The Lioness of Castille

The Lioness of Castille
The Lioness of Castille
Directed by	Juan de Orduña
Written by	Francisco Villaespesa (play); Vicente Escrivá; Juan de Orduña;
Starring	Amparo Rivelles; Virgilio Teixeira; Alfredo Mayo; Manuel Luna;
Cinematography	Alfredo Fraile
Edited by	Petra de Nieva
Music by	Juan Quintero
Production; company	CIFESA
Distributed by	CIFESA
Release date	28 May 1951
Running time	106 minutes
Country	Spain
Language	Spanish

The Lioness of Castille (Spanish: La leona de Castilla) is a 1951 Spanish historical drama film directed by Juan de Orduña and starring Amparo Rivelles, Virgilio Teixeira and Alfredo Mayo. De Orduña had directed a number of the most expensive Spanish costume films of the era for the leading studio CIFESA. The film portrays the sixteenth century noblewoman María Pacheco, in a fictitious story that has her battling foreign agents during the reign of Charles V.^[1]

Synopsis

After his defeat in the Battle of Villalar, Juan de Padilla, chief of the comuneros, is executed by beheading together with Juan Bravo and Francisco Maldonado in the presence of his wife María de Pacheco and his son. After that they swear, before the Council of the city of Toledo, to avenge her death and continue the war against Carlos I. She is a Castilian lady of high rank, with fragile health but strong character who reacts heroically and participates in dangerous combats against the tyranny of King Carlos I, becoming the Leona de Castilla, a symbol of oppressed popular freedoms.^[2]

Cast

Amparo Rivelles as María de Pacheco
Virgilio Teixeira as Pedro de Guzmán
Alfredo Mayo as Manrique
Manuel Luna as Ramiro
Eduardo Fajardo as Tovar
Rafael Romero Marchent as Juan de Padilla hijo
Antonio Casas as Juan de Padilla
Laly del Amo as Doña Isabel
María Cañete as Sirvienta de María de Pacheco
Nicolás D. Perchicot as Cura en ejecución
Alberto Romea as Arzobispo
Manuel Arbó as Noble toledano
Francisco Pierrá as Noble toledano
José Jaspe as Juan Bravo
Teófilo Palou as Francisco Maldonado
Domingo Rivas as Noble toledano
Santiago Rivero as Líder de los Imperiales
Jesús Tordesillas as Don López
Faustino Bretaño
Adriano Dominguez
Miguel Pastor
Arturo Marín
Antonio Riquelme
Luis Peña padre
Rafael Cortés
Carlos Osorio
José Buhigas
Ángel Monís
César Guzman
Germán Cobos
Luis Fernandez
Eduardo Bonada
Francisco Maroto

References

^ Bentley p.101
^ "María Pacheco, la última rebelde de los comuneros: historia olvidada de "la leona de Castilla"". El Español (in Spanish). 2020-04-28. Retrieved 2022-06-07.

Bibliography

Bentley, Bernard. A Companion to Spanish Cinema. Boydell & Brewer 2008.

External links

The Lioness of Castille at IMDb

This article related to a Spanish film of the 1950s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Bentley p.101

[2] "María Pacheco, la última rebelde de los comuneros: historia olvidada de "la leona de Castilla"". El Español (in Spanish). 2020-04-28. Retrieved 2022-06-07.

[1]

[2]