Captain from Castile
Encyclopedia
Captain from Castile is an action historical drama and swashbuckler
film released by 20th Century Fox
in 1947. Directed by Henry King
, the Technicolor
film starred Tyrone Power
, Jean Peters
, and Cesar Romero
. Shot on location in Michoacán
, Mexico
, the film includes scenes of the Parícutin
volcano, which was then erupting. Captain from Castile was the feature film debut of actress Jean Peters
, who later married industrialist Howard Hughes
, and of Mohawk
actor Jay Silverheels
, who later portrayed Tonto on the television series The Lone Ranger
.
The film is an adaptation of the 1945 best-selling novel Captain From Castile
, by Samuel Shellabarger
. The film's story covers the first half of the historical epic, describing the protagonist's persecution at the hands of the Spanish Inquisition
and his escape to the New World
to join Hernán Cortés
in an expedition to conquer Mexico
.
In his introduction to the 2002 re-issue of the novel, Pulitzer Prize
-winning critic Jonathan Yardley
described the merits of the film as:
, Pedro de Vargas (Tyrone Power
), a Castilian
caballero
, helps a runaway Aztec
slave, Coatl (Jay Silverheels
), escape his cruel master, Diego de Silva (John Sutton
). De Silva is el supremo of the Santa Hermandad
, charged with enforcing the Inquisition, and a rival of Pedro's for the affections of the beautiful Lady Luisa de Carvajal (Barbara Lawrence). Suspecting Pedro of aiding Coatl, and aware that Pedro's influential father Don Francisco de Vargas (Antonio Moreno
) opposes the abuses of the Santa Hermandad, de Silva uses his office to persecute Pedro and his family as heretics
. In the process, de Silva murders Pedro's young sister during torture
using the strappado
. Pedro turns the tables on de Silva, duping him into renouncing God
before running him through with a sword. Pedro frees his mother and father and aids them in escaping Spain. Pedro is a fugitive, believing he has murdered de Silva, unaware that a rib deflected his blade, and wanders Andalusia
to evade capture. Along the way Pedro befriends a young, barefoot barmaid wench
at an inn, Catana Pérez (Jean Peters), and an acquaintance, Juan García (Lee J. Cobb
), a rogue just back from the New World
. Juan is also a fugitive from the Santa Hermandad for murdering his own mother
to save her from further torture on the rack
.
Juan pleads for Pedro and Catana to join him in journeying back to Cuba
, where Hernán Cortéz
(Cesar Romero
) is said to captain an expedition to plunder great wealth in Mexico
. Pedro agrees in hopes of exonerating himself and his family. He meets Cortéz, learns that his and Pedro's father were friends, and that Cortéz is something of a renegade
, defying attempts by the governor of Cuba, Diego Velázquez, to replace him as captain of the expedition. Pedro confides in Father Bartolomé (Thomas Gomez
), the spiritual adviser to the expedition, about the events in Spain. He places himself in Father Bartolomé's hands, only to learn that he had already received orders from the Santa Hermandad to arrest Pedro. On the strength of Pedro's willing confession, Father Bartolomé tears up the orders and gives Pedro a penance
in praying for the soul of de Silva.
The expedition lands at Villa Rica
in Mexico. Cortéz is greeted by ambassadors from the emperor Montezuma
, along with warnings to leave Mexico, but is determined to conquer the Aztecs. Several of his captains, recruited from Governor Velázquez's officers, voice their opposition to his plan of conquest and colonization. Catana reveals to Juan that she is in love with Pedro, as hopeless as that situation seems because of their difference in station and his love for the Lady Luisa. Pedro, however, confesses to her that he has fallen in love with her, too, and asks her to marry him. Cortéz leaves his ships and marches inland to Cempoala
, where he receives a gift of gem
s from another Aztec delegation. He gives Pedro a chance to prove his worth by placing him in charge of the detail guarding the gems in a teocalli
. Pedro leaves his post, however, when Juan becomes drunk and threatens to murder anyone who comes near him. Cortéz accuses Pedro of the theft of the gems. When Pedro proves that the theft was accomplished using a hidden door into the teocalli, and not his complicity or negligence, Cortéz gives him 24 hours to recover the gems. Pedro tracks the thieves, the captains opposing Cortéz, back to Villa Rica and the ship Gallega, where he learns that they plied Juan with pulque
to lure Pedro from his duty. He recovers the gems, although seriously wounded in the head by a crossbow
bolt
.
