Viva! Viva Villa!

This is an exciting historical film about the famous Mexican patriot bandit containing a succession of fights , shootouts , pursuits , raids and breathtaking frames . The film chronicles the title role , the Mexican bandit and guerrilla leader who flourished in the early part of the XX Century with broadened focus on the filming his feats and actual war . As Mexican rebel Pancho Villa (Yul Brynner) leads a revolution against the ¨Colorados¨ commanded by Orozco ; being helped by an American aviator (Robert Mitchum) imprisoned in Mexico . Later on , when President Madero (Alexander Knox) is overthrown , they fight against dictator General Huertas (Herbert Lom).

This vibrant movie is an uneven rehash of Pancho Villa's legend including epic battles , explosions , chases , spectacular scenes and resulting to be a feast of action for the eyes . Interesting screenplay written by prestigious Robert Towne and Sam Peckinpah , based on the novel ¨Pancho Villa¨ by Douglas Lamford . Sam Peckinpah wrote the original script and was set to direct, but Yul Brynner didn't love the screenplay because it became Pancho Villa - a man who had given strict orders to shoot in cold blood all prisoners - "look like a bad guy" ; as Peckinpah was fired and his script was rewritten by Robert Towne to conform to Brynner's idea of what Villa was like . Yul Brynner plays nicely the notorious and rowdy bandit turned military leader , as he is almost-perfect in title role . While Robert Mitchum is the flying gunrunner who reluctantly aids Francisco Villa's revolutionary Mexican campaign . And Charles Bronson giving one of the last of his sadistic two-fisted guy portrayal with his trademark mustache , before being promoted to tough and box-office big-star . Remainder casting is frankly welll : Maria Gracia Buzzela as a seducer Mexican woman , Herbert Lom as General Huertas , Frank Wolff as Ramirez , John Ireland and Jill Ireland , this was the first movie to star real-life husband and wife Charles Bronson to be subsequently continued a large number of films . Being shot in Spain , there appears great secondaries , some important Spanish actors such as : Fernando Rey , Xan Das Bolas , Julio Peña , Jose Canalejas , Jose Maria Prada and seductive Diana Lorys who holds one of the highlights of the movie , when she dances a tempting dance with Yul Brynner . Colorful cinematography by Jack Hildyard , David Lean's usual , and assisted by outstanding cameramen as Ricardo Navarrete and John Cabrera. Shot on Spanish location in Casar De Talamanca (Guadalajara) and Colmenar Viejo (Madrid). Rousing and thrilling musical score by Maurice Jarre , the musician to milk the maxim impact from a lively leitmotif . Considering the talent involved plenty of magnificent actors and excellent technicians results in a good movie . Big-budgeted film by producer Ted Richmond with hundreds of extras , a lot of riders , and using trains , planes , helicopter for his filming . Sergio Leone was offered to direct but the turned down , as it was well directed by Buzz Kulik supported by Jose Maria Ochoa , Carlos Gil and Eduardo Garcia Maroto as direction assistants . Kulik was an expert filmmaker of TV movies and occasionally for cinema . He directed notorious series and TV films (The Lindberg kidnapping case , Pioneer woman , Brian's song , Riot , Rage of Angela) and adapted famous films for TV (From here to eternity with Natalie Wood , Women of valor) . Furthermore , he filmed some vehicles for famed actors as Burt Reynods (Shamus) , Lee Marvin (Sergeant Ryker) , Steve McQueen (The hunter) and Pierce Brosnan (Around the world in 80 days) .

Other films about Pancho Villa are the following ones : the classic ¨Viva Villa¨ by Jack Conway with Wallace Beery who forever belongs this role ; ¨Villa¨ with Rodolfo Hoyos and Brian Keith ; ¨Pancho Villa¨ by Eugenio Martin with Telly Savalas and Clint Walker and ¨Starring Pancho Villa as himself¨ by Bruce Beresford with Antonio Banderas .

