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; Virgílio 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, Virgílio 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]