Cortéz promotes Pedro to captain. He enlists his captains to burn their ships, to end the temptation for the weak-minded to retreat. They march on to Cholula
, where Coatl is present as a member of another delegation. Coatl vows loyalty to Pedro but warns that he will fight him if necessary to prevent the enslavement of his people. The delegation, headed by the royal prince, threatens the expedition with annihilation, but when Cortez protests that he has no ships, the prince reveals that more have arrived. Cortéz realizes that Velázquez has sent a force to hang him. Cortez divides his force, taking half to attack Villa Rica, leaving Pedro in command of the garrison at Cholulu. Catana tells Juan that she is pregnant with Pedro's child. Cortéz returns victorious, bringing with him hundreds of men of the governor's force persuaded to join him, and also Diego de Silva, the King's emissary who has come to introduce the Santa Hermandad to Mexico. Juan attacks de Silva and is put in chains. Father Bartolomé reminds Pedro of his vow, and Cortéz holds him personally responsible for de Silva's safety. That night de Silva is strangled and Pedro is sentenced to death for the murder. Just before the execution, Coatl confesses to Father Bartolomé that he killed de Silva, but before Pedro can be freed, Catana stabs him with a knife to spare him the degradation of being hanged. Pedro however recovers. A year after its landing, the expedition marches on the Aztec island capital.
, consulting with executive producer Darryl F. Zanuck
on the making of Captain from Castille, recommended a reunion of Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell
for the lead roles of Pedro and Catana. Power returned from service as a Marine Corps
aviator during World War II
and was available. Darnell was given the role of Catana, but appeared in two other projects while preparation for production was being completed. In the meantime Zanuck began filming of Forever Amber
with the inexperienced Peggy Cummins
in the title role, investing $1 million in the project before realizing it had become a disaster. Darnell was reassigned to save the project by replacing Cummins, and the role of Catana went to the then-unknown Jean Peters.
Other roles recommended by Mankiewicz but not cast were Fredric March
as Cortéz, José Ferrer
as Coatl, and Alan Reed
or William Bendix
to play Juan García.
The film made extensive use of Mexican inhabitants as extras. More than 19,500 took part in various scenes, with approximately 4,500 used in the final sequence filmed in front of Parícutin's smoking cinder cone.
,, after Fox chief Zanuck purchased the rights in December 1944 for $100,000. In February 1945, studio contract writer John Tucker Battle produced an outline, then completed a first draft script with Samuel Engel in May. Zanuck consulted Joseph L. Mankiewicz about concepts for the film. Mankiewicz wrote back to Zanuck in July that the historical background of Cortéz' conquest of Mexico had to be both accurate and unoffending to many groups of people. Mankiewicz also warned that the story would be tremendously expensive to film: "To do this picture ambitiously will cost a great deal of money. It will require Technicolor, a huge cast, great numbers of people, elaborate sets, costumes, props, locations etc. The script will take a long time to write—thorough research will be necessary."
The original scripts and storyline included a scene involving one of the novel's major characters and villains, the Dominican
fray
/Inquisitor Ignacio de Lora, to be played by British character actor John Burton. De Lora's character conducted the "examination" of the de Vargas family, tortured Juan Garcia's mother, and dispatched the order for Pedro's arrest to Cuba. Citing a December 15, 1947 New York Times article, one source attributes the excision of the scene to censorship
by the Rev. John J. Devlin, a representative of the National Legion of Decency
and advisor to the Motion Picture Association of America
, on the basis that the depiction of the Spanish Inquisition was unacceptable to the Catholic Church. After revision of the script "toned down" depictions of the Inquisition, changing its name from the Santa Casa (The Holy Office) to the Santa Hermandad, eliminating the auto de fe prominent in the book, and making the lay character of de Silva the chief Inquisitor, the script was permissible to Devlin.
Keeping the film at an acceptable length required moving events that took place in the book's second half, primarily the return of Coatl and demise of de Silva, forward to what became the film's finale. Followers of the novel have criticized the failure to include the second half, which features the expedition's battles with the Aztecs, Pedro's capture during the Noche Triste, his return to Spain and intrigue at the court of Charles V
, and Pedro's development from a callow youth of 19 to a mature gentleman. However, like the film adaptation of Northwest Passage, the film's length and severe costs limited inclusion to those aspects most desired by the producers. The script for similar reasons made minor alterations to relationships in the novel, eliminating Pedro's prior dalliances with Catana, helping Juan against the Inquisition before being persecuted, and combining the characters Humpback Nojara, surgeon Antonio Escobar, and Botello the Astrologer into a single person, "Professor Botello". Even so, the screenplay faithfully adapts the important plot elements and scenes from the novel.
Historically, the most barbaric atrocities of Cortéz are not depicted in the script. In particular, the slaughter of thousands of Aztecs in Cholula as a warning to Montezuma is instead shown as a single cannon shot demolishing an idol. The first review of the film in the New York Times noted that while the novel seemed written with a Technicolor movie in mind, that the action, horror, and bloodshed of the book were not translated to the film.
The script, while employing Spanish terminology and names where appropriate, also uses an undisclosed indigenous dialect (likely Nahuatl
) for dialogue involving the Aztecs, with the historical personage Doña Marina
(portrayed by Mexican actress Estela Inda) providing the translation as she did in real life. Other historically accurate characters portrayed were the mutineers
Juan Escudero (John Laurenz) and Diego Cermeño (Reed Hadley
), and the loyal Captains Pedro de Alvarado
(Roy Roberts
) and Gonzalo de Sandoval (Harry Carter).
