| The Castilian | |
| Director: | Javier Setó |
| Producer: | Sidney W. Pink |
| Screenplay: | Paulino Rodrigo Luis de los Arcos Javier Setó |
| Based On: | Poema de Fernán González |
| Starring: | Cesar Romero Frankie Avalon |
| Music: | José Buenagú |
| Cinematography: | Mario Pacheco |
| Editing: | Richard Mayer Margarita de Ochoa |
| Studio: | Producciones Cinematográficas M.D. S.L. |
| Distributor: | Warner Bros. (USA) |
| Runtime: | 120 minutes |
| Country: | Spain |
| Language: | English |
The Castilian (in Spanish El valle de las espadas) is a 1963 independently made historical action film drama in Eastmancolor, produced by Sidney W. Pink, directed by Javier Setó, that stars Cesar Romero, Frankie Avalon, Broderick Crawford, Alida Valli, Espartaco Santoni, Tere Velázquez, Fernando Rey, and Soledad Miranda. The Castilian was distributed in the U.S. by Warner Bros. Pictures.
The film's storyline concerns Fernán González, the first independent count of Castile, who lived and ruled in the early 10th century.
Don Sancho is a despotic 10th-century king who, in league with the Moors, has banished handsome nobleman Fernán González. With the surreptitious aid of Don Sancho's daughter, Sancha, Fernán González assembles an army to march against the Moors.[1]
The film was known during production as The Valley of the Swords.[2] Linda Darnell was supposed to star in the film but had to bow out and was replaced by Alida Valli.[3] All of film's exteriors were shot in Burgos, Berlanga de Duero (Soria), and Peñafiel (Valladolid).