El Cid

El Cid (1961) is a grand historical epic you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Anthony Mann and shot largely on location in Spain. Charlton Heston plays Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar — the eleventh-century Castilian knight his followers called El Cid, meaning "the Lord" — a warrior whose code of honour consistently put him at odds with the kings he served. Sophia Loren plays Chimene, whose relationship with Rodrigo runs through the entire film as the human cost of his devotion to principle.

The backdrop is the Almoravid invasion of the 1080s, when the emir Ben Yusuf pushes into Spain with an army that dwarfs anything the divided Christian kingdoms can field alone. Rodrigo's answer is to unite both sides of the religious divide against the common threat — a decision that makes him enemies at court long before it makes him a legend. The battle sequences, staged with thousands of extras on Spanish beaches and plains, still hold up as serious spectacle.

Miklós Rózsa composed the score, and the production's ambition shows in every frame. For anyone drawn to old-school epic filmmaking — wide-screen, unhurried, built around performance rather than effects — this remains one of the genre's best examples. Watch El Cid (1961) online on iFILM.