. Acapulco
provided ocean and beach locations for scenes involving "Villa Rica" (Veracruz). In Michoacán, the hills around Morelia
depicted the countryside of Castile for the first half of the film, while extensive shooting took place near Uruapan
to depict the Mexican interior. There the volcano Parícutin
, which had erupted in 1943 and was still active, was featured in the background of many shots of the Cholulu (Cholula
) sequences. In 1519-1520, the volcano Popocatépetl
, just to the west of Cholula, had also been active while the Cortez expedition was present. The film's final scene, involving the movement of the expedition and its thousands of Indian
porters, was filmed on the edge of Parícutin's lava beds with the cinder cone
prominently nearby in the shot. The presence of the volcano, however, also proved to be expensive to production, since its ash cloud often made lighting conditions inconducive to filming.
Filming began November 25, 1946, and was completed on April 4, 1947. The film company spent 83 days in Mexico before returning to Hollywood to complete 33 days of studio filming, at a then "extravagant" cost of $4.5 million.
, Clarke's protogé Joseph LaShelle
also contributed to the filming of Captain from Castile. While LaShelle was noted for excellent black-and-white photography, particularly in film noir
, he had little experience with Technicolor
or location shooting. Clarke was competent at both. LaShelle's work in the film appears primarily in interior shots, notably in scenes at Pedro's home. Arling was mainly responsible for second unit
filming under assistant director Robert D. Webb
. On location, photography inside the temples proved difficult because of poor space for proper lighting and excessive heat that could degrade color film.
, Fox's longtime musical director, and was nominated for an Academy Award. Newman recorded excerpts from the musical score for 78 RPM records
(reportedly at his own expense), and donated his royalties to the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
. years after he re-recorded the score in stereo for Capitol Records
. In 1973, Charles Gerhardt
conducted a suite from the film for RCA Victor's tribute album to Newman, Captain from Castile; the quadraphonic recording was later reissued on CD.
Newman bestowed the rights to the film's spectacular march to the University of Southern California
to use as theme music for the school's football team. Popularly known as "Conquest," the march is regularly performed by its marching band, the Spirit of Troy
as a victory march. It is also the corps anthem of the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps
, which has performed the piece in their field show frequently in the past and continues to incorporate it occasionally in their field shows of the present.
as Pedro and Jean Peters reprising her role. An adaptation starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
was broadcast on the Screen Directors' Playhouse on May 3, 1951.
Swashbuckler
Swashbuckler or swasher is a term that emerged in the 16th century and has been used for rough, noisy and boastful swordsmen ever since. A possible explanation for this term is that it derives from a fighting style using a side-sword with a buckler in the off-hand, which was applied with much...
film released by 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
in 1947. Directed by Henry King
Henry King (director)
Henry King was an American film director.Before coming to film, King worked as an actor in various repertoire theatres, and first started to take small film roles in 1912. He directed for the first time in 1915, and grew to become one of the most commercially successful Hollywood directors of the...
, the Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
film starred Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
, Jean Peters
Jean Peters
Jean Peters was an American actress, known as a star of 20th Century Fox in the late 1940s and early 1950s and as the second wife of Howard Hughes...
, and Cesar Romero
Cesar Romero
Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...
. Shot on location in Michoacán
Michoacán
Michoacán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, the film includes scenes of the Parícutin
Paricutín
Parícutin is a cinder cone volcano in the Mexican state of Michoacán, close to a lava-covered village of the same name. It appears on many versions of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World...
volcano, which was then erupting. Captain from Castile was the feature film debut of actress Jean Peters
Jean Peters
Jean Peters was an American actress, known as a star of 20th Century Fox in the late 1940s and early 1950s and as the second wife of Howard Hughes...
, who later married industrialist Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
, and of Mohawk
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
actor Jay Silverheels
Jay Silverheels
Jay Silverheels was a Canadian Mohawk First Nations actor. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the faithful American Indian companion of the Lone Ranger in a long-running American television series. -Early life:...
, who later portrayed Tonto on the television series The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked Texas Ranger who, with his Native American companion Tonto, fights injustice in the American Old West. The character has become an enduring icon of American culture....
.
The film is an adaptation of the 1945 best-selling novel Captain From Castile
Captain from Castile (novel)
Captain from Castile is a historical adventure novel by author Samuel Shellabarger originally published in 1945.The novel relates the adventures of young Spanish nobleman Pedro de Vargas during the early years of the 16th century, focusing mainly on his mistreatment by the Spanish Inquistion, his...
, by Samuel Shellabarger
Samuel Shellabarger
Samuel Shellabarger was an American educator and author of both scholarly works and best-selling historical novels. He was born in Washington, D.C., on 18 May 1888, but his parents both died while he was a baby...
. The film's story covers the first half of the historical epic, describing the protagonist's persecution at the hands of the Spanish Inquisition
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...
and his escape to the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
to join Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...
in an expedition to conquer Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
In his introduction to the 2002 re-issue of the novel, Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning critic Jonathan Yardley
Jonathan Yardley
Jonathan Yardley is a book critic at The Washington Post, and at one time of the Washington Star. In 1981 he received the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.-Background and education:...
described the merits of the film as:
"a faithful adaptation that had all the necessary ingredients: an all-star cast, breathtaking settings and photography, a stirring score, and enough swashbuckling action to keep the Three Musketeers busy for years."
