Viva Maria! (1965)

Somewhere in Middle America, 1907: Maria II, the daugther of an Irish terrorist, meets after the dead of her father Maria I, the singer of an circus. She decided to stay with the circus. On... See full summary »

Director:

Louis Malle

Writers:

Louis Malle (scenario and dialogue), Jean-Claude Carrière (scenario and dialogue)

Stars:

Brigitte Bardot, Jeanne Moreau, Paulette Dubost

Won 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Brigitte Bardot	...	Maria I
Jeanne Moreau	...	Maria II
Paulette Dubost	...	Mme Diogène
Claudio Brook	...	The Great Rodolfo
Carlos López Moctezuma	...	Rodríguez (as Carlos Lopez Moctezuma)
Poldo Bendandi	...	Werther
Gregor von Rezzori	...	Diogène (as Gregor Von Rezzori)
Francisco Reiguera	...	Father Superior
Jonathan Eden	...	Juanito Diogène
Roberto Pedret	...	Pablo
José Ángel Espinosa 'Ferrusquilla'	...	The Dictator of San Miguel (as José Ángel Espinoza)
George Hamilton	...	Flores

Storyline

Somewhere in Middle America, 1907: Maria II, the daugther of an Irish terrorist, meets after the dead of her father Maria I, the singer of an circus. She decided to stay with the circus. On her debue as a singer, she accidently invented strip-tease, that made the circus famous. But accidently they meet an sozialist revolutionair and finding themselves leading this revolution against the dictaor, the capitalists and the church.

---

Plot Keywords:

church | circus | revolution | rebellion | year 1907 | 

---

Taglines:

Just in case you can't catch the words above the roar of battle and laughter you can read 'em at the bottom of the screen.

---

Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Romance | Western

---

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

English Spanish French German

Release Date:

18 December 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

Viva Maria

Filming Locations:

Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$2,200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF), Les Productions Artistes Associés, Vides Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The gun that shoots around a corner that "The Great Rodolfo" develops as part of this story is found in a similar weapon called the periscope rifle in 1915 which allowed for the actuation of the trigger from beneath the line of sight of the firearm. Simmilarly, the Krummlauf was a bent barrel attachment was created in WWII for shooting around corners from a safe position. And CornerShot, designed in the early 2000s, allows its operator to both see and attack an armed target, without exposing the operator to counterattack.

---

Goofs

The machine gun that cuts down the palms should have run out of ammunition.

---

Connections

Referenced in Le Bonheur (1965)

---

Soundtracks

"Maria Maria"
(uncredited)
Music by Georges Delerue and lyrics by Jean-Claude Carrière
Performed by Brigitte Bardot and Jeanne Moreau

User Reviews

Stands up well today!

VIVA MARIA, a French-Italian co-production, is set in the revolution-torn Mexico in the early 1900s. Maria (Brigitte Bardot) - the daughter of an IRA operative - journeys to Mexico and meets up with her namesake Jeanne Moreau. Under the guise of circus/vaudevillian entertainers, they pursue their revolutionary activities around the countryside. The illustrious pair are captured but escape to fight with an enthusiastic peasantry to free San Miguel from its Spanish oppressors. Thoroughly entertaining and rollicking fun with spectacular visual action. Most of the film was shot on location in Mexico and the railway scenes filmed authentically on the 3ft gauge Interoceanic division of National Railways of Mexico. The featured steam loco is G-023 class 2-8-0 No. 66 (Alco 5209).