The picture is based on true events , thus : Pancho Villa born in Chihuahua with the name Doroteo Arango, from his peasant upbringing he became an outlaw in his youth and adopted the name Francisco Villa from another outlaw . He played a leading role in the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) , winning many victories (as Torreon battle narrated in the film). For a time Villa, who seemed in line for leadership of Mexico, enjoyed the agreeable interest of the United States government, but William Randolph Hearsts media empire's press campaign against him and USA authorities then dropped Villa and supported his rival, Carranza. Villa's resentment resulted in the revenge raid on Columbus . Rating 7/10. Decent Villa/Zapata Western.

"Villa Rides" is the most accurate film depicting the life of the infamous mexican bandit, Pancho Villa. It's also filled with an all-star cast. Yul Brenner plays Villa to perfection (many other actors including Telly Savalas have played the role, but not as good as Brenner). Charles Bronson is equally good as Villa's sidekick who spends his free time humiliating and shooting mexicans. Robert Mitchum plays a pilot who gets involved in Villa's revolution. There is a constant pace of action and good dialogue ("Go outside and die. Where are your manners?" is what Bronson says to a mexican after the mexican tries to force himself on a young girl. Bronson shoots him and kicks him out the door). The buzzing noise Mitchum's airplane makes becomes annoying throughout the film (the director's name is Buzz) and the actor who plays the mexican villain seems to be more of a Woody Allen-type character than a vicious, sadistic tyrant. He makes up for that in his final scene. Classic stuff! The film is very rare and hard to find. If you get it, you're lucky.

Villa Rides is directed by Buzz Kulik and adapted to screenplay by Robert Towne and Sam Peckinpah from the biography of Pancho Villa written by William Douglas Lansford. It stars Yul Brynner, Robert Mitchum, Charles Bronson, Herbert Lom, Maria Grazia Buccella, Robert Viharo and Frank Wolff. Music is scored by Maurice Jarre and cinematography by Jack Hildyard.

Film is a fictionalised telling of a period in Pancho Villa's (Brynner) life, primarily his famous involvement in the Mexican Revolution at the start of the 20th Century.

The film that should have been a Peckinpah classic!? Maybe? There is no doubting that had Peckinpah been allowed to direct his own screenplay we would have got a far better, more brutal, Pancho Villa film. In fact if we just had Peckinpah's original screenplay intact and someone like Robert Aldrich to direct, then that surely would have given us a mean and moody biography of one José Doroteo Arango Arámbula (AKA: Francisco Villa or Pancho Villa)? Film history tells us that star Yul Brynner was most displeased with the portrayal of Villa as written on Bloody Sam's page. Brynner wanted, and got eventually, his Villa to be an heroic Robin Hood type man of the people, a romanticised revolutionary as it were. Not the driven bastardo prone to acts of horror and sneak tactics that Peckinpah envisaged for the film.

La Cucaracha.

Brynner laughably cited Peckinpah's lack of Mexican knowledge as reason for getting him off the film, laughable because Peckinpah was married to a Mexican and visited the country regularly! So Peckinpah was off, sold his screenplay to the producers, which was remodelled considerably by Robert Towne & Brynner, and he took much of the ideas from the writing for Villa Rides to craft his masterpiece a year later, The Wild Bunch. In to the director's chair came Buzz Kulik and Brynner got to don a toupee and portray Villa the way he wanted. Although, thankfully, Peckinpah's edginess does manage to flit in and out of the finished product.

Viva Villa! You can't fight for the revolution if you are dead.

What remains for viewing is far better than some would have you believe. True, it's no Western/War classic, some of the politico posturings fail to make a mark because they are not expanded on, and one yearns at times for some Peckinpah grit, grue and grim machinations. There's also casting issues, for although I actually don't mind Brynner as Villa because he attacks the role with fanciful relish, he is generally miscast, while Mitchum manages to get by on laconic charm rather than have a character worthy of putting effort into. But if you can forgive the obvious missteps then it's a good two hours of rip-snorting entertainment.

It's always a question of money with you Gringo.

Kulik (Sergeant Ryker) keeps things lively and proves adept at action directing. The battles scenes are high on quality, particularly for the engagement at Conejos, where stunt men and horses are flung around the place, explosions puncture the air, the artillery on show resplendent as it deals out damage. Hundreds of costumed extras cut a swathe through each other, a plane and a train impact greatly on proceedings, while potent scenes involving the bad things that men do add fuel to the loud expressive fire. Jarre's score is fabulous, Latino flavours mix with high energy thunder to bounce off the burning sun with aural pleasure, while Hildyard keeps the Spanish locales vibrant in colours. Then there's Bronson stealing the movie with his portrayal of Rodolfo Fierro, a man who enjoys killing and tormenting the enemy, with dark humour also etched into his make-up.