Plot
In the spring of 1518, near Jaén, SpainJaén, Spain
Jaén is a city in south-central Spain, the name is derived from the Arabic word Jayyan, . It is the capital of the province of Jaén. It is located in the autonomous community of Andalusia....
, Pedro de Vargas (Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
), a Castilian
Castile (historical region)
A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...
caballero
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
, helps a runaway Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
slave, Coatl (Jay Silverheels
Jay Silverheels
Jay Silverheels was a Canadian Mohawk First Nations actor. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the faithful American Indian companion of the Lone Ranger in a long-running American television series. -Early life:...
), escape his cruel master, Diego de Silva (John Sutton
John Sutton (actor)
John Sutton , who was born in Rawalpindi, British India , was actor of British parentage.-Filmography:*Rawhide as Lord Ashton...
). De Silva is el supremo of the Santa Hermandad
Hermandad
Hermandad, literally "brotherhood" in Spanish, was a peacekeeping association of armed individuals, which became characteristic of municipal life in medieval Spain, especially in Castile....
, charged with enforcing the Inquisition, and a rival of Pedro's for the affections of the beautiful Lady Luisa de Carvajal (Barbara Lawrence). Suspecting Pedro of aiding Coatl, and aware that Pedro's influential father Don Francisco de Vargas (Antonio Moreno
Antonio Moreno
Antonio "Tony" Moreno was a notable Spanish-born American actor and film director of the silent film era and through the 1950s.- Biography :...
) opposes the abuses of the Santa Hermandad, de Silva uses his office to persecute Pedro and his family as heretics
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
. In the process, de Silva murders Pedro's young sister during torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
using the strappado
Strappado
Strappado is a form of torture in which the victim's hands are first tied behind their back and suspended in the air by means of a rope attached to wrists, which most likely dislocates both arms...
. Pedro turns the tables on de Silva, duping him into renouncing God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
before running him through with a sword. Pedro frees his mother and father and aids them in escaping Spain. Pedro is a fugitive, believing he has murdered de Silva, unaware that a rib deflected his blade, and wanders Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
to evade capture. Along the way Pedro befriends a young, barefoot barmaid wench
Wench
Wench or Wenche may refer to:* Wench, a historical British Modern English colloquial term for a lower class woman and/or promiscuous woman. Also in the 19th and early 20th centuries a derogatory term for a non Euro-American woman, the male counterpart being Buck.* Wenche, a popular female first...
at an inn, Catana Pérez (Jean Peters), and an acquaintance, Juan García (Lee J. Cobb
Lee J. Cobb
Lee J. Cobb was an American actor. He is best known for his performance in 12 Angry Men his Academy Award-nominated performance in On the Waterfront and one of his last films, The Exorcist...
), a rogue just back from the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
. Juan is also a fugitive from the Santa Hermandad for murdering his own mother
Matricide
Matricide is the act of killing one's mother. As for any type of killing, motives can vary significantly.- Known or suspected matricides :* Amastris, queen of Heraclea, was drowned by her two sons in 284 BC....
to save her from further torture on the rack
Rack (torture)
The rack is a torture device consisting of a rectangular, usually wooden frame, slightly raised from the ground, with a roller at one, or both, ends, having at one end a fixed bar to which the legs were fastened, and at the other a movable bar to which the hands were tied...
.
Juan pleads for Pedro and Catana to join him in journeying back to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, where Hernán Cortéz
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...
(Cesar Romero
Cesar Romero
Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...
) is said to captain an expedition to plunder great wealth in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Pedro agrees in hopes of exonerating himself and his family. He meets Cortéz, learns that his and Pedro's father were friends, and that Cortéz is something of a renegade
Turncoat
A turncoat is a person who shifts allegiance from one loyalty or ideal to another, betraying or deserting an original cause by switching to the opposing side or party...
, defying attempts by the governor of Cuba, Diego Velázquez, to replace him as captain of the expedition. Pedro confides in Father Bartolomé (Thomas Gomez
Thomas Gomez
Thomas Gomez was an American actor.Born Sabino Tomas Gomez in New York City, Gomez began his acting career in theater during the 1920s and was a student of the actor Walter Hampden...
), the spiritual adviser to the expedition, about the events in Spain. He places himself in Father Bartolomé's hands, only to learn that he had already received orders from the Santa Hermandad to arrest Pedro. On the strength of Pedro's willing confession, Father Bartolomé tears up the orders and gives Pedro a penance
Penance
Penance is repentance of sins as well as the proper name of the Roman Catholic, Orthodox Christian, and Anglican Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation/Confession. It also plays a part in non-sacramental confession among Lutherans and other Protestants...
in praying for the soul of de Silva.
