''Viva Villa!'' is a 1934 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...

film directed by Jack Conway and starring

Wallace Beery Wallace Fitzgerald Beery (April 1, 1885 – April 15, 1949) was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in ''Min and Bill'' (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in ''Grand Hotel'' (193 ...

as Mexican revolutionary

Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (,"Villa"
''Collins English Dictionary''. ; ;

. The screenplay was written by

Ben Hecht Ben Hecht (; February 28, 1894 – April 18, 1964) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, journalist, and novelist. A successful journalist in his youth, he went on to write 35 books and some of the most enjoyed screenplay ...

, adapted from the 1933 book ''

Viva Villa! ''Viva Villa!'' is a 1934 American pre-Code film directed by Jack Conway and starring Wallace Beery as Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. The screenplay was written by Ben Hecht, adapted from the 1933 book '' Viva Villa!'' by Edgecumb Pinchon a ...

'' by Edgecumb Pinchon and O. B. Stade. The film was shot on location in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and produced by David O. Selznick. There was uncredited assistance with the script by

Howard Hawks Howard Winchester Hawks (May 30, 1896December 26, 1977) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era. Critic Leonard Maltin called him "the greatest American director who is not a household name." A v ...

James Kevin McGuinness James Kevin McGuinness (December 20, 1894 – December 4, 1950) was an American screenwriter and film producer. He wrote for 36 films between 1927 and 1950. He wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine. He was born in Ireland and immigrated to N ...

, and Howard Emmett Rogers. Hawks and

William A. Wellman William Augustus Wellman (February 29, 1896 – December 9, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and military pilot. He was known for his work in crime, adventure, and action genre films, often focusing on avi ...

were also uncredited directors on the film. The film is a fictionalized biography of

Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (,"Villa"
''Collins English Dictionary''. ; ;

starring Beery in the titular role and featuring

Fay Wray Vina Fay Wray (September 15, 1907 – August 8, 2004) was a Canadian/American actress best known for starring as Ann Darrow in the 1933 film ''King Kong (1933 film), King Kong''. Through an acting career that spanned nearly six decades, Wray a ...

, who had played the

leading lady A leading actor, leading actress, or simply lead (), plays the role of the protagonist of a film, television show or play. The word ''lead'' may also refer to the largest role in the piece, and ''leading actor'' may refer to a person who typica ...

in ''

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

'' the previous year. The supporting cast includes

Leo Carillo Leopoldo Antonio Carrillo (; August 6, 1880 – September 10, 1961), known professionally as Leo Carrillo, was an American actor, vaudevillian, political cartoonist, and conservationist. He was best known for playing Pancho in the television ...

, Donald Cook, Stuart Erwin,

Henry B. Walthall Henry Brazeale Walthall (March 16, 1878 – June 17, 1936) was an American stage and film actor. He appeared as the Little Colonel in D. W. Griffith's ''The Birth of a Nation'' (1915). Early life Henry B. Walthall was born March 16, 1878 on a ...

Joseph Schildkraut Joseph Schildkraut (22 March 1896 – 21 January 1964) was an Austrian-American actor. He won an Oscar for his performance as Captain Alfred Dreyfus in the film '' The Life of Emile Zola'' (1937); later, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for ...

and

Katherine DeMille Katherine Lester DeMille (born Katherine Paula Lester; June 29, 1911 – April 27, 1995) was a Canadian-born American actress who played 25 credited film roles from the mid-1930s to the late 1940s. The adopted daughter of director Cecil B. De ...

Plot

After seeing his poor father lose his land and be whipped to death for protesting, young Pancho Villa stabs one of the killers, then heads off into the hills of Chihuahua, Mexico during the 1880s. As a grown man, Villa and a band of rebel bandits, including his trusted ally Sierra, kill wealthy landowners and become heroes to their fellow "peons". A wealthy aristocrat, Don Felipe, arranges an introduction for Villa to the distinguished and eloquent Francisco Madero, who resents what has become of Mexico under the rule of president

Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori ( or ; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915), known as Porfirio Díaz, was a Mexican general and politician who served seven terms as President of Mexico, a total of 31 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 Decem ...

and persuades Villa to help him fight for liberty, not just for personal gain. The coarse and illiterate Villa is humbled in the presence of Madero and agrees to fight for his cause. He also is attracted to Don Felipe's beautiful sister Teresa, although there are many women in Villa's life, including one he is married to, Rosita. Villa's exploits are made even more colorful by an American newspaper reporter, Johnny Sykes, to whom Villa has taken a great liking. While drunk, Sykes is misinformed and reports that Villa has already overtaken the village of Santa Rosalia in a great victory for his men. Disobeying the orders of Madero and the arrogant General Pascal, simply to help his newspaper friend, Villa stages a raid on Santa Rosalia, as well as on Juarez. Madero ultimately assumes office in Mexico City, then commands Villa to disband his personal army. Villa agrees, but when Sierra kills a bank teller just so Villa can withdraw his money, Villa himself ends up sentenced to death. A gloating General Pascal mocks the way Villa pleads for his life, then reads a telegram from Madero, ordering that Villa instead be exiled from the country. Alone and drunk in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

, feeling forsaken by his homeland, Villa is visited by Sykes, who informs him that Madero has been assassinated by the power-mad Pascal and his men. Villa returns to Mexico and rebuilds his own army, recruiting tens of thousands to ride by his side. Together they storm the capital, where Pascal is subjected to a particularly gruesome death. Villa takes what he wants, but when Teresa resists and he physically assaults her, she draws a gun that her brother Don Felipe has given her for protection. Sierra intervenes and murders her. Villa appoints himself president but is ineffectual, unable to restore Madero's dream of land reform for Mexico's poor. He ultimately agrees to step aside and go back to where he belongs, including to his wife. Before he can, with Sykes by his side, Villa is gunned down by Don Felipe out of revenge for his sister. Sykes vows to keep Villa's memory alive, telling his dying friend that he is no longer news, but history.

