IMDb RATING
6.5/10
3.3K
YOUR RATING
Hollywood makes a deal with Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa to film his war and recreate his life.Hollywood makes a deal with Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa to film his war and recreate his life.Hollywood makes a deal with Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa to film his war and recreate his life.
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
3.3K
YOUR RATING
- Won 1 Primetime Emmy
- 8 wins & 23 nominations total
Videos1
Anthony Head
- William Bentonas William Benton
- (as Anthony Stewart Head)
Pedro Armendáriz Jr.
- Don Luis Terrazasas Don Luis Terrazas
- (as Pedro Armendáriz)
- Director
- Writer
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
- All cast & crew
Storyline
Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa (Antonio Banderas) finds himself without adequate funding to finance his war against the military-run government. He also finds himself at odds with the Americans because of the Hearst media empire's press campaign against him. To counter both of these, he sends emissaries to movie producers to convince them to pay to film his progress and the actual battles. Producer D.W. Griffith (Colm Feore) becomes interested and sends Frank Thayer (Eion Bailey) with a film crew to develop film reels. Thayer becomes horrified and fascinated by the bandit. He finds an enigmatic individual that is both ghoulishly brutal and charmingly captivating. The resulting film became the first feature length movie, introducing scores of Americans to the true horrors of war that they had never personally seen. Thayer sold the studios on making the film despite their concerns that no one would sit through a movie longer than 1 hour by convincing them that they could raise the price of movies to ten cents, doubling the going price at that time. —John Sacksteder <jsackste@bellsouth.net>
- Taglines
- Lights. Camera. Revolution.
- Genres
- Certificate
- TV-MA
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaWhile filming a battle between the forces of Pancho Villa and federal troops near Ojinaga for Life of Villa (1912), cameraman Charles Rosher was captured by federal soldiers and brought before their commanding general. Rosher thought he was about to be executed as a spy, and things didn't look too good for him until the Mexican general noticed Rosher's Masonic pin in his lapel. The general then gave Rosher the Masonic greeting; it turned out he was a Mason, too. Instead of being shot as a spy, Rosher was treated as a guest, and was later released after the Mexican government made a deal with the American government that allowed their troops to cross into American territory in order to outflank Villa's forces and attack them from the rear.
- GoofsThe screen title "May 9, 1914 - New York City" appears over a shot of Times Square. A billboard reads "The Broadway Melody - Metro Goldwyn Mayer". That studio was founded in 1924, and that movie was released in 1929.
- Quotes
Sam Drebben: Another day, another dollar.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (2004)
- SoundtracksTierra Mestiza
Written by Gerardo Tamez
Perforrmed by Los Toenegritas
Courtesy of Directóra del Toenegre
Top review
A Movie About a Revolutionary and a Legend of a Lost Movie
In 1914, the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa (Antonio Banderas) invites studios to shoot his actual battles against Porfírio Diaz army to raise funds for financing guns and ammunition. The Mutual Film Corporation, through producer D.W. Griffith (Colm Feore), interests for the proposition and sends the filmmaker Frank Thayer (Eion Bailey) to negotiate a contract with Pancho Villa himself. They become very close and along months, Frank makes the first feature five reels length movie, "The Life of General Villa", when the usual was two reels only. After edition, another reality about Pancho Villa is screened for the audience.
"And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself" is a surprisingly good made for television movie. The story about the life of Pancho Villa is also homage to a lost movie. In accordance with the legend, the first five reels length movie would be "The Life of General Villa", directed in 1914 by Frank Thayer with Pancho Villa as himself. Truth, or legend, this interesting movie was nominated for Golden Globe, awarded with seven wins and another eighteen nominations. The cast is splendid, highlighting the performance of Antonio Banderas, who gives a great credibility to General Pancho Villa. My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): "E Estrelando Pancho Villa" ("And Starring Pancho Villa")
"And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself" is a surprisingly good made for television movie. The story about the life of Pancho Villa is also homage to a lost movie. In accordance with the legend, the first five reels length movie would be "The Life of General Villa", directed in 1914 by Frank Thayer with Pancho Villa as himself. Truth, or legend, this interesting movie was nominated for Golden Globe, awarded with seven wins and another eighteen nominations. The cast is splendid, highlighting the performance of Antonio Banderas, who gives a great credibility to General Pancho Villa. My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): "E Estrelando Pancho Villa" ("And Starring Pancho Villa")
helpful•93
- claudio_carvalho
- Oct 1, 2006
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Med Pancho Villa som sig själv
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 52 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1
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