Do you have the version with the commentary on the producer? Very interesting story. Francisco Franco supported the movie with the Spanish army because he saw himself as the Cid-—the “free agent” who doesn’t want to be king, who only is “protecting” the monarchy until it’s time to hand the reins of power over (which, of course, he actually did).
Bronstein made, I think two more movies after that then cratered. Neither “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” or “Circus World” were hits.
Yes, I do have that official release with the commentary. During the Franco years, lots of films were made in Spain, and the Spanish Army impersonated several famous armies of history. Funny that Franco identified with The Cid.
Other Bronston-produced films in Spain include King of Kings and 55 Days at Peking. All are fairly impressive for their epic qualities. I think Fall of the Roman Empire is a great epic. It's well-written and the spectacle leaps off the screen. Too bad it flopped. The age of epics was ending by that time.
The existing DVDs and Blu-rays of El Cid are better than nothing. But they used a mere 35mm print as the source rather than the large format Technirama negative and used lots of digital noise reduction to smooth out the graininess.. The British Blu-ray of 55 Days at Peking is well restored from the original Technirama elements.