The expedition lands at Villa Rica
Veracruz, Veracruz
Veracruz, officially known as Heroica Veracruz, is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located in the central part of the state. It is located along Federal Highway 140 from the state capital Xalapa, and is the state's most...
in Mexico. Cortéz is greeted by ambassadors from the emperor Montezuma
Moctezuma II
Moctezuma , also known by a number of variant spellings including Montezuma, Moteuczoma, Motecuhzoma and referred to in full by early Nahuatl texts as Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin, was the ninth tlatoani or ruler of Tenochtitlan, reigning from 1502 to 1520...
, along with warnings to leave Mexico, but is determined to conquer the Aztecs. Several of his captains, recruited from Governor Velázquez's officers, voice their opposition to his plan of conquest and colonization. Catana reveals to Juan that she is in love with Pedro, as hopeless as that situation seems because of their difference in station and his love for the Lady Luisa. Pedro, however, confesses to her that he has fallen in love with her, too, and asks her to marry him. Cortéz leaves his ships and marches inland to Cempoala
Cempoala
Cempoala or Zempoala is an important Mesoamerican archaeological site located in the Úrsulo Galván Municipality, in the state of Veracruz...
, where he receives a gift of gem
Gemstone
A gemstone or gem is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments...
s from another Aztec delegation. He gives Pedro a chance to prove his worth by placing him in charge of the detail guarding the gems in a teocalli
Teocalli
A teocalli is a Mesoamerican pyramid surmounted by a temple. The pyramid is terraced, and some of the most important religious rituals in Pre-Columbian Mexico took place in the temple at the top of the pyramid....
. Pedro leaves his post, however, when Juan becomes drunk and threatens to murder anyone who comes near him. Cortéz accuses Pedro of the theft of the gems. When Pedro proves that the theft was accomplished using a hidden door into the teocalli, and not his complicity or negligence, Cortéz gives him 24 hours to recover the gems. Pedro tracks the thieves, the captains opposing Cortéz, back to Villa Rica and the ship Gallega, where he learns that they plied Juan with pulque
Pulque
Pulque, or octli, is a milk-colored, somewhat viscous alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the maguey plant, and is a traditional native beverage of Mexico. The drink’s history extends far back into the Mesoamerican period, when it was considered sacred, and its use was limited to...
to lure Pedro from his duty. He recovers the gems, although seriously wounded in the head by a crossbow
Crossbow
A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts or quarrels. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a torsion engine resembling a crossbow in appearance.Historically, crossbows played a...
bolt
Quarrel
A quarrel or bolt is the term for the ammunition used in a crossbow. The name "quarrel" is derived from the French carré, "square", referring to the fact that they typically have square heads. Although their length varies, they are typically shorter than traditional arrows.Bolts and arrows have...
.
Cortéz promotes Pedro to captain. He enlists his captains to burn their ships, to end the temptation for the weak-minded to retreat. They march on to Cholula
Cholula (Mesoamerican site)
Cholula , was an important city of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, dating back to at least the 2nd century BCE, with settlement as a village going back at least some thousand years earlier. The great site of Cholula stands just west of the modern city of Puebla. Its immense pyramid exceeds the Pyramid...
, where Coatl is present as a member of another delegation. Coatl vows loyalty to Pedro but warns that he will fight him if necessary to prevent the enslavement of his people. The delegation, headed by the royal prince, threatens the expedition with annihilation, but when Cortez protests that he has no ships, the prince reveals that more have arrived. Cortéz realizes that Velázquez has sent a force to hang him. Cortez divides his force, taking half to attack Villa Rica, leaving Pedro in command of the garrison at Cholulu. Catana tells Juan that she is pregnant with Pedro's child. Cortéz returns victorious, bringing with him hundreds of men of the governor's force persuaded to join him, and also Diego de Silva, the King's emissary who has come to introduce the Santa Hermandad to Mexico. Juan attacks de Silva and is put in chains. Father Bartolomé reminds Pedro of his vow, and Cortéz holds him personally responsible for de Silva's safety. That night de Silva is strangled and Pedro is sentenced to death for the murder. Just before the execution, Coatl confesses to Father Bartolomé that he killed de Silva, but before Pedro can be freed, Catana stabs him with a knife to spare him the degradation of being hanged. Pedro however recovers. A year after its landing, the expedition marches on the Aztec island capital.
Cast
- Tyrone PowerTyrone PowerTyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
... Pedro de Vargas - Jean PetersJean PetersJean Peters was an American actress, known as a star of 20th Century Fox in the late 1940s and early 1950s and as the second wife of Howard Hughes...
... Catana Pérez - Cesar RomeroCesar RomeroCesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...
... Hernán Cortéz - Lee J. CobbLee J. CobbLee J. Cobb was an American actor. He is best known for his performance in 12 Angry Men his Academy Award-nominated performance in On the Waterfront and one of his last films, The Exorcist...
... Juan García - John SuttonJohn Sutton (actor)John Sutton , who was born in Rawalpindi, British India , was actor of British parentage.-Filmography:*Rawhide as Lord Ashton...
... Diego de Silva - Antonio MorenoAntonio MorenoAntonio "Tony" Moreno was a notable Spanish-born American actor and film director of the silent film era and through the 1950s.- Biography :...
