Viva Max

Viva Max is a mildly diverting but inconsequential piece of fluff whose main idea – the retaking of the Alamo by the Mexicans 130 years after they famously failed to oust Davy Crockett and his mates – just doesn't have strong enough legs to carry it much beyond a 20-minute skit. Peter Ustinov – an undoubted talent, but not one that was probably not best-suited to film – just about avoids slipping into broad caricature. His character is inspired by wounded personal pride rather than national fervour, which effectively shuts off a possibly richer vein of humour, but Ustinov does at least manage to make him kind of believable within the context of the film. There is even an element of pathos toward the climax in the relationship between him and his loyal sergeant (John Astin – probably the best thing about this). Jonathan Winters, Harry Morgan and Keenan Wynn clearly don't have Ustinov's keen eye for emphasising the few interesting aspects in their broadly drawn characters and therefore resort to broad farce which weakens things considerably. This one's unlikely to appeal to any casual viewer born after 1970.

"Viva Max!" is a satirical comedy about what might happen if the Mexicans attempted to retake the Alamo. Following the battle in 1836, the Alamo has become an icon of American patriotism, even though the battle was technically a Mexican victory and even though the defenders were not fighting for the United States but for the long-defunct Republic of Texas. The standard patriotic version of the events of 1836 is narrated in the John Wayne epic from 1960, a film referred to several times in "Viva Max!" The Mexicans, of course, also have their own patriotic take on these events, seeing themselves as gallantly resisting U.S. aggression and conveniently forgetting that it was the dictatorial high-handedness of their government which provoked the War of Texan Independence and the incompetence of that government which led to them losing it.

The "hero" of the film is General Maximilian Rodriguez de Santos, a Mexican officer who is inspired to mount his invasion not by patriotism but by the desire to impress his mistress, who has taunted him that his men would not even follow him into a brothel. Despite his elevated rank, the General only has a single platoon of soldiers under his command, but this proves to be sufficient. They bluff their way past the American border guards, catch a bus into the centre of San Antonio and then storm into the Alamo just before closing time, capturing it without needing to fire a shot. (Which is just as well, as they have forgotten to bring any ammunition with them).

The film's star, Peter Ustinov, does not appear to have had a very high opinion of it; in his witty and entertaining autobiography "Dear Me" he dismisses it in a single sentence. He does, however, find room to tell us that it was banned in Mexico. The Mexican authorities presumably took exception to the depiction of their army as an incompetent, cowardly, ill-disciplined rabble led by buffoons like General Max. It was fortunate for the film-makers that the American constitution guarantees free speech, including the right to lampoon national institutions, otherwise the film might also have been banned north of the Rio Grande.

Certainly, the Americans in this film are satirised just as mercilessly as their Mexican counterparts. The National Guard general tasked with retaking the Alamo is more concerned with his furniture business than with warfare and is reluctant to order an attack for fear of alienating his customers (most of whom are Mexican-Americans). There is also a regular general who proves no more competent, a State Department official whose patronising attitude to the Mexicans prevents a peaceful resolution to the standoff and a right-wing militia who believe that Max and his men are part of a gigantic Chinese Communist conspiracy to take over America. The political left are also satirised in the person of Paula, the glamorous radical-chic student who manages to persuade herself that Max is a heroic Marxist revolutionary in the Che Guevara mould.

Although the Academy unaccountably awarded him an Oscar for his role in "Spartacus", I have always thought that Ustinov's talents lay more in the field of comedy than of serious drama. Some have taken exception to his performance in this film, largely on the grounds that they consider it politically incorrect for an actor to portray a character of an ethnicity different to his own, but given that Ustinov was the son of a Russian mother and a German father of Russian extraction, also had French, Italian, Ethiopian and Polish ancestry, held a British passport and lived in Switzerland it would be difficult to define precisely what his own ethnicity was. His varied background made him a master of different accents, a skill he puts to good use here. His Max is a brilliant comic creation, a satire on the military mind, and yet at the same time a human being who manages, for all his flaws, to retain a certain amount of sympathy.

Not all the satire really works, although Ustinov receives some good support from Jonathan Winters as the furniture-dealing General Hallson, John Astin as the bullying Sergeant Valdez and Kenneth Mars as the militia leader who finds out too late that his men would rather talk tough about Communism than fight it. Perhaps the greatest tribute to the film was paid by those Texans who staged protests against the movie, stopping filming taking place in the Alamo itself, which they regarded as a "sacred shrine". They evidently didn't realise that it was this sort of jingoistic pomposity that the film was sending up. 6/10

OK, So I'm not old enough to have seen this movie in the theaters. Either way, It's really late, and I'm flipping through old reruns of Lassie, and Star Trek. I come upon this movie that has John Astin in it. Now I'm a bit of an Addams Family Fan, so I figure "Why Not?" To Put it simply, It was hilarious!! And it really showed that Astin can do more than one type of comedy. Pretty much every comedy character I have ever seen him play is the zany, sometimes idiotic, REALLY out of touch guy.(Gomez Addams, Buddy from Night Court) In 'Viva Max' as Sgt. Valdez His comedy is far more serious, and quite deadpan. After seeing this movie my appreciation of Astin as an actor and comedian raised considerably.

This movie was also my introduction to Peter Ustinov as an actor. He plays the General, the central character of this movie, and he really carries the role well. In fact, without his serious portrayal of this character, the movie wouldn't be nearly as funny. His acting ability clearly shows through in this movie, even making an authoritative character into a sympathetic character at some points. After watching this movie, I sought out other Ustinov movies (there were quite a few) and I can honestly say that now Ustinov is one of my Favorite actors of all time.

Harry Morgan is back again in his Support your local sheriff / Colonel Potter role. But it is still quite entertaining.

All I can say is that if you get the chance to watch this movie, do so...You will not regret it.

What a hoot! Wa-a-a-ay too subtle a depiction of Texas characters for a Scotsman to understand.

Then there's the action: Border crossing? - If only it were this stringent... San Antonio - yep. Mexican Army - Yeah: been there, seen them. State Department characters - figures (in fact, it's rather flattering to our "diplomats".)

Other images: El General riding his horse, while the soldados walk; the "army" riding the bus into San Antonio - PERFECT. John Astin as El Sargente - que bueno!

Then there are the main characters: Peter Ustinov - perfect for the role. Pamela Tiffin - The Baylor coed - exactly as shown.

Thumbs up for Viva Max from a life-long Texan.

My father rented this on 16mm many years ago and I remember it well, particularly Ustinov and the music. I recently found a print and it is all I thought it to be, and that is just a gentle smile of a movie, no BIG laughs, good cast and a little premise of a plot. The jokes often work and there is even some drama along the way. In particular, Kenneth Mars plays a frightening role indeed. But we are among friends - Jonathan Winters (always fun), Keenan Wynn, Alice Ghostly and others whom we have seen a dozen times over. This forgotten film sticks with you as time passes so if you ever catch it, have a cup of coffee with some cinematic friends and at the end you will even say VIVA USTINOV.