Christopher Columbus overcomes intrigue at the Spanish court and convinces Queen Isabella that his plan to reach the East by sailing west is practical.Christopher Columbus overcomes intrigue at the Spanish court and convinces Queen Isabella that his plan to reach the East by sailing west is practical.Christopher Columbus overcomes intrigue at the Spanish court and convinces Queen Isabella that his plan to reach the East by sailing west is practical.
- Awards
- 1 win
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFredric March collapsed from heatstroke one day while filming on location in Barbados.
- GoofsIn the film, Columbus seems to realize that he never landed in India, whereas in real life, he never realized it. He also talks constantly about having found "new worlds", as if he knew that he had discovered America.
- Quotes
Father Perez: I see you're a scholar, my son, as well as a traveler.
Christopher Columbus: Certainly a traveler, Father. I've sailed as far north as Iceland, as far south as Guinea, and eastward to the Golden Horn.
Father Perez: But that is to have reached the limits of the World.
Christopher Columbus: Of the known world? Yes, Father, but the actual world... not by a thousand leagues.
Father Perez: How can you say that - never having seen it?
Christopher Columbus: Have you ever seen Heaven or Hell?
Father Perez: We have sound reasons for believing they exist.
Christopher Columbus: I have sound reasons too.
Father Perez: What are they?
Christopher Columbus: The same as yours, Father, and revelations to which I can add cosmography and mathematics.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Last Cigarette (1999)
March is in the title role of the intrepid Genoese sea captain who is credited with the discovery of America. By America of course we mean the western hemisphere and not the USA. Columbus never did make it in any of his four voyages to the lower 48.
One thing that is a weakness of this film for American audiences is that this it is not made clear that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were joint rulers, she was not just a consort Queen. Earlier in Spanish history, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile married and that marriage unified Spain as a nation. But both were monarchs in their own right. It's clear to me, but I fear not to others as to why Florence Eldridge as Queen Isabella can in fact act independently as she does.
Francis L. Sullivan is Count Bobadilla who became Columbus's enemy at court and he plays it in the grand and florid Sullivan manner. He's always a joy to watch in any film, no matter how good or bad it is.
The greatness of Columbus lies in two things, the fact that he had an idea about sailing west in an effort to find a shorter route for trade with the Orient. He was in fact, wrong as you can be on that score. He based his calculations on the fact that he thought the earth much smaller than it really was. But he persisted and eventually sold the notion to the Castilian Queen.
Secondly though, whatever else he was, Columbus was one incredibly good sea captain. In a voyage into unknown territory he kept his crew together for about two months until land was sighted in what is now the Bahamas.
The film itself has quite a few dry patches. It's dull retelling of an exciting adventure. For their time, the special effects are good, but are pretty dated now. It's obvious the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria are all models in a tank.
A couple of films were done in time for the 500 anniversary of the first voyage that were more accurate in the detail. You probably are better off seeing either of them.
- bkoganbing
- May 16, 2007
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Columbus
- Filming locations
- Barbados(Christopher Columbus)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- £500,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 39 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1