Sturm über Mexiko

The Soldiers of Pancho Villa (1959)

The original Mexican title of this movie was "La Cucaracha". But, there was a 1934 technicolor short made in the U.S. with that same title, so here in the States, it's known as The Soldiers of Pancho Villa although you don't ever see General Villa in the film.

This Eastman Color movie, filmed in Durango, Mexico, by Ismael Rodríguez, is a great drama, and stars many famous Mexican actors of the golden age of Mexican cinema.

The film opens with Colonel Antonio Zeta (Emilio 'el Indio' Fernández) and what's left of his revolutionary soldiers, the Northern Panthers, staggering into town. His orders from General Villa are to attack a heavily fortified city with what ever soldiers he can muster. So, Colonel Zeta must conscript the local men and many boys of the village to join the fight whether they want to or not.

Captain Ventura (Antonio Aguilar) is a local officer who isn't sure whether to follow Colonel Zeta into a doomed mission or not, but anything for the revolution.

One of the drafted men that Antonio Zeta collects is the village teacher, who although he agrees with the revolution, is a pacifist. His wife, Isabel Puente (Dolores del Rio) pleads with the Colonel to set her husband free, to no luck. Isabel will soon find that her husband was killed and blames Colonel Zeta for this.

It is also here that he meets Refugio, or La Cucaracha (played by famous Mexican actress La María or María Félix) who is an infamous revolutionary, party girl, and camp follower. Naturally, the two are going to fall into a fiery love affair. That is until he meets up and must duel with a jilted ex-lover, Colonel Valentín Razo (Pedro Armendáriz).

Emilio Fernández, a colonel in Pancho Villa's army, comes into a Mexican town to scoop up as many men as he can to attack a heavily fortified city in what seems like a suicidal attack.

María Félix is the titular soldier/groupie/party girl who tries to get Fernández's attention, but he's having none of it and orders all the women following the soldiers to leave.

The suicidal attack turns out to be a ruse that buys Villa enough time to attack the city from another direction. Fernández is hailed a hero, and he now wants to get close to Félix, but she's not having it. After some slapping and stripping, they fall in love. Everything seems fine until former lover Pedro Armendáriz shows up demanding satisfaction. Fernández dispatches him, but thinks that maybe Félix is too much for him and polite and proper war widow Dolores del Rio might make a better match.

The Mexican Revolution is the backdrop for a really fiery love triangle melodrama. This is pretty heated stuff and lots of fun.

Having the acting of María Félix, Indio Fernández and Dolores del Río, one may expect to see a superb Mexican film, but unfortunately this is not the case. Acting of Félix was far to be good and plot of the film was mediocre in general. The first scenes of the film were simply artificial, it looks like a film made by an amateur. For example, the brief acting of Pedro Armendáriz was incoherent and a forced step to provide more meaningless emotion to the film. The positive sides of the film were the acting of Dolores del Río, so then old but beautiful and attractive, as well as the one of Indio Fernández, who performed very well the role of the officer Zeta and also as the 'macho' of both Mexican female stars. It also showed how divided were the revolutionary movement in Mexico, some in favor of Pancho Villa and others favoring Porfirio Díaz.

I love this movie i had see few times in television is about the Mexican revolution but honestly the reason i like the movie is because Maria Felix and Dolores del Rio are together for the first and only time in their life , Maria more beautiful and younger than del Rio but both were huge movie stars Dolores very well know in united states and Maria very well know in the rest of the planet but not in USA, la Felix was beautiful , elegant and unique a real legend she never let herself go down not even in the last years of her life when she was almost 90 years old she still WAS Maria Felix , i love this woman she was maybe the most fantastic movie star of the 20 century, Dolores was a beautiful and a nice well educated lady she came from a very rich background but was not as fascinate as MARIA FELIX

If you like this sort of melodrama then Maria Felix can really give it to you. You might want to gen up about the Mexican Revolution, and if you find it too complex just watch this wonderfully over the top actor and not care. Emma Pennela had it and so did Melina Mercouri, but Felix despite the fact that nuances was not her style steals this wonderful fantasy ( or is it crazy reality ? ) of how powerful women can fight and win a revolution. The males strut around, and the women give in to them, but fight back when they need to. It was ' X ' certificated in the UK which is incredible given that it was released there in 1960. The fighting is full force, but nothing to disturb, and the sexuality is erotic ( a shot of a naked back and rolling around with clothes on ) not exactly worthy of such a high certificate. Hard to find, but look for it as it is deliriously worthwhile, even if the colour is brash and the filming a bit rough. It is quite simply fun.