Product Description

Forced to flee his home during the Spanish Inquisition, nobleman Pedro De Vargas escapes with a beautiful peasant girl and joins Cortz on his dangerous expedition to conquer Mexico, as the young couple fall deeply in love, Pedro's great courage brings his leader honor and glory with every challenge, even as an evil officer threatens the success of the entire expedition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29536 in DVD
• Brand: POWER,TYRONE
• Released on: 2007-05-01
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .30 pounds
• Running time: 140 minutes

Amazon.com
Fox honcho Darryl F. Zanuck pulled out all the stops for this expensive 1947 film, which welcomed Tyrone Power back to the world of costume adventures after his World War II service. Power plays Pedro de Vargas, victim of the Spanish Inquisition, who flees to the New World under the flag of the Cortez expedition. This kind of story would have been made in the studio before the war, but the postwar craze for location shooting gives the movie a real visual sweep (it also ballooned the budget to a reported $4.6 million, a huge tab for the era). The Mexican locations are excellent throughout, with the real coup in final section, shot under the shadow (sometimes literally) of an actual erupting volcano--a marvelous real-life effect that director Henry King uses as often as possible.

King worked often with Power, and their shared foursquare approach makes the film satisfying, if rarely exhilarating. The moral complexities of a foreign invasion are dealt with only obliquely, and mostly in Vargas's conversations with an Indian native (nice small role for future Tonto, Jay Silverheels). Romance comes from a Spanish peasant girl who tags along for the journey; she's played, in her film debut, by Jean Peters, who would eventually marry Howard Hughes. Peters had won a beauty contest and a trip to Hollywood, and promptly landed the lead in Captain from Castile; in some shots she's an absolute knockout, in others a plain-faced girl out of her depth. Filling in the story are John Sutton's ice-cold villain, Lee J. Cobb's lusty treasure-seeker, and Cesar Romero's bearded, grandiose Cortez (one of the juiciest roles in Romero's long career). Tyrone Power had completed two offbeat projects at Fox after returning from WWII, The Razor's Edge and Nightmare Alley, so strapping on the doublet and hose was a way of paying back Zanuck. It worked--the movie was a hit--even if Power sometimes chafed at the doublet. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Power Shines in Conquistador Saga...
It's a shame that 20th Century Fox has yet to have released DVD editions of many of the films of the studio's biggest star, Tyrone Power. Almost impossibly handsome, enormously popular, and with excellent acting credentials, Power nearly singlehandedly kept the studio solvent in the traumatic transition years following WWII, with costume epics like "Captain from Castile" showcasing his strengths.

"Castile" echoes Power's earlier films, "The Mark of Zorro" and "Son of Fury", as again he plays a gallant standing against an arrogant aristocratic class, but this time he runs afoul of the Inquisition, and must flee Spain to re-establish his wealth and reputation, accompanied by loyal friend Lee J. Cobb, and a servant girl who secretly adores him (Jean Peters, in one of her best performances). Recruited into the service of the charismatic Hernando Cortez (Cesar Romero, who nearly steals the film), it's off to Aztlan (Mexico, today) with a small army to face the overwhelming but naive Aztec civilization.

While the film frequently drifts into melodrama, shooting on location in Mexico (with the permission and support of the Mexican government), in glorious Technicolor, gives even the most mundane moments a sense of spectacle, and the cast is in top form. Worth singling out is a terrific supporting performance by Thomas Gomez, as a soldier/priest who dispenses common sense as well as religion, and helps Power realize that the woman he truly loves is not on a balcony, in Spain, but beside him, as they march towards their destiny.

Two aspects of the film deserve special recognition; Alfred Newman's score, featuring the vaulting 'Conquest' march, is one of the finest of his long career, and is even more popular today than when the film was released; and Arthur E. Arling and Charles G. Clarke's cinematography is truly magnificent, particularly in the breathtaking finale, as Cortez' forces proudly march across a broad plain, with active volcanoes in the backround. Never has going 'on location' been more justified, as the image is unforgettable!

If any 'Powers that Be' are reading this review, PLEASE offer this film on DVD, soon! And while you're at it, consider Power's other great films of the 40s and 50s; he deserves to be 'rediscovered' by audiences, today...

A COLOURFUL SWASHBUCKLER!
One of the last great Technicolor swashbucklers, this is a fine example of a big-budgeted forties historical-adventure film. Notice that the film credits include an acknowledgement to the Mexican Government for their advice and cooperation in the reenactment of historical sequences. Near Jaen, Spain, in the year 1518, young nobleman Pedro de Vargas is riding through the countryside when he encounters Diego de Silva in pursuit of a runaway slave. Pedro offers to help search for the runaway, and while scouring the hills, he is attacked by the slave, Coatl. As soon as Coatl recognises Pedro as an old friend, however, he desists, then shows Pedro she scars he bears from the cruel de Silva's whip and declares that he would choose death over surrender...In December of 1944, 2Oth Century Fox purchased Samuel Shellabarger's novel for an astonishing 1OO grand. Originally, Linda Darnell was to have been Cantana & Fredric March Cortez. The shooting schedule lasted over three months, 83 of those days were spent shooting on location in Mexico. Nearly 2O,OOO native Mexican and Indian extras were used in the crowd scenes. This lavish Technicolor spectacle cost 4.5 million dollars & the Alfred Newman score won an AA nomination.

One of the Great Action/Adventure Films
This is truly one of the great swashbuckling, action/adventure films of all time. All the actors, Tyrone Power, (the gorgeous) Jean Peters and Cesar Romero are at their best. Beautiful color and a generally good script. At one point it was out on LaserDisc, however, there were problems with it. The folks who control such things really ought to put this wonderful film out on DVD now! It is amazing to me how great films such as this languish in vaults, and yet we see piles of worthless junk on DVD counters in every store.

Message to those in charge: We do not need more blood splattering and squirting two-bit horror films. We need classics such as this and many others which have been neglected over the years. Perhaps an executive with good taste would be a welcome change in the DVD manufacturing business.