Viva Villa! (1934)

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:

On 19 November 1933, during location filming in Mexico, Lee Tracy, originally cast as Johnny Sykes, got drunk and urinated from his hotel balcony onto a passing military parade. He was arrested, fired from the film and replaced by Stuart Erwin. Original director Howard Hawks was also fired for refusing to testify against Tracy, and replaced by Jack Conway. However, in his autobiography, Charles G. Clarke, the cinematographer on the picture, said that he was standing outside the hotel during the parade and the incident never happened. Tracy, he said, was standing on the balcony observing the parade when a Mexican in the street below made an obscene gesture at him. Tracy replied in kind, and the next day a local newspaper printed a story that said, in effect, Tracy had insulted Mexico, Mexicans in general and the Mexican flag in particular. The story caused an uproar in Mexico, and MGM decided to sacrifice Tracy in order to be allowed to continue filming there.

Quotes:

Jonny Sykes: [typing] Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of Jonny Sykes.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in This Side of Heaven (1934)

Soundtrack:

Artist's Life, Op.316

It ain't really true then again it ain't really a lie.

The life of Mexican rebel and maverick Pancho Villa is brought to the screen is in this highly fictional but yet log-line or plot points accurate story. This is clear to anyone because the opening has one of those disclaimers that states that though the story is true, the movie has fictionalized certain scenes and scenarios but is in essence a true portrait. Whatever! That said, despite unexpected tonal shifts (Howard Hawks was the original director before Jack Conway was brought in and re-shot a lot of his footage. It makes me wonder how the new Exorcist movie that Renny Harlin is reshooting will play) the film is a touching portrait of a man of the people who could never lead a nation. It does not patronize the dastardly or generally inhumane tactics of Villa. As far as Villa was concerned, it is war and one must vanquish the enemies completely. Take no prisoners was his approach. It has the typical, rotten scoundrel and bandit to careful redemption of the soul arc but is handled atypical which is a plus. Beery, one of the biggest stars Hollywood ever produced is solid in the role and should have gotten an Oscar nomination. Directing is solid except for sudden comic ouvres among the chaos stopping the movie from achieving rich resonance but overall enabling it to still work. Sets are huge, action sequences are passable and scenarios and dialogue are either very good or cliched in certain respects. But I think the ending of the movie has one of the best written scenes and final lines I've ever heard. I won't spoil it but it lets you know that what you've seen and read about is essentially a myth and legend and that's what people choose to remember and live on. Kinda like the ending of the movie Big Fish.