Samuel Bronston Productions was an independent American film production company, founded by

Samuel Bronston Samuel Bronston (March 26, 1908 – January 12, 1994) was a Bessarabian-born American film producer, film director, and a nephew of socialist revolutionary figure, Leon Trotsky. He was also the petitioner in a U.S. Supreme Court case that set a ...

in 1943. The company produced several

epic film Epic films are a style of filmmaking with large-scale, sweeping scope, and spectacle. The usage of the term has shifted over time, sometimes designating a film genre and at other times simply synonymous with big-budget filmmaking. Like epics in ...

s, the most notable of which are, ''

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...

'' (1959), ''

King of Kings King of Kings; grc-gre, Βασιλεὺς Βασιλέων, Basileùs Basiléōn; hy, արքայից արքա, ark'ayits ark'a; sa, महाराजाधिराज, Mahārājadhirāja; ka, მეფეთ მეფე, ''Mepet mepe'' ...

'' (1961), ''

El Cid Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (c. 1043 – 10 July 1099) was a Castilian knight and warlord in medieval Spain. Fighting with both Christian and Muslim armies during his lifetime, he earned the Arabic honorific ''al-sīd'', which would evolve into El ...

'' (1961), ''

55 Days at Peking ''55 Days at Peking'' is a 1963 American epic historical war film dramatizing the siege of the foreign legations' compounds in Peking (now known as Beijing) during the Boxer Rebellion, which took place in China from 1899 to 1901. It was produc ...

'' (1963) and '' The Fall of the Roman Empire'' (1964). The films were made in Spain in the company's newly created studios in

Las Rozas Las Rozas may refer to: Places ;Spain *Las Rozas de Madrid, municipality in the Community of Madrid * Las Rozas de Valdearroyo, municipality in Cantabria Sport *Las Rozas CF Las Rozas Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football club based in Las Roz ...

, near

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. Due to financial difficulties, the company ceased its business activities in 1964. During the ensuing

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

proceedings, Bronston's answer that the company had once had a bank account in Zurich in response to a question under

oath Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to ...

about whether he personally had had a

Swiss bank account Banking in Switzerland dates to the early eighteenth century through Switzerland's merchant trade and has, over the centuries, grown into a complex, regulated, and international industry. Banking is seen as emblematic of Switzerland, along with ...

led to his prosecution for

perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...

. He was convicted, and the case was ultimately appealed to the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

, which ruled in ''

Bronston v. United States ''Bronston v. United States'', 409 U.S. 352 (1973), is a seminalTiersma, Peter; Did Clinton Lie? Defining "Sexual Relations",''; 79 Chi.-Kent L. Rev. 927, 939, 2004. United States Supreme Court of the United States, Supreme Court decision strictl ...

'' that literally truthful, but technically misleading, answers cannot be prosecuted.

List of Samuel Bronston Productions films

Film production companies of the United States Samuel Bronston Productions films {{US-film-company-stub