or that a U.S. president would have multiple screenings of such a film at the White House, as John F. Kennedy did of “El Cid” (1961). As Nora Berend tells us in her own “El Cid,” a ...

For the most part, the real Cid — an honorific that derives from ... and loyal vassal played by Charlton Heston in the 1961 film “El Cid.” In reality, his was a sword for hire.