Cast

Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (,"Villa"
''Collins English Dictionary''. ; ;

Leo Carrillo Leopoldo Antonio Carrillo (; August 6, 1880 – September 10, 1961), known professionally as Leo Carrillo, was an American actor, vaudevillian, political cartoonist, and conservationist. He was best known for playing Pancho in the television ...

as Sierra *

as Teresa * Donald Cook as Don Felipe de Castillo * Stuart Erwin as Jonny Sykes *

as Francisco Madero *

as Gen. Pascal *

as Rosita Morales (as Katherine de Mille) *

George E. Stone George E. Stone (born Gerschon Lichtenstein; May 18, 1903 – May 26, 1967) was a Polish-born American character actor in films, radio, and television. Life and career Stone was born Gerschon Lichtenstein in Łódź, Congress Poland, into ...

as Emilio Chavito *Phillip Cooper as Pancho Villa as a boy * David Durand as Bugle boy *

Frank Puglia Francesco Giuseppe "Frank" Puglia (9 March 1892 – 25 October 1975) was an Italian-American film actor. He had small, but memorable roles in films including ''Casablanca'' (a Moroccan rug merchant), ''Now, Voyager'' and ''The Jungle Book''. ...

as Pancho Villa's father *

Ralph Bushman Ralph Everly Bushman (1903 – 1978), was an American actor. He appeared in 55 films between 1920 and 1943. In his early film career, he often was credited as Francis X. Bushman Jr. The son of notable silent film star Francis X. Bushman and ...

as Wallace Calloway, reporter (as Francis X. Bushman Jr.) *Adrian Rosley as Alphonso Mendoza *

Henry Armetta Henry Armetta (born Enrico Armetta; July 4, 1888 – October 21, 1945) was an American character actor who appeared in at least 150 American films, beginning in silent movies. His last film was released posthumously in 1946, the year after his d ...

as Alfredo Mendosa

Production and release

David O. Selznick began filming ''Viva Villa!'' in 1932 in Mexico. Between filming and its release in April 1934, the film went through a

development hell Development hell, development purgatory, and development limbo are media and software industry jargon for a project, concept, or idea that remains in development for an especially long time, often moving between different crews, scripts, game engi ...

. Brown-Norden, Helen. ''Hollywood's Mexico''. '' Vanity Fair''. June 1934. pp. 54-55. Initially,

Lee Tracy William Lee Tracy (April 14, 1898 – October 18, 1968) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He is known foremost for his portrayals between the late 1920s and 1940s of fast-talking, wisecracking news reporters, press agents, lawye ...

was cast to play a role of Jonny Sykes. However, following an incident on a Mexican balcony, from which he urinated on the

cadet A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...

s, he was let go of the project, and eventually was replaced by Stuart Erwin. On September 29, 1933, Pancho Villa's son, Pancho Augustin Villa Jr. was signed to cast in a role of a young Pancho Villa. The film also experienced change of as many as three writers and two directors, as well as being totally burned in a plane crash. ''Viva Villa!'' was released for three days in the Paramount Theatre on May 17, 1934. When the film was finally released in Mexican cinemas, on September 7, 1934, firecrackers had exploded, which in turn, halted the viewing.

Reception

''Viva Villa!'' was popular at the box office and was voted one of the ten best pictures of 1934 by '' Film Dailys annual poll of critics. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called the film a "corking western", while Helen Brown-Norden of '' Vanity Fair'' wrote "There is also no denying the fact that

is not everybody's Villa". Before film's premiere, Mexican press called it "derogatory to Mexico", and urged the production of it in a country to be halted.

Box office

In its initial release ''Viva Villa!'' earned total theater rentals of $1,875,000, with $941,000 from the US and Canada and $934,000 elsewhere. A 1949 re-release earned an additional $94,000 in foreign rentals, resulting in an overall profit of $157,000.

Awards

The picture was nominated for the following

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

: *

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only category ...

Assistant Director The role of an assistant director on a film includes tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, and maintaining order on the set. They also have to tak ...

( John S. Waters) (winner) * Writing (Adaptation) (

) *

Sound Recording Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording te ...

(

Douglas Shearer Douglas Graham Shearer (November 17, 1899 – January 5, 1971) was a Canadian American pioneering sound designer and recording director who played a key role in the advancement of sound technology for motion pictures. The elder brother of ac ...

)

In popular culture

''Viva Villa!'' partially inspired the creation of

Elia Kazan Elia Kazan (; born Elias Kazantzoglou ( el, Ηλίας Καζαντζόγλου); September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003) was an American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one o ...

's 1952 film ''

Viva Zapata! ''Viva Zapata!'' is a 1952 American Western film directed by Elia Kazan and starring Marlon Brando. The screenplay was written by John Steinbeck, using Edgcomb Pinchon's 1941 book ''Zapata the Unconquerable'' as a guide. The cast includes Jean ...

'', written by

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...

and starring

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...

and

Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{Ben Hecht American biographical films Films based on biographies American black-and-white films Films about Pancho Villa Films directed by Jack Conway Films directed by William A. Wellman Films directed by Howard Hawks Films scored by Herbert Stothart 1934 Western (genre) films Mexican Revolution films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films with screenplays by Ben Hecht 1930s biographical films 1930s American films

Plot

Cast

Production and release

Reception

Box office

Awards

In popular culture

See also

References

Further reading

External links