Plot
In 1746 Mexico, a womanizing outlaw, the army deserter Leon Alastray (Anthony Quinn) is wounded and pursued by the Spanish military into a church. He is given sanctuary by a sympathetic priest (Sam Jaffe), who will not turn Alastray over to the military. The church authorities side with the army, and when the priest still refuses to hand Alastray over they send him to minister to a remote village, San Sebastian. The priest smuggles Alastray, who is proudly atheistic and anti-clerical, past the soldiers surrounding the church. Alastray feels guilty for what has happened to the priest, so accompanies him to the village to ensure he gets there safely. However, he is angry and embittered throughout the trip.
They arrive at San Sebastian to find the church barely stands and the village apparently abandoned. The priest is killed by a marauding vaquero, but his ringing of the church bell brings the villagers out from their hiding places in the surrounding hills. They hide there because they are regularly terrorized by Yaqui Indians. The villagers mistake Alastray for a priest. He at first denies it and is scornful of them, but, guided by a persistent village woman, Kinita (Anjanette Comer), to whom he is attracted, decides to take on the role and organize the villagers. They are aided by the persuasive power of an accident the villagers think is a miracle.
Teclo (Charles Bronson) is a half-breed leader of the vaqueros. He pretends to side with the villagers, but in reality wants them to be scattered in the hills permanently, under his leadership. While Alastray organizes the men of the village to build a dam, the Yaqui attack and massacre many of the inhabitants of the village. The angry villagers order the priest out. Alastray leaves, with Kinita following. He tells her all his life he has fallen just short of achieving something meaningful, and sends her back to the village. A storm of approaching riders are heard, and the two take cover. They see Teclo and the Yaqui leader, Golden Lance (Jaime Fernández) together, and realize the alliance of those two means terrible things for the village.
Alastray goes to the capital and, using a previous romantic connection, obtains muskets, gunpowder, and a cannon, which he takes back to the village. When the villagers see the weapons, they are encouraged and willing to fight. Alastray makes a peace overture to Golden Lance, which is initially successful, but Teclo sabotages it and a Yaqui attack is inevitable.
On the eve of the battle, the villagers ask Alastray to lead them in a Mass. He tells them he is not a priest, but they nonetheless accept him. Together, they repel the Yaqui attack on the village, but they use up most of their gunpowder and their prospects appear grim. However, a village boy out playing sees the vaqueros and the Yaquis gather in preparation for the next day's attack. During the night, Alastray and a few villagers set charges in a mountainside overlooking the gathering place, to explode rocks down onto the attackers.
The next morning, Teclo rides by and sees the fuse to the charges, but the villagers kill him before he can do anything about it. The Yaquis gather below the rocks, and most, including Golden Lance, are killed when the charges are detonated. With the area pacified, government authorities come to administer the village. A military officer recognizes Alastray and sends soldiers to capture him. The villagers outwit the soldiers, getting them to pursue a decoy. Alastray flees on horseback in the opposite direction, with Kinita riding after him.
Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca, better known by his stage name Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental virility" in numerous critically acclaimed films both in Hollywood and abroad. His notable films include La Strada, The Guns of Navarone, Guns for San Sebastian, Lawrence of Arabia, The Shoes of the Fisherman, The Message, Lion of the Desert, and Jungle Fever. He also had an Oscar-nominated titular role in Zorba the Greek.
Zorba the Greek is a 1964 comedy-drama film written, produced, edited, and directed by Greek Cypriot filmmaker Michael Cacoyannis. It stars Anthony Quinn as Zorba, an earthy and boisterous Cretan peasant, and Alan Bates as the buttoned-up young intellectual he befriends. The cast also includes Lila Kedrova, Irene Papas, and Sotiris Moustakas. The musical score was composed by Mikis Theodorakis. The film is based on the 1946 novel The Life And Times Of Alexis Zorba by Nikos Kazantzakis.
Charro has several meanings, but it generally refers to Mexican horse riders, who maintain traditional dress, such as some form of sombrero, which in Mexican Spanish are called sombrero de charro. The charros could also be thought of as old Mexican cowboys who dress like such, although more modern dress is now seen on those who still work the ranches (rancheros). See also, vaquero.
Voces Inocentes is a 2004 war film directed by Luis Mandoki. The plot is set during the Salvadoran Civil War, and is based on writer Óscar Torres's childhood. The film serves as a general commentary on the military use of children. The movie also shows injustice against innocent people who are forced to fight in the war. It follows the story of the narrator, a boy named Chava.
The Appaloosa is a 1966 American Western film starring Marlon Brando, Anjanette Comer, and John Saxon, who was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of a Mexican bandit. The film was directed by Sidney J. Furie, and shot in Techniscope in California, Utah, and Arizona.
Bandidas is a 2006 Western action comedy film starring Salma Hayek and Penélope Cruz directed by Norwegian directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg and produced and written by Luc Besson. It tells the tale of two very different women in late-19th-century Mexico who become a bank robbing duo in an effort to combat a ruthless enforcer terrorizing their town.
Anjanette Comer is an American actress.
El padrecito is a 1964 Mexican comedy film directed by Miguel M. Delgado, starring Cantinflas, Ángel Garasa and Rosa María Vázquez.
