Old Gringo (1989)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Luis Puenzo

Writers (WGA):

Carlos Fuentes (novel)
Aída Bortnik (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

6 October 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | History

Tagline:

A woman inspired by a man of dreams swept into the arms of a general, and drawn into a worlds of danger.

Plot:

When school teacher Harriet Winslow (Jane Fonda) goes to Mexico to teach, she is kidnapped by Gen. Tomas Arroyo (Jimmy Smits) & his revolutionaries...

Plot Keywords:

Mexico | Showdown | Interracial Relationship | Mexican Revolution | Rebellion

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Jane Fonda	...	Harriet Winslow
Gregory Peck	...	Ambrose Bierce
Jimmy Smits	...	Gen. Tomas Arroyo
Patricio Contreras	...	Col. Frutos Garcia
Jenny Gago	...	La Garduna
Gabriela Roel	...	La Luna
Sergio Calderón	...	Zacarias (as Sergio Calderon)
Guillermo Ríos	...	Monsalvo (as Guillermo Rios)
Jim Metzler	...	Ron
Samuel Valadez De La Torre	...	Consul Saunders
Anne Pitoniak	...	Mrs. Winslow
Pedro Armendáriz Jr.	...	Pancho Villa (as Pedro Armendariz Jr.)
Stanley Grover	...	Gen. Saunders
Josefina Echánove	...	Clementina (as Josefina Echanove)
Pedro Damián	...	Capt. Ovando (as Pedro Damian)

Runtime:

Japan:120 min | USA:119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Durango, Mexico

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

According to the American Humane Association, the scene involving the shooting of General Arroyo's horse had no humane representative present but the AHA spoke with Gregory Peck, who was present during the entire filming of the scene. Peck described in great detail how the shocking effect was achieved, and assured the AHA that the horse, Twister, was not harmed. The AHA went to the California ranch where Twister is kept so that we could observe him recreate his specialty fall. Twister performed beautifully and is in excellent condition.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: At the end of the movie as Harriet Winslow is crossing the Rio Grande, the river flows from right to left. If she were actually crossing the border from Mexico to America (northward), the river would flow from left to right (eastward).

Quotes:

Gen. Tomas Arroyo: Do you want to drink with me?
Ambrose Bierce: I thought you didn't drink.
Gen. Tomas Arroyo: Oh, I don't drink with the living. But tonight I come to visit the dead, to celebrate with them. Do you visit your dead ones, amigo?
Ambrose Bierce: No, but sometimes they come to visit me.

Movie Connections:

Featured in A Conversation with Gregory Peck (1999)

Brilliant in all respects

The director, Luis Puenzo, crafted an extraordinary vision of the drama that confronts players when they decide to make revolution. Puenzo took us behind the scenes of a sweeping political struggle and made the viewer examine the personal details and the personal confrontations of the actors as they tred the stage of events that were much bigger than themselves.

I know, I know-all of this has been done before; it's formula scrip work but the brilliance of the cast and the direction make Old Gringo into a movie that you will return to over and over again like a favourite old wine or a dish that you never tire of eating.

The principal cast of Fonda, Smits and Peck enliven an already sumptuous tapestry woven by Puenzo. The film is visually rich and the eye is as entranced by the beauty of the scenes as much as the mind is satisfied with the meat of the story.

People owe it to themselves to see such a rich film.