Peters in figure-hugging Spanish blouses, and colourful Mexican locations. Having adopted a more or less jingoistic, 'death to Aztecs-New World up for grabs' attitude, the film then wisely ends before the actual slaughtering business of the conquest gets under way. There is an uneasy balance between condemnation of the inquisition and this pragmatic espousal of the cause of bloodthirsty capitalism, and at times there seems to be a liberal conscience struggling to get out (an Indian is saved by, and then saves, Power), but all this is lost in the damningly glorifying final shot of Cortez and his men.
Country: US
Technical: col 140m
Director: Henry King
Cast: Tyrone Power, Jean Peters, Lee J. Cobb
Synopsis:
16th century Spain: fleeing the inquisition, a young squire joins Cortez's Mexican expedition, along with his best friend and doting servant girl.
Review:
Long and good-looking Fox spectacular, which cannot make up its mind between epic and swashbuckler, and founders somewhere in between. Along the way there is a good early appearance from Cobb, Peters in figure-hugging Spanish blouses, and colourful Mexican locations. Having adopted a more or less jingoistic, 'death to Aztecs-New World up for grabs' attitude, the film then wisely ends before the actual slaughtering business of the conquest gets under way. There is an uneasy balance between condemnation of the inquisition and this pragmatic espousal of the cause of bloodthirsty capitalism, and at times there seems to be a liberal conscience struggling to get out (an Indian is saved by, and then saves, Power), but all this is lost in the damningly glorifying final shot of Cortez and his men.