El halcón de Castilla

This Paella adventure is filled with swashbuckling , thrills , intrigue , and spectacular sword-play . It is starred by the ¨Hawk of Castile¨ with German Cobos as as the dashing masked avenger . It is set in city of Toledo , there appears Don Diego De Mendoza (German Cobos) , a wealthy ¨Indiano¨ who disappeared by a shipwreck many years ago . Don Diego befriends Acunia (Álvaro de Luna) and his adopted daughter Margarita (Nuria Torray) who falls in love for him . Don Diego poses as a foppish and rich aristocrat but the takes a secret identity , disguising as the "The Hawk of Castile" to combat enemies . He faces off the governor , Don Galcerán de Guzmán (Mariano Vidal Molina) who has stolen his father's state . Meanwhile , the ¨Falcon¨ along with his band attack a convoy carrying a cache of gold . When Don Diego's friends become targets in this struggle , the full revenge of ¨Hawk of Castile¨ will be unveiled.

Amusing adventure movie , plenty of action , thrills , colorful cinematography , luxurious costumes ; all meld together under Jose Maria Elorrieta's mediocre direction . Although the story has been told before , ordinary filmmaking and nice acting win out , but it results in an average adventure flick . It is a combination of overwhelming sword-play and full of villainy , romance , swashbuckler and heroism . Fun acting by German Cobos as an adventurer who uses all kind of shrewdness in order to destroy his enemy , the governor , well played by Mariano Vidal Molina . Producer and director took advantage of the marvelous medieval city of Toledo and shooting a hastily assembled attractive picture . In the movie appears usual support actors of the sixties such as Jose Canalejas , Dyanik Zurakowska , Julio Perez Tabernero , Angel Ter , Alfonso De La Vega , Frank Braña , and Alvaro De Luna ; all of them starred a lot of Spaghetti/Paella Western .

This is a good-natured Eastmancolor and Cinemascope romp with glamorous cinematography from Alfonso Nieva , though a perfect remastering being necessary because of the copy is washed-out ; in addition an evocative musical score by Fernando Garcia Morcillo . The motion picture was middlingly directed by Jose Maria Elorrieta , a craftsman who had already filmed other adventures . He was a writer and director, known for Rosa de Lima (1961), Muchachas En Vacaciones (1958) and many other films until his early death at 53 . Spanish writer/filmmaker Jose Maria Elorrieta so consistently mixed the good with the mediocre that it became quite impossible to know what to expect from him next . As Elorrieta had prolific career , working from the 40s to 70s he directed all kind of genres such as Terror : ¨Escalofrío Diabólico¨, ¨La LLamada Del Vampiro¨, ¨El Espectro del Terror¨, ¨Las Amantes Del Diablo¨; Western : ¨Los Siete De Pancho Villa¨, Fuerte Perdido¨ with German Cobos , and adventures as ¨La Muchacha Del Nilo¨, ¨Conquistadores Del Pacifico¨, El Tesoro de Makuba¨, ¨La Esclava Del Paraíso¨ and this ¨Hawk of Castile¨. Rating : 5 , mediocre adventure movie , entertaining stuff that provides audience amusement . Enjoyable but ordinary production packs enough thrills , breathtaking fights , tempestuous romance and exciting situations for a good time . It will appeal to Eurotrash fans and adventure movies aficionados .