Of dubious historical accuracy (many of the events depicted in the film were taken from the medieval poem "Ley of the Cid," most of which were not corroborated by court records of the time) but gorgeous to look at, Charlton Heston plays Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar (a.k.a. The Cid), the very embodiment of the chivalrous knight. On the way to his wedding to the tempestuous Chemene (played by the never-lovelier Sophia Loren), he captures two Moorish emirs who have been involved with the burning of a Spanish village. Rather than release them to the custody of King Ferdinand for hanging, he spares their lives and is accused of treason. When Rodrigo's father objects, the father of the bride besmirches the honor of the family, and Rodrigo is forced to fight the father of his love and reluctantly kill him. While she plots to gain revenge on her former fiancée, he becomes the King's champion and in the King's favor, demands and receives Chemene's hand in marriage. She can't bring herself to thoroughly hate him - talk about conflicted. Still, things go from bad to worse when Ferdinand dies and he divides his kingdom among his children Sancho, Alfonso and Urraca (in reality, Ferdinand had five children). When Sancho decides he wants all or nothing, he arrests Alfonso and sends him to prison, but El Cid rescues him, believing it morally wrong. As a result, civil war breaks out but before things get really awful, the devious Urraca arranges for Sancho to be assassinated. At Alfonso's coronation, a suspicious Rodrigo forces Alfonso to swear an oath that he had nothing to do with Sancho's death. Enraged, Alfonso takes the oath and then exiles El Cid, but the knight proves to be so popular among the people that an entire army is raised to follow him. When the evil Ben Yussuf (a nearly unrecognizable Herbert Lom) invades Spain, El Cid fights bravely to take Valencia despite Alfonso's tendency towards utter idiocy and it is from there that the knight literally rides into the stuff of legend.

Gorgeously photographed in Spain and Italy with one of the most beautiful scores by Miklos Rosza, this is the kind of epic that has recently made a comeback thanks to CGI. No CGI here, however - there is literally a cast of thousands (and LOTS of horses) in medieval armor whacking away at one another. The story is at times convoluted and the dialog a little over the top, it is nonetheless truly enjoyable, a forgotten epic that in a kinder world would be considered up there with Lawrence of Arabia and Ben-Hur. It is difficult to find nowadays, and the rental copy I saw on DVD had a terrible soundtrack. Still, it is worth seeking out.

Incidentally, on a personal note, I originally was interested in the movie because my family is descended from the great Spanish knight.