Alexander the Great (1956)
The castle of Manzanares el Real gets a brief cameo when, from its walls, Alexander watches his fleet returning home as the rot begins to set in with his plans for world supremacy, a rot that will be repeated throughout our foolish history.
In this film, the area mainly used was the pastureland known as the Dehesa de Navalvillar, later to become everybody’s favourite Wild West prairie.
An amusing film with false beards for all kinds of tastes for the ridiculous and mini-skirted warriors who fall off horses unnecessarily, and where nobody ever appears to actually kill anyone else despite a large amount of frantic sword waving. Very politically correct.
Harry Andrews’ performance of Darius is so convincing, as is his curly beard, that it is a relief when he is finally deserted and stabbed by his followers and left to rot in a Spanish marsh; almost certainly by the frustrated costume and make up departments!