Fanciful, fun and fiery, with flaws enough for sure, but still a good time to be had for the genre faithful. 7/10

So far I haven't seen one film about Pancho Villa that got it right and Villa Rides is definitely one of them. Perhaps the proposed biographical film that Johnny Depp will star in might do Villa some justice.

Yul Brynner and Robert Mitchum co-star in Villa Rides with Brynner in the title role. Mitchum plays your typical soldier of fortune although in his case he's a pilot of fortune. He's a pilot of one of those new fangled airplanes and it is through his eyes we see the story of the film unfold.

A damaged aircraft delays Mitchum in Mexico after making a delivery and before he knows it, he's hip deep in the revolution that is going on in Mexico. At this point in his career Villa is one of several guerrilla chiefs supporting the new republic and the presidency of the idealistic Francisco Madero played here by Alexander Knox. Madero himself was a strange and fascinating character, one day he might get a biographical film study of his tragic life.

The Mexican Revolution of the teen years saw the country give way to anarchy with Villa eventually becoming one of several generalissimos controlling a piece of Mexican turf. As Villa operated in the extreme north of the country it was his bad fortune to later on raid into the USA and get Woodrow Wilson to send our army after him.

Here at the beginning Villa though after Mitchum talks his way into not being shot by his forces, Brynner sees the value of Mitchum's airplane as a weapon of war. He puts one of his aides Charles Bronson to ride herd on Mitchum and the two of them don't get along at all.

According to Lee Server's book on Mitchum they didn't get along all that well during the filming. Another Mitchum, brother John Mitchum wrote in his memoirs that Bronson was a very reserved sort who guarded his privacy strictly. They apparently had no problem on the set of Bronson's film Breakheart Pass which John Mitchum had a small part.

Mitchum and Brynner got along however which was not always the case with Brynner. Yul Brynner was a man of some mystery who liked it that way, he was and could be standoffish with fellow players, but apparently he and Mitchum worked well together in their only joint film.

The film was shot in Spain and I have to say the battle sequences were very well staged. They are the best part of Villa Rides.

A good, but not a great film. I do have to wonder that when Black Jack Pershing came into Mexico later on after the action of this film concluded, might not Mitchum be in a real jackpot fighting against the American army at that point.

Released in 1968, "Villa Rides" stars Robert Mitchum as a Texas pilot/gunrunner who is thrust into the Mexican Revolution by his own greed. After being disillusioned by the Colorados (Orozquistas), he hooks up with bandit-turned-nationalist Pancho Villa (Yul Brynner) & his hardened patriots to face off against the Colorados in Northern Mexico. Charles Bronson and Robert Viharo play Villa's grim and merry assistants respectively while Maria Grazia Buccella is on hand as a woman that strikes the pilot's fancy. Herbert Lom appears as an enemy general while Alexander Knox plays naïve President Madero. Jill Ireland has a small role at the end.

Sam Peckinpah wrote the original screenplay and was slated to direct, but Brynner felt the script made Villa out to be too harsh, so Yul used his pull to get Robert Towne to rewrite it and the producers pursued another director, ending up with Buzz Kulik.

While this is more historical fiction than reality, it does successfully bring you back in time to the Mexican Revolution and helps you envision what it must have been like to ride with the legendary Villa. The movie definitely has more credibility than the incongruously-toned "Pancho Villa" (1972) with Telly Savalas in the titular role (although that Western is worth catching just for Villa's "invasion" of America with his raid on Columbus, New Mexico, a town three miles from the border, on March 9, 1916). The first half of "Villa Rides" is a decent Western, but the action-packed second half starts to go off the rails, as far as sustaining the viewer's interest. The filmmakers obviously needed to take more time to work the kinks out and draw forth the film's potential.

The movie runs 122 minutes and was shot in Guadalajara, Castilla-La Mancha & Madrid, Spain and Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora & Guanajuato City).

GRADE: Borderline C+/B-