4GEMWORKS COMPLETE FOUR COLOR EMPORIUM
Four Color 1259

COMIC DETAILS

Comic Description: Four Color #1259 Universal
Grade: 7.5
Page Quality: OFF-WHITE TO WHITE
Pedigree: File Copy
Certification #: 0255869014
Owner: 4GEMWORKS

SET DETAILS

Winning Set: 4GEMWORKS COMPLETE FOUR COLOR EMPORIUM
Date Added: 4/23/2015
Research: See CGC's Census Report for this Comic

Owner's Description

El Cid 1961 File Copy Adapted from the 1961 Allied Artists movie "Samuel Bronston's El Cid."

Photo Cover: Rodrigo Diaz De Bivar [El Cid] (photo of Charlton Heston)
Pencils & Inks: Gerald McCann

Table of Contents
0. Samuel Bronston's El Cid

1. El Cid

2. Samuel Bronston's El Cid

3. The Moors

4. El Cid

Wikipedia furnishes a good deal of background on the movie this comic book was based on. Portions follow:

El Cid is a 1961 historical epic film, a romanticized story of the life of the Christian Castilian knight Don Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, called "El Cid" (from the Arabic as-sidi, meaning "The Lord"), who, in the 11th century, fought the North African Almoravides and ultimately contributed to the unification of Spain. The film stars Charlton Heston in the title role and Sophia Loren as Doña Ximena.
Made by Samuel Bronston Productions in association with Dear Film Production and released in the United States by Allied Artists, the film was directed by Anthony Mann and produced by Samuel Bronston with Jaime Prades and Michal Waszynski as associate producers. The screenplay was by Philip Yordan, Ben Barzman and Fredric M. Frank from a story by Frank. The music score was by Miklós Rózsa, the cinematography by Robert Krasker and the editing by Robert Lawrence. The film had its World Premiere at the Metropole Theatre, Victoria, London on December 6th 1961.
Plot
General Ibn (pronounced Ben) Yusuf (Herbert Lom) of the Almoravid dynasty has summoned all the Emirs of Al-Andalus to North Africa and chastises them for their complacency in dealing with the infidels and reveals his plan for Islamic world domination.
Later, while on the way to meet his bride-to-be Doña Ximena (Sophia Loren), our hero Don Rodrigo, El Cid (Charlton Heston), becomes involved in a battle against a Moorish army. Two of the Emirs, Al-Mu'tamin (Douglas Wilmer) of Zaragoza and Al-Kadir (Frank Thring) of Valencia, are captured, but Rodrigo releases them on condition that they pledge never again to attack King Ferdinand of Castile's (Ralph Truman) lands. The Emirs proclaim him "El Cid" (the Castillian Spanish pronunciation of the Arabic for Lord: "Al Sidi") and swear allegiance to him.
For this act of mercy, Don Rodrigo is accused of treason against the King by Count Ordóñez (Raf Vallone), and later by Ximena's father, Count Gormaz (Andrew Cruickshank). Rodrigo's father, Don Diego (Michael Hordern), calls Count Ordóñez a liar. Ordóñez strikes Don Diego, effectivly challenging the old man to a duel.
On the death of King Ferdinand, his elder son, Prince Sancho (Gary Raymond), becomes king. The younger son, Prince Alfonso (John Fraser), also desires the throne; their sister, Princess Urraca (Geneviève Page) has Sancho assassinated. At Alfonso's coronation, El Cid has him swear upon the Bible that he had no part in the death of his brother. Since he had no part in it (as his sister was responsible), he swears, and has Rodrigo banished for his impudence. Ximena's love for El Cid is rekindled. She chooses banishment with him…
…Rodrigo, El Cid, dies, and so his body is secured upon his horse and sent out at the head of his army with King Alfonso and Emir Al-Mu'tamin riding on either side. When Yusuf's army see him with his eyes still open, they believe that El Cid's ghost has come back from the dead. Babieca, his horse, tramples on and kills Ben Yusuf, who is too terrified to fight. The invading North African army is smashed. King Alfonso leads Christians and Moors in a prayer "for the purest knight of all".
Reception
The movie earned $12 million in North American rentals.[6]
Upon the release of El Cid, Bosley Crowther wrote "it is hard to remember a picture — not excluding Henry V, Ivanhoe, Helen of Troy and, naturally, Ben-Hur — in which scenery and regal rites and warfare have been so magnificently assembled and photographed as they are in this dazzler… The pure graphic structure of the pictures, the imposing arrangement of the scenes, the dynamic flow of the action against strong backgrounds, all photographed with the 70mm color camera and projected on the Super-Technirama screen, give a grandeur and eloquence to this production that are worth seeing for themselves".[5] Crowther also pointed out that while "the spectacle is terrific the human drama is stiff and dull".
Sophia Loren had a major issue with Bronston's promotion of the film, an issue important enough to her that Loren sued Bronston for breach of contract in New York Supreme Court. As Time described it:[3]
On a 600-sq.-ft. billboard facing south over Manhattan's Times Square, Sophia Loren's name appears in illuminated letters that could be read from an incoming liner, but—Mamma mia!—that name is below Charlton Heston's. In the language of the complaint: "If the defendants are permitted to place deponent's name below that of Charlton Heston, then it will appear that deponent's status is considered to be inferior to that of Charlton Heston… It is impossible to determine or even to estimate the extent of the damages which the plaintiff will suffer."
The film is a favorite of Martin Scorsese, who called it "one of the greatest epic films ever made."[7] Scorsese was one of the major forces behind a 1993 restoration and re-release of El Cid.[8]
Awards and nominations
El Cid was nominated for three Academy Awards, for Best Art Direction (Veniero Colasanti, John Moore), Original Music Score for Miklós Rózsa and Best Song.[9]
It was also nominated for three Golden Globe Awards for Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Motion Picture Director (Anthony Mann), and Best Motion Picture Score (Miklós Rózsa). Samuel Bronston won the 1962 Special Merit Award.
Some data courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under a Creative Commons Attribution license. http://www.comics.org/
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode
http://www.comics.org/issue/16676/
 
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