Captain From Castile [VHS]
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VHS Movie Reviews of Captain From Castile [VHS]
Movie Review: Two-thirds of a great movie
Summary: 3 Stars
Following exiled Spaniard Tyrone Power's adventures with Cortez and the Conquistadores in the New World after a jealous rival reports his family to the Inquisition and tortures his young sister to death, Captain From Castile is one of those deceptively lavish swashbucklers that promise more than it ever delivers. Despite a 141-minute running time, a huge budget, a good cast, great locations and one of the greatest scores ever written for any movie, it still feels like it's only just getting started when it suddenly ends - which it is, since the spectacular last half of Samuel Shellabarger's doorstop novel never made the screenplay, let alone the cameras. Yet even without that knowledge, the final sequence feels more like a rousing sequence to lead into an intermission and leave the audience hungry for more rather than a satisfying grand finale in itself. After such a buildup, ending the story before Cortez gets to meet Moctezuma, let alone steals and destroys his kingdom, is a terrible anticlimax, especially since the novel goes on to paint his battles in particularly vivid strokes. It's as if William Wyler decided to end Ben-Hur with his hero thinking it might be an idea to challenge his mortal enemy to a chariot race some day or ending a film about the Titanic long before the iceberg is even sighted.
Rather than sensitivity for the Aztec culture he destroyed, the reason seems to be more dictated more by finances than conscience: having spent a reputed $4.8m on a difficult Mexican shoot in many of the then still fairly inaccessible locations Cortez marched through, spending another $4m wasn't an attractive prospect, especially since both the censors and the Catholic Legion of Decency had made clear they found huge sections of the book unacceptable, necessitating heavy rewrites before it could go into production. As it was, the film failed to recoup its cost, though a more satisfying ending might have improved matters a bit.
Yet as much as the film disappoints on a first viewing, a second time around it's easier to see its strengths and enjoy it as a lavishly produced period melodrama. True, it misses the irony of the hero's road from vengeance to spiritual redemption being found on a purely mercenary quest for riches, but Cesar Romero's Cortez is never presented as anything other than a jovial pirate, pure and simple: the more the Aztecs try to bribe him to go home, the more he gleefully realizes they have to steal if he carries on. The Technicolor photography is certainly handsome and the location work pays off (even providing a real volcanic eruption in the background of the final scene to match one that happened during Cortez' march) even if most of the movie is just a long walk through Mexico with more intrigue than action. Best of all is Alfred Newman's incredible score and its rousing Conquest theme, truly music to conquer the world to that's so stirring that you'll want to give up the day job and conquer a third world country and enslave its population yourself.
The Region 1 NTSC disc has a glorious color transfer with a good selection of extras - audio commentary, featurette on Tyrone Power's Leading Ladies, stills and advertising gallery, original theatrical trailer and an isolated score track for Alfred Newman's superb score.
Movie Review: Great Movie!!
Summary: 4 Stars
I've always liked this movie as it has a excellent music sound track. Being able to get it on DVD just made it better. The only draw back was the soundtrack wasn't in stereo which was a bit of a disappointment.Movie Review: Great movie
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an old movie that I remember from way back. The DVD is excellent; the story is wonderful. I highly recommend everyone see it.Movie Review: Captain from Castile is the best ever
Summary: 5 Stars
I am so happy to be able to watch parts of the movie and listen to the music at any time. I have watched this movie dozens of times since it first appeared on TV. Cesar Romero and Tyrone Power, even Jay Silverheels have never been better. Jean Peters is beautiful. The music is powerful. Everything about the movie is terrific. It was thought provoking to me as a kid by depicting the Inquisition in Spain and into the New World. Among other things, it is a history lesson, skewed toward the Spanish of course.Movie Review: Film even more entertaining than book
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm an avid reader and, in most cases, the rendering of a book into film leaves much to be desired. Generally speaking, the movie is far weaker than the novel. There are numerous reasons for this but one of the reasons is that the reader can use his imagination--read between the lines--whereas a movie is "in your face" offerring few opportunities for mental imagery.
This movie is, in my opinion, a real exception. As much as I love the novel, "Captain from Castile", I think the screen play is better. The writers decided to emphasize the romance between Pedro and Catana and it was the right decision. Part of the reason for this was probably financial. Even in 1948 it would have cost a great fortune to reconstruct great Aztec edifices and assemble Indian armies of thousands. The writers opted for the less expensive option of a few small structures and a beautiful love story.
The scene where Catana takes her knife... Well, if you haven't seen the film, I won't spoil it.
Ron Braithwaite author of novels on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico, "Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"