... Don Francisco de Vargas - Thomas GomezThomas GomezThomas Gomez was an American actor.Born Sabino Tomas Gomez in New York City, Gomez began his acting career in theater during the 1920s and was a student of the actor Walter Hampden...
... Father Bartolomé de Olmedo - Alan MowbrayAlan MowbrayAlan Mowbray MM, , was an English stage and film actor who found success in Hollywood.Born Alfred Ernest Allen in London, England, he served with distinction the British Army in World War I, being awarded the Military Medal for bravery...
... Professor Humpback Botello - Barbara Lawrence ... Luisa de Carvajal
- George ZuccoGeorge ZuccoGeorge Desylla Zucco was an English character actor who appeared, almost always in supporting roles, in 96 films during a career spanning two decades, from 1931 to 1951. He is fondly remembered for his roles in classic horror films.-Early life:Zucco was born in Manchester, England...
... Marquis de Carvajal - Roy RobertsRoy RobertsRoy Roberts was an American character actor. Over his more than 40-year career, he appeared in more than nine hundred productions on stage and screen.-Biography:...
... Capt. Pedro de Alvarado - Marc LawrenceMarc LawrenceMarc Lawrence was an American character actor who specialized in underworld types. He has also been credited as F. A. Foss, Marc Laurence and Marc C...
... Corio - Robert ShawRobert Shaw (American actor)Robert Shaw , born Robert Gottschall, was an American actor.-Filmography:* The Sky's No Limit - Dr...
... Spanish army officer (uncredited) - Jay SilverheelsJay SilverheelsJay Silverheels was a Canadian Mohawk First Nations actor. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the faithful American Indian companion of the Lone Ranger in a long-running American television series. -Early life:...
... Coatl (uncredited)
Casting notes
Twentieth Century-Fox director-writer-producer Joseph L. MankiewiczJoseph L. Mankiewicz
Joseph Leo Mankiewicz was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Mankiewicz had a long Hollywood career and is best known as the writer-director of All About Eve , which was nominated for 14 Academy Awards and won six. He was brother to screenwriter and drama critic Herman J...
, consulting with executive producer Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl Francis Zanuck was an American producer, writer, actor, director and studio executive who played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors...
on the making of Captain from Castille, recommended a reunion of Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell
Linda Darnell
Linda Darnell was an American film actress.Darnell was a model as a child, and progressed to theater and film acting as an adolescent. At the encouragement of her mother, she made her first film in 1939, and appeared in supporting roles in big budget films for 20th Century Fox throughout the 1940s...
for the lead roles of Pedro and Catana. Power returned from service as a Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
aviator during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and was available. Darnell was given the role of Catana, but appeared in two other projects while preparation for production was being completed. In the meantime Zanuck began filming of Forever Amber
Forever Amber (film)
Forever Amber is a 1947 film directed by Otto Preminger and starring Linda Darnell and Cornel Wilde. It was based on the book of the same name. It also starred Richard Greene, George Sanders, Glenn Langan, Richard Haydn, Dolores Hart, and Jessica Tandy...
with the inexperienced Peggy Cummins
Peggy Cummins
Peggy Cummins is a retired Irish actress. Cummins is best known for her performance in Joseph H. Lewis' Gun Crazy , playing a trigger happy femme fatale who robs banks with her lover .-Early life:...
in the title role, investing $1 million in the project before realizing it had become a disaster. Darnell was reassigned to save the project by replacing Cummins, and the role of Catana went to the then-unknown Jean Peters.
Other roles recommended by Mankiewicz but not cast were Fredric March
Fredric March
Fredric March was an American stage and film actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1932 for Dr. Jekyll and Mr...
as Cortéz, José Ferrer
José Ferrer
José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón , best known as José Ferrer, was a Puerto Rican actor, as well as a theater and film director...
as Coatl, and Alan Reed
Alan Reed
Alan Reed was an American actor and voice actor, best known as the original voice of Fred Flintstone on The Flintstones and various spinoff series...
or William Bendix
William Bendix
William Bendix was an American film, radio, and television actor, best remembered in movies for the title role in the movie The Babe Ruth Story and for portraying clumsily earnest aircraft plant worker Chester A. Riley in radio and television's The Life of Riley...
to play Juan García.
The film made extensive use of Mexican inhabitants as extras. More than 19,500 took part in various scenes, with approximately 4,500 used in the final sequence filmed in front of Parícutin's smoking cinder cone.
Screenplay
The screenplay was adapted from Shellabarger's novel, as yet unpublished but serialized in CosmopolitanCosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
,, after Fox chief Zanuck purchased the rights in December 1944 for $100,000. In February 1945, studio contract writer John Tucker Battle produced an outline, then completed a first draft script with Samuel Engel in May. Zanuck consulted Joseph L. Mankiewicz about concepts for the film. Mankiewicz wrote back to Zanuck in July that the historical background of Cortéz' conquest of Mexico had to be both accurate and unoffending to many groups of people. Mankiewicz also warned that the story would be tremendously expensive to film: "To do this picture ambitiously will cost a great deal of money. It will require Technicolor, a huge cast, great numbers of people, elaborate sets, costumes, props, locations etc. The script will take a long time to write—thorough research will be necessary."
