Viva Villa! (1934)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Jack Conway

Writers:

Edgecumb Pinchon (book) and
O.B. Stade (book) ...

Release Date:

27 April 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Western

Tagline:

...TOO BIG FOR HOLLYWOOD...it was dramatized in the heart of Mexico, with a cast of thousands!

Plot:

In this fictionalized biography, young Pancho Villa takes to the hills after killing an overseer in revenge for his father's death...

Plot Keywords:

Mexico | Army | Revenge | General | Pancho Villa

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Wallace Beery	...	Pancho Villa
Leo Carrillo	...	Sierra
Fay Wray	...	Teresa
Donald Cook	...	Don Felipe de Castillo
Stuart Erwin	...	Jonny Sykes
Henry B. Walthall	...	Francisco Madero
Joseph Schildkraut	...	Gen. Pascal
Katherine DeMille	...	Rosita Morales (as Katherine de Mille)
George E. Stone	...	Emilio Chavito
Phillip Cooper	...	Pancho Villa as a boy
David Durand	...	Bugle boy
Frank Puglia	...	Pancho Villa's father
Ralph Bushman	...	Wallace Calloway (reporter) (as Francis X. Bushman Jr.)
Adrian Rosley	...	Alphonso Mendoza
Henry Armetta	...	Alfredo Mendosa

Runtime:

115 min | USA:110 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #1105, 2 May 1935 for re-release)

Filming Locations:

Chihuahua, Mexico

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Much of the footage originally shot by Howard Hawks is said to have been lost in a plane crash. However, Hawks claimed that most of the location footage (except battle scenes) was his.

Quotes:

Bugle boy: [plays the "battle charge" on the bugle, and stops]
Pancho Villa: Play some more!
Bugle boy: That is all I know.
Pancho Villa: [laughs] That's okay. That's all you'll need!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Giù la testa (1971)

Soundtrack:

The Wedding March

Good Western

Good western movie with good all around production and performances.Very gritty and not too watered down in it's violent sequences.The only flaw here is the fictionalised version of the main characters story which is not what most people want from a profound historical icon as Pacho Villa.Surely he must have had a great true to life story to be told thru Hollywood without resorting to this over mythologised version.Also,the great actress Fay Wray was so underused here as well.Her makeup here was also terribly done,making her look like some kind of evil Vampiress.Only for fans of Mexican Westerns and big fans of the lead actors.....