Captain from Castile

Tyrone Power in the type of role he made his own,supported by an excellent Cesar Romero as Cortez. The music by Alfred Newman and the direction together with the competent performance by the entire cast makes this film a most satisfying experience.I doubt whether there are any actors today who can emulate the style and screen presence of Power. The film script is likewise crisp and to the point.The movie is a rarity in that it does not fail the novel from which it was adapted.

Tyrone Power is a nobleman forced to flee his home during the Spanish Inquisition. A series of adventures follow featuring a beautiful peasant girl (Jean Peters) who escapes with him. Both of them are hunted by an evil officer (John Sutton) and later all are involved in following Cortez on his expedition to Mexico.

Swordplay, battle scenes, triumphal marches and a bittersweet love story combine to make this the kind of adventure-romance Tyrone Power inevitably found himself in at Fox. The color photography is gorgeous and the music, by Alfred Newman, is outstanding, ranging from tender love themes to dances and the march for Cortez. It's lavish entertainment on a grand scale--with just a few slow stretches--but all in all guaranteed to give you satisfying entertainment.

Parents beware: the Inquisition scenes are realistic and there are scenes of brutality not advisable for the very young.

The first time I saw a version of "Captain from Castile" was on a black and white TV in the late Fifties and it became one of my favorite films which I have seen at least ten times and will continue to pull it out. It was a pleasant surprise to see the full version in color as I thought it was shot in black and white

This doesn't have the spectacular effects of today's films. It is just an excellent "old school" adventure film which deals with honor and loyalty which are pretty much lacking in today's films. It fired my young imagination and encouraged me to read the book by Samuel Shellabarger upon which it was based.

It has a wonderful cast including Ty Power, Jean Peters, Lee J. Cobb, John Sutton, Caesar Romero, and a lot of veterans in minor rolls including Jay Silverheels (Tonto). Alfred Newman's score is good.

Power was great as usual and Jean Peters turns in an excellent performance -- this was her first film.

Much of the film was shot in Mexico following the actual route that Cortez followed when he was conquering the Aztecs. (Check out the live volcano in the background that was erupting while the film was shot. That ain't a painted background.)

I highly recommend this film especially if you haven't seen a Tyrone Power film because this is one of his best.

The Spanish inquisition and the invasion of Cortez into Mexico - Henry King style!

A film firmly split in two halves, Captain From Castile may at times over stretch its aims on the, but the sweepingly gorgeous texture is quite something to behold. Tyrone Power takes up the lead role of Pedro De Vargas and firmly cements his star status with a wonderful performance, handsome and brave, he carries the film easily on its joyous course from Spain to Mexico, whilst stoic male support comes from Cesar Romero (Cortez and never better), Lee J. Cobb (Juan Garcia) and John Sutton (Diego De Silva). Head female duty falls to a vibrantly young Jean Peters (in her film debut) as Catana Perez, pretty and beguiling, her gorgeous green eyes shining bright in this Technicolor spectacle, she is the perfect foil to Power's dash and swagger.

Production costs are thought to have been over $4 million, yet even though the film sadly lost money, the money spent is still evident at every turn and it proved to be very popular with critics and film lovers alike. Director Henry King wonderfully utilises the panoramic vistas of the Mexican locale and the costumes come right out of the top draw, but one of the most striking things in this magnificent production is the score from Alfred Newman. Stirring and emotionally hard, it has to rank as one of the best scores to have ever been composed. I strongly recommend the isolated score option on the excellent Region 1 DVD. It's a far from perfect film for sure (the no battle pay-off at the finale is a great disappointment), but the harking back to old historical days of yore can induce a tingle on the spine, and in that respect the piece delivers handsomely. Just like its leading man ironically enough. 8/10

There are many pleasant surprises in this epic movie. For one, it was filmed in spectacular Technicolor and was superbly photographed in actual locations. Piramids were built, volcanoes were erupting for real and ancient ship replicas were destroyed at sea. One of the main surprises was seeing that the beautiful Jean Peters could act. This actress without much dramatic training did an excellent job in her movie debut. She practically steals the picture from Tyrone Power - Impossible? She does, and he's very good in this one. See her last scene, while waiting to move deeper into Mexico with Cortez; it's a treasure. I became a fan after seeing Miss Peters in the pirate flick "Anne of the Indies" (she plays 'the pirate'), and have seen most of her movies since. It's a shame Fox didn't use her talents in better fares, such as Susan Hayward's "I Want to Live", but then Howard Hughes came into the picture while she was doing Castille and, I imagine, his obsession over her beauty ruined a promising career. This film is partly based on true events and has an excellent cast, a fantastic screenplay and a musical score by Arthur Newman that rivals any other composed for anepic flick -then and even now. It's on DVD now. Get it before they become extinct. It's worth seeing. Beautiful vistas, a handsome Ty Power and a gorgeous Jean Peters.