The original scripts and storyline included a scene involving one of the novel's major characters and villains, the Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
fray
Friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...
/Inquisitor Ignacio de Lora, to be played by British character actor John Burton. De Lora's character conducted the "examination" of the de Vargas family, tortured Juan Garcia's mother, and dispatched the order for Pedro's arrest to Cuba. Citing a December 15, 1947 New York Times article, one source attributes the excision of the scene to censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
by the Rev. John J. Devlin, a representative of the National Legion of Decency
National Legion of Decency
The National Legion of Decency was an organization dedicated to identifying and combating objectionable content, from the point of view of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, in motion pictures...
and advisor to the Motion Picture Association of America
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
, on the basis that the depiction of the Spanish Inquisition was unacceptable to the Catholic Church. After revision of the script "toned down" depictions of the Inquisition, changing its name from the Santa Casa (The Holy Office) to the Santa Hermandad, eliminating the auto de fe prominent in the book, and making the lay character of de Silva the chief Inquisitor, the script was permissible to Devlin.
Keeping the film at an acceptable length required moving events that took place in the book's second half, primarily the return of Coatl and demise of de Silva, forward to what became the film's finale. Followers of the novel have criticized the failure to include the second half, which features the expedition's battles with the Aztecs, Pedro's capture during the Noche Triste, his return to Spain and intrigue at the court of Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
, and Pedro's development from a callow youth of 19 to a mature gentleman. However, like the film adaptation of Northwest Passage, the film's length and severe costs limited inclusion to those aspects most desired by the producers. The script for similar reasons made minor alterations to relationships in the novel, eliminating Pedro's prior dalliances with Catana, helping Juan against the Inquisition before being persecuted, and combining the characters Humpback Nojara, surgeon Antonio Escobar, and Botello the Astrologer into a single person, "Professor Botello". Even so, the screenplay faithfully adapts the important plot elements and scenes from the novel.
Historically, the most barbaric atrocities of Cortéz are not depicted in the script. In particular, the slaughter of thousands of Aztecs in Cholula as a warning to Montezuma is instead shown as a single cannon shot demolishing an idol. The first review of the film in the New York Times noted that while the novel seemed written with a Technicolor movie in mind, that the action, horror, and bloodshed of the book were not translated to the film.
The script, while employing Spanish terminology and names where appropriate, also uses an undisclosed indigenous dialect (likely Nahuatl
Nahuatl
Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua...
) for dialogue involving the Aztecs, with the historical personage Doña Marina
La Malinche
La Malinche , known also as Malintzin, Malinalli or Doña Marina, was a Nahua woman from the Mexican Gulf Coast, who played a role in the Spanish conquest of Mexico, acting as interpreter, advisor, lover and intermediary for Hernán Cortés...
(portrayed by Mexican actress Estela Inda) providing the translation as she did in real life. Other historically accurate characters portrayed were the mutineers
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
Juan Escudero (John Laurenz) and Diego Cermeño (Reed Hadley
Reed Hadley
Reed Hadley was an American movie, television and radio actor.Reed Hadley was born Reed Herring in Petrolia in Clay County near Wichita Falls, Texas, to Bert Herring, an oil well driller, and his wife Minnie. Hadley had one sister, Bess Brenner. He was reared in Buffalo, New York...
), and the loyal Captains Pedro de Alvarado
Pedro de Alvarado
Pedro de Alvarado y Contreras was a Spanish conquistador and governor of Guatemala. He participated in the conquest of Cuba, in Juan de Grijalva's exploration of the coasts of Yucatan and the Gulf of Mexico, and in the conquest of Mexico led by Hernan Cortes...
(Roy Roberts
Roy Roberts
Roy Roberts was an American character actor. Over his more than 40-year career, he appeared in more than nine hundred productions on stage and screen.-Biography:...
) and Gonzalo de Sandoval (Harry Carter).
Locations
Location filming took place in three locations in Mexico between November 1946 and March 1947, two in the Mexican state of MichoacánMichoacán
Michoacán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia...
. Acapulco
Acapulco
Acapulco is a city, municipality and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico’s history...
provided ocean and beach locations for scenes involving "Villa Rica" (Veracruz). In Michoacán, the hills around Morelia
Morelia
Morelia is a city and municipality in the north central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. The city is in the Guayangareo Valley and is the capital of the state. The main pre-Hispanic cultures here were the P'urhépecha and the Matlatzinca, but no major cities were founded in the...
depicted the countryside of Castile for the first half of the film, while extensive shooting took place near Uruapan
Uruapan
Uruapan is a city and municipality in the west-central part of the Mexican state of Michoacán. The city is the municipal seat of the municipality...
to depict the Mexican interior. There the volcano Parícutin
Paricutín
Parícutin is a cinder cone volcano in the Mexican state of Michoacán, close to a lava-covered village of the same name. It appears on many versions of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World...
