Viva Villa!

Name: Viva Villa!
Genre: Western
Released: 1934-04-27
Duration: 1 h 55 min
Rating: 6.4
Cast: Wallace Beery, Fay Wray, Leo Carrillo

19341934
PassedPassed
1h 55m

6.4/10

1.3K

Western

After enacting revenge on the overseer who murdered his father, Pancho Villa becomes a bandit, earning the respect of the poor by brutally attacking the wealthy.After enacting revenge on the overseer who murdered his father, Pancho Villa becomes a bandit, earning the respect of the poor by brutally attacking the wealthy.After enacting revenge on the overseer who murdered his father, Pancho Villa becomes a bandit, earning the respect of the poor by brutally attacking the wealthy.

6.4/10

1.3K

Directors
- Jack Conway
- Howard Hawks(uncredited)
- William A. Wellman(uncredited)
Writers
- Ben Hecht(screen play)
- Edgecumb Pinchon(suggested by the book by)
- O.B. Stade(suggested by the book by)
Stars

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 4 wins & 4 nominations total

Wallace Beery and Fay Wray in Viva Villa! (1934)

Wallace Beery and Katherine DeMille in Viva Villa! (1934)

Wallace Beery, Donald Cook, Leo Carrillo, André Cheron, Stuart Erwin, George Regas, Paul Stanton, and Arthur Treacher in Viva Villa! (1934)

Wallace Beery, Donald Cook, and Fay Wray in Viva Villa! (1934)

Wallace Beery, Katherine DeMille, and Stuart Erwin in Viva Villa! (1934)

Directors
- Jack Conway
- Howard Hawks(uncredited)
- William A. Wellman(uncredited)
Writers
- Ben Hecht(screen play)
- Edgecumb Pinchon(suggested by the book by)
- O.B. Stade(suggested by the book by)
All cast & crew
See more cast details at IMDbPro

In this fictionalized biography, young Pancho Villa takes to the hills after killing an overseer in revenge for his father's death. In 1910, he befriends American reporter Johnny Sykes. Then a meeting with visionary Francisco Madero transforms Villa from an avenging bandit to a revolutionary general. To the tune of 'La Cucaracha,' his armies sweep Mexico. After victory, Villa's bandit-like disregard for human life forces Madero to exile him. But Madero's fall brings Villa back to raise the people against a new tyrant... —Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>

bartender ambush bushwhacker cigarette smoking retribution 42 more

Taglines
- 20,000 flaming headlines leap to life as this epic drama flashes across the screens of the nation!
Genre
- Western
Certificate
- Passed
Parents guide
- Add content advisory

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.

Goofs
President Madero is shown as being overthrown in a coup by Gen. Pascal, who then shoots him. In reality, there was no such general named Pascal; Madero was assassinated on the orders of Gen. Victoriano Huerta, who did overthrow him but who did not personally shoot him.

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

Alternate versions
In the original version of this film, during the scene in which Wallace Beery tries to rape Fay Wray and she shoots him in the arm, Beery horsewhips her after she begins laughing hysterically at him. The whipping is shown only by their shadows on the wall. After the Production Code went into effect, this scene was edited, and it is the edited version that was officially available for years. In 2015, the scene was restored, and was reinstated in the Warner Archive Collection DVD.

Connections
Featured in David O. Selznick: 'Your New Producer' (1935)

Soundtracks
La Cucaracha
(uncredited)
Traditional
New lyrics by Ned Washington
Sung by chorus at intervals throughout film
Played as background music often

Top review

6/10

Wallace Beery Invades Mexico

After witnessing his father being whipped to death, grown-up Mexican bandit Wallace Beery (as Pancho Villa) becomes his country's revolutionary war hero. Boozy reporter Stuart Irwin (as Johnny Sykes) and peace-loving liberator Henry B. Walthall (as Francisco Madero) are important allies. Nurturing a taste for ladies and liquor, Mr. Beery marries Spanish spitfire Katherine De Mille (the real-life daughter of director Cecil B., as Rosita Morales). Later, Beery is tempted to add beautiful Fay Wray (as Teresa) to his harem.

The Mexican armies sing "La Cucaracha, la Cucaracha!" while future "East Side Kid" David Durand plays the bugle.

Beery's vanquished rival Joseph Schildkraut (as General Pascal) suffers a torturous fate, but dastardly Donald Cook (as Don Felipe) gets a last shot. MGM production values are high for this hammy, heavy-handed star vehicle, wisely introduced as "fictionalized." With "box office" Beery at the helm, "Viva Villa!" was a hit. It won critical acclaim at Venice, where Berry was the festival's "Best Actor". In a brief scene, the real-life son of early movie idol Francis X. Bushman plays a nerdy newspaperman ("Wallace Calloway").

****** Viva Villa! (4/10/34) Jack Conway ~ Wallace Beery, Stuart Irwin, Henry B. Walthall, Donald Cook

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