The Tall Men is a 1955 American western film directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Clark Gable, Jane Russell and Robert Ryan. The 20th Century Fox DeLuxe Color film was produced by William A. Bacher and William B. Hawks. Sydney Boehm and Frank S. Nugent wrote the screenplay, based on a novel by Heck Allen. Filming took place in Sierra de Órganos National Park in the town of Sombrerete, Mexico
The Soldiers of Pancho Villa is a 1959 Mexican epic historical drama film co-written, produced, and directed by Ismael Rodríguez, inspired by the popular Mexican Revolution corrido "La Cucaracha". It stars María Félix and Dolores del Río in the lead roles, and features Emilio Fernández, Antonio Aguilar, Flor Silvestre, and Pedro Armendáriz in supporting roles.
The Scalphunters is a 1968 American Western film starring Burt Lancaster, Ossie Davis and Telly Savalas. The film was directed by Sydney Pollack, with the score written by Elmer Bernstein. Davis was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film. Filming took place in Sierra de Órganos National Park in the town of Sombrerete, Mexico.
Rafael Monroy Mera was an early member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mexico. He served as president of the branch of the church in the town of San Marcos, Hidalgo for a period of two years, and was one of two Mormon men killed by the Liberation Army of the South (Zapatistas) during the Mexican Revolution in 1915 for refusing to renounce his faith and for his association with foreigners. Monroy had joined the church just two years prior in 1913, and was made president of his branch upon the departure of missionaries of American citizenship later that same year due to the growing anti-American sentiment during the Revolution. The Monroy family was well-respected and well-known in the region until their conversion to the LDS faith in 1913, at which point many of the villagers began to turn against Rafael and his family.
The Cisco Kid is a 1994 American TV movie, which updated the successful 1950s comedy Western television series, and 1940s movie serial. The film was written by Michael Kane and directed by Luis Valdez. Jimmy Smits played the Cisco Kid, the role previously played by Duncan Renaldo, Gilbert Roland, and Cesar Romero. Cheech Marin played his sidekick Pancho. Bruce Payne and Ron Perlman played French villains. The film aired on the TNT Network.
For Greater Glory: The True Story of Cristiada, also known as Cristiada and as Outlaws, is a 2012 epic historical war drama film directed by Dean Wright and written by Michael Love, based on the events of the Cristero War. It stars Andy García, Eva Longoria, Oscar Isaac, Rubén Blades, Peter O'Toole, and Bruce Greenwood. The film is the directorial debut for Wright, a veteran visual effects supervisor on films including The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003), and was released on June 1, 2012.
The Yaqui Wars, were a series of armed conflicts between New Spain, and its successor state, the Mexican Republic, against the Yaqui Natives. The period began in 1533 and lasted until 1929. The Yaqui Wars, along with the Caste War against the Maya, were the last conflicts of the centuries long Mexican Indian Wars. Over the course of nearly 400 years, the Spanish and the Mexicans repeatedly launched military campaigns into Yaqui territory which resulted in several serious battles and massacres.
The Jesuit Martyrs of Micronesia (1670–1685) were a group of people were martyred in Guam and Marianas Island.
Sierra de Órganos National Park is a national park in Mexico, located in the northwest corner of the municipality of Sombrerete in the state of Zacatecas, near the border with Durango. The park is known for its diverse aridland ecosystem and towering rock formations of the Sierra Madre Occidental, which are reminiscent of organ pipe cacti or the pipes of the musical instrument, from which the park takes its name.
Errementari, also known as The Blacksmith and the Devil, is a 2017 internationally co-produced Basque-language period fantasy horror film directed by Paul Urkijo Alijo and written by Alijo and Asier Guerricaechebarría. The plot is based on the Basque folktale version of The Smith and the Devil, as collected by Father Joxemiel Barandiaran. The film sets the legend in 1843, with a blacksmith holding a demon in captivity, and an orphan girl who releases the demon from its cage.
Villa Insurgentes, better known as is a town located in the municipality of Sombrerete. There are 2,837 inhabitants; it is 2150 meters in elevation. The area around Villa Insurgentes has a small population, with 16 people per square kilometer. The nearest city is Vicente Guerrero 14.5 km west.
The Spanish–Chamorro Wars, also known as the Chamorro Wars and the Spanish–Chamorro War, refer to the late seventeenth century unrest among the Chamorro people of the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific Ocean against the colonial effort of Habsburg Spain. Anger at proselytizing by the first permanent mission to Guam, which was led by Diego Luis de San Vitores, and a series of cultural misunderstandings led to increasing unrest on Guam and a Chamorro siege of the Hagåtña presidio incited by maga’låhi (Chief) Hurao in 1670. Maga’låhi Matå'pang killed San Vitores in 1672, resulting in a campaign of Spanish reprisal burnings of villages through 1676. Local anger at the attacks against villages resulted in another open rebellion led by Agualin and a second siege of Hagåtña. Governor Juan Antonio de Salas conducted a counter-insurgency campaign that successfully created a system of collaboration in which Guamanians turned in rebels and murderers and transferred most of the people from about 180 villages to seven towns, a policy known as reducción. By the early 1680s, Guam was largely "reduced," or pacified.