, which had erupted in 1943 and was still active, was featured in the background of many shots of the Cholulu (Cholula
Cholula (Mesoamerican site)
Cholula , was an important city of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, dating back to at least the 2nd century BCE, with settlement as a village going back at least some thousand years earlier. The great site of Cholula stands just west of the modern city of Puebla. Its immense pyramid exceeds the Pyramid...
) sequences. In 1519-1520, the volcano Popocatépetl
Popocatépetl
Popocatépetl also known as "Popochowa" by the local population is an active volcano and, at , the second highest peak in Mexico after the Pico de Orizaba...
, just to the west of Cholula, had also been active while the Cortez expedition was present. The film's final scene, involving the movement of the expedition and its thousands of Indian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
porters, was filmed on the edge of Parícutin's lava beds with the cinder cone
Cinder cone
According to the , Cinder Cone is the proper name of 1 cinder cone in Canada and 7 cinder cones in the United States:In Canada: Cinder Cone In the United States:...
prominently nearby in the shot. The presence of the volcano, however, also proved to be expensive to production, since its ash cloud often made lighting conditions inconducive to filming.
Filming began November 25, 1946, and was completed on April 4, 1947. The film company spent 83 days in Mexico before returning to Hollywood to complete 33 days of studio filming, at a then "extravagant" cost of $4.5 million.
Photography
In addition to the directors of photography credited onscreen, George E. Clarke and Arthur E. ArlingArthur E. Arling
Arthur E. Arling, A.S.C. was a Hollywood cameraman and cinematographer. His early work included 1939's Gone with the Wind and 1946's The Yearling, for which he won a joint Oscar which he shared with Charles Rosher and Leonard Smith...
, Clarke's protogé Joseph LaShelle
Joseph LaShelle
Joseph LaShelle, A.S.C. was a Los Angeles born film cinematographer.He won an Academy Award for Laura , and was nominated eight additional times.-Career:...
also contributed to the filming of Captain from Castile. While LaShelle was noted for excellent black-and-white photography, particularly in film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
, he had little experience with Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
or location shooting. Clarke was competent at both. LaShelle's work in the film appears primarily in interior shots, notably in scenes at Pedro's home. Arling was mainly responsible for second unit
Second unit
In film, the second unit is a team that shoots subsidiary footage for a motion picture. Its work is distinct from that of the first unit, which shoots all scenes involving principal actors...
filming under assistant director Robert D. Webb
Robert D. Webb
Robert D. Webb was an American film director. He directed 16 films between 1945 and 1968.-Selected filmography:* Beneath the 12-Mile Reef * Seven Cities of Gold * White Feather...
. On location, photography inside the temples proved difficult because of poor space for proper lighting and excessive heat that could degrade color film.
Music
The lively musical score was composed by Alfred NewmanAlfred Newman
Alfred Newman was an American composer, arranger, and conductor of music for films.In a career which spanned over forty years, Newman composed music for over two hundred films. He was one of the most respected film score composers of his time, and is today regarded as one of the greatest...
, Fox's longtime musical director, and was nominated for an Academy Award. Newman recorded excerpts from the musical score for 78 RPM records
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
(reportedly at his own expense), and donated his royalties to the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation is a not-for-profit cancer research organization focused "discovering the talent to discover the cure." The Foundation states that its goals are to: "identify the best and brightest early career scientists in cancer research, accelerate the translation...
. years after he re-recorded the score in stereo for Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
. In 1973, Charles Gerhardt
Charles Gerhardt (conductor)
Charles Allan Gerhardt was a conductor, record producer, and arranger.-Early years:Gerhardt grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he studied the piano at age five and composition at age nine...
conducted a suite from the film for RCA Victor's tribute album to Newman, Captain from Castile; the quadraphonic recording was later reissued on CD.
Newman bestowed the rights to the film's spectacular march to the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
to use as theme music for the school's football team. Popularly known as "Conquest," the march is regularly performed by its marching band, the Spirit of Troy
Spirit of Troy
The Spirit of Troy, also known as the University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band , self-described as "The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe," represents USC at various collegiate sports, broadcast, popular music recording, and national public appearance functions.The...
as a victory march. It is also the corps anthem of the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps
Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps
The Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps is a World Class drum and bugle corps based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are a charter member of Drum Corps International. Winter camps are currently held at Lakewood Ranch High School in Bradenton, FL...
, which has performed the piece in their field show frequently in the past and continues to incorporate it occasionally in their field shows of the present.
Adaptations
A radio adaptation of Captain from Castile was aired on Lux Radio Theatre on February 7, 1949, with Cornel WildeCornel Wilde
Cornel Wilde was an American actor and film director.-Early life:Kornél Lajos Weisz was born in 1912 in Prievidza, Hungary , although his year and place of birth are usually and inaccurately given as 1915 in New York City...
as Pedro and Jean Peters reprising her role. An adaptation starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Douglas Elton Fairbanks, Jr. KBE was an American actor and a highly decorated naval officer of World War II.-Early life:...
was broadcast on the Screen Directors' Playhouse on May 3, 1951.