“Captain From Castile” (1947)

“Captain From Castile” (1947) Unlike Errol Flynn, whose postwar turns in costume epics, revealed an slow, puffy, aging star, Power still had a lot of swash left. A sweeping technicolor epic shot on location in Mexico. Many familiar faces: Caesar Romero as Herman Cortés. Lee J Cobb, Thomas Gomez (essaying something other than a sleazy Noirish bad guy), Alan Mowbray, George Zucco, and a pre “Lone Ranger” Jat Silverheels. A teen-aged Barbara Lawrence has a turn and the female lead is Jean Peters in her first film. Peters had a long battle with producers who kept trying to turn her into a sex symbol. She had some success with getting serious roles. She was the salesman wife who almost goes over the Falls in “Niagara.” (1953). The film does soft-peddle the atrocities of Cortés and his troops. It also, curiously, and thanks to religious pressure at the time, manages to avoid any mention that the Catholic Church was responsible for the Inquisition. Lastly, the film was shot during the eruption of the volcano, Parícutin, which can be seen in the distance in many shots - creating, one would think, some continuity issues. The ash clouds did causing issues with lighting.