''El Greco'' is a 1966 Italian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

and biography of the painter

El Greco Doménikos Theotokópoulos (, ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco (; "The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance, regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time. ...

directed by

Luciano Salce Luciano Salce (25 September 1922 – 17 December 1989) was an Italian film director, comedian, television host, producer, actor and lyricist. His 1962 film ''Le pillole di Ercole'' was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the ...

and starring

Mel Ferrer Melchor Gastón FerrerAncestry Library Edition (August 25, 1917 – June 2, 2008) was an American actor, director, and producer, active in film, theatre, and television. He achieved prominence on Broadway before scoring notable film hits with ...

and

Rosanna Schiaffino Rosanna Schiaffino (25 November 1939 – 17 October 2009) was an Italian film actress. She appeared on the covers of Italian, German, French, British and American magazines. Early life She was born in Genoa, Liguria to a well-off family. Her mot ...

Cast

as El Greco (Domenico Teotocopulo) *

as Jeronima de las Cuevas *

Adolfo Celi Adolfo Celi (; 27 July 1922 – 19 February 1986) was an Italian film actor and director. Born in Curcuraci, Messina, Sicily, Celi appeared in nearly 100 films, specialising in international villains. Although a prominent actor in Italian ...

as Don Miguel de las Cuevas *

Mario Feliciani Mario Feliciani (12 March 1918 – 11 August 2008) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Life and career Born in Milan, after completing his classical education Feliciani attended the Accademia dei filodrammatici obtaining the diploma. He ...

as Nino de Guevara *

Franco Giacobini Franco Giacobini (5 March 1926 – 27 December 2015) was an Italian actor. Born in Rome as Francesco Giacobini, he graduated at Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico in 1948, then started a prolific stage career, working in come ...

as Francisco *

Renzo Giovampietro Renzo Giovampietro (23 June 1924 – 10 March 2006) was an Italian actor, theatre director and playwright. Life and career Born in Velletri, Rome, the son of a carpenter and of a cook, in 1944 Giovampietro enrolled at the Silvio d’Ami ...

as Brother Felix *

Ángel Aranda Ángel Aranda (18 September 1934 – 21 April 2024) was a Spanish film actor. He appeared in more than 40 films between 1955 and 1980. He was born in Andalucía on 18 September 1934, and died in Málaga on 20 April 2024, at the age of 89. Part ...

as Don Luis * Nino Crisman as Diego de Castillo *

Gabriella Giorgelli Gabriella Giorgelli (born 29 July 1941) is an Italian film and television actress. She appeared in more than 70 films between 1960 and 1998. Biography Early life Born in Fossola, a ''frazione'' of Carrara, Giorgelli was the daughter of a bus ...

as Maria *

Giulio Donnini Giulio Donnini (17 February 1923 – 22 May 2001) was an Italian film actor. Life and career Born in Milan, Donnini made his film debut in 1946, in Giacomo Gentilomo's ''Teheran''. He got his first mayor role two years later, playing the epile ...

as Pignatelli *

Fernando Rey Fernando Casado Arambillet (20 September 1917 – 9 March 1994), best known as Fernando Rey, was a Spanish film, theatre, and television actor, who worked in both Europe and the United States. A suave, international actor best known for hi ...

as Philip II *

Rafael Rivelles Rafael Félix Rivelles Guillén (23 December 1898 — 3 December 1971) was a Spanish actor born in El Cabañal (El Cabanyal), a small town in the province of Valencia, Spain. Son of play actor José Rivelles and play actress Amparo Guillén, he ...

as Marquis of Villena *

John Karlsen John Karlsen (20 October 1919 – 5 July 2017), sometimes credited as Charles John Karlsen or John Karlson, was a New Zealand actor who was active in cinema between 1958 and 2003. He is best known for '' Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'' (19 ...

as Prosecutor *

John Francis Lane John Francis Lane (1 December 1928 – 15 January 2018) was an English journalist, critic and actor. He was known for being a small-part actor in many Italian films, and as a contributor to ''The Guardian'' writing obituaries for Italian cultura ...

as De Agueda *

Rossana Martini Rossana Martini (1 January 1926 – 2 February 1988) was an Italian actress, model and beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its na ...

as Zaida

Production

It was Mel Ferrer's first film as producer. According to Ferrer, the film cost $800,000 which he felt was modest considering the film was in color and was the first movie allowed to shoot at

Toledo Cathedral The Primatial Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption (), is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Toledo, Spain. It is the seat of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Toledo. Since 1088, it holds the honorific title of Primatial, granted by ...

Release

The film had its world premiere on 7 May 1966 at the

Museum of Santa Cruz A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers ...

Toledo, Spain Toledo ( ; ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, the capital of the province of Toledo and the ''de jure'' seat of the government and parliament of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castilla� ...

Reception

According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $1,300,000 in rentals to break even and made $1,675,000, meaning it made a profit.

References

External links

* * (4 November 1966)
"Cinema: The Brush-Off"
''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

''. Retrieved 15 December 2011. 1966 films 1966 drama films 1960s biographical drama films Italian biographical drama films 1960s Italian-language films Films directed by Luciano Salce Films scored by Ennio Morricone Biographical films about painters Cultural depictions of El Greco 20th Century Fox films 1960s Italian films Cultural depictions of Philip II of Spain {{1960s-drama-film-stub