La spada del Cid

THE SWORD OF EL CID is an unofficial follow-up to the popular Hollywood flick, EL CID. It has little to do with that movie, instead being an Italo-Spanish co-production that bears little in the way of originality to distinguish it from at least a few dozen other costumers from the era.

The plot concerns a couple of daughters of the legendary hero who find themselves falling foul of some nefarious enemies - their own husbands! One of the daughters is played by future Bond girl Daniela Bianchi (FROM Russia WITH LOVE), but neither make much of an impact; this is one of those movies that seems to be shot in long-shot for the most part, meaning it's hard to get involved in the proceedings.

What follows is lots of plotting interspersed with some action, in the form of the lamest sword-fights you'll ever witness - seriously, these guys hit more softly than two kids playing with foam lightsabers. The unbelievable action is what really spoiled the movie for me, although things do pick up for an admittedly rousing storm-the-castle climax. The wooden hero is played by Roland Carey (THE GIANTS OF THESSALY) complete with ginger hair, while one of the writers behind it is future western director Ferdinando Baldi. None of this involvement is much of a reason to watch.