Viva Villa!

Unrated

4/27/19341h 55m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ ...TOO BIG FOR HOLLYWOOD...it was dramatized in the heart of Mexico, with a cast of thousands! ~

Overview:

In this fictionalized biography, young Pancho Villa takes to the hills after killing an overseer in revenge for his father's death.

Director:

Jack Conway

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

biography
pre-code
pancho villa

Cast

Wallace Beery

~ as ~

Pancho Villa

Leo Carrillo

~ as ~

Sierra

Fay Wray

~ as ~

Teresa

Donald Cook

~ as ~

Don Felipe de Castillo

Stuart Erwin

~ as ~

Jonny Sykes

Henry B. Walthall

~ as ~

Francisco Madero

Joseph Schildkraut

~ as ~

Gen. Pascal

Katherine DeMille

~ as ~

Rosita Morales

George E. Stone

~ as ~

Emilio Chavito

Phillip Cooper

~ as ~

Pancho Villa as a Boy

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 4 month(s) ago
6
Wallace Beery does fine here as the legendary Mexican bandit-cum-patriot Pancho Villa. He pretty much pleases himself as he and his men maraud the countryside imposing their own unique sort of revolutionary justice. Then he meets the sophisticated democrat Madero (Henry B. Walthall) who dreams of a country free of European domination, but he wants one that is peaceful and law-abiding, so Pancho isn’t a natural fit for the task. After a few jitters, though, he agrees to put his men under the command of General Pascal (Joseph Schildkraut) and next thing there’s an abdication and a new man in what is now the presidential palace. Content that all is well, Pancho returns to his old ways and is only just saved from the firing squad by an intervention from the President, though instead he is banished to Texas. It’s when he is awakened there with some shocking news that he returns south with vengeance on his mind. The whole thing is loosely based on the real men that feature, but if you want an history lesson then this isn’t the place. It’s an out-and-out adventure movie that centres around a character actor who frequently looks like he’s about to start to giggle, and there are a couple of decent supporting roles from Fay Wray as “Theresa”, Stuart Elwin as the newshound Jonny and the scene-stealing George E. Stone who just simply refuses to draw a bull on anything, favouring a pigeon instead. It’s fairly action-packed and it does offer a slight nod to the principled sentiments of democracy and freedom, but essentially it’s just a lively outing for Beery.