The Life of Emile Zola is a 1937 American biographical film about the 19th-century French author Émile Zola starring Paul Muni and directed by William Dieterle.
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori, was a Mexican general, politician, and dictator who served on three separate occasions as President of Mexico, a total of over 30 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 December 1876, 17 February 1877 to 1 December 1880, and 1 December 1884 to 25 May 1911. The entire period from 1876 to 1911 is often referred to as the Porfiriato, and has been characterized as a de facto dictatorship.
Benito Pablo Juárez García was a Mexican politician, military commander, and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. Of Zapotec ancestry, he was the first indigenous president of Mexico and the first democratically elected indigenous president in the postcolonial Americas. A member of the Liberal Party, he previously held a number of offices, including the governorship of Oaxaca and the presidency of the Supreme Court. During his presidency, he led the Liberals to victory in the Reform War and in the Second French intervention in Mexico.
Maximilian I was an Austrian archduke who became emperor of the Second Mexican Empire from 10 April 1864 until his execution by the Mexican Republic on 19 June 1867.
Charlotte of Belgium, known by the Spanish version of her name, Carlota, was by birth a princess of Belgium and member of the House of Wettin in the branch of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. As the wife of Archduke Maximilian of Austria, Viceroy of Lombardy–Venetia and later Emperor of Mexico, she became Archduchess of Austria and Empress of Mexico. She was daughter, granddaughter, sister, sister in-law, cousin and wife of reigning or deposed sovereigns throughout Europe and Mexico.
Paseo de la Reforma is a wide avenue that runs diagonally across the heart of Mexico City. It was designed at the behest of Emperor Maximilian by Ferdinand von Rosenzweig during the era of the Second Mexican Empire and modeled after the great boulevards of Europe, such as the Ringstraße in Vienna and the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The planned grand avenue was to link the National Palace with the imperial residence, Chapultepec Castle, which was then on the southwestern edge of town. The project was originally named Paseo de la Emperatriz in honor of Maximilian's consort Empress Carlota. After the fall of the Empire and Maximilian's subsequent execution, the Restored Republic renamed the Paseo in honor of the La Reforma.
Agustín de Iturbide y Green was the grandson of Agustín de Iturbide, the first emperor of independent Mexico, and his consort Ana María Huarte.
The Second Mexican Empire, officially known as the Mexican Empire, was a constitutional monarchy established in Mexico by Mexican monarchists with the support of the Second French Empire. This period is often referred to as the Second French intervention in Mexico. French Emperor Napoleon III, with backing from Mexican conservatives, the clergy, and nobility, aimed to establish a monarchist ally in the Americas as a counterbalance to the growing power of the United States.
William Dieterle was a German-born actor and film director who emigrated to the United States in 1930 to leave a worsening political situation. He worked in Hollywood primarily as a director for much of his career, becoming a United States citizen in 1937. He moved back to Germany in the late 1950s.
The second French intervention in Mexico, also known as the Second Franco-Mexican War (1861–1867), was a military invasion of the Republic of Mexico by the French Empire of Napoleon III, purportedly to force the collection of Mexican debts in conjunction with Great Britain and Spain. Mexican conservatives supported the invasion, since they had been defeated by the liberal government of Benito Juárez in a three-year civil war. Defeated on the battlefield, conservatives sought the aid of France to effect regime change and establish a monarchy in Mexico, a plan that meshed with Napoleon III's plans to re-establish the presence of the French Empire in the Americas. Although the French invasion displaced Juárez's Republican government from the Mexican capital and the monarchy of Archduke Maximilian was established, the Second Mexican Empire collapsed within a few years. Material aid from the United States, whose four-year civil war ended in 1865, invigorated the Republican fight against the regime of Maximilian, and the 1866 decision of Napoleon III to withdraw military support for Maximilian's regime accelerated the monarchy's collapse. Maximilian and two Mexican generals were executed by firing squad on 19 June 1867, ending this period of Mexican history.
Bordertown is a 1935 American drama film directed by Archie Mayo and starring Paul Muni and Bette Davis. The screenplay by Laird Doyle and Wallace Smith is based on Robert Lord's adaptation of the 1934 novel Border Town by Carroll Graham. The supporting cast features Margaret Lindsay, Eugene Pallette and Robert Barrat. Although the films They Drive by Night (1940) and Blowing Wild (1953) are not specifically remakes of Bordertown, they include many of its plot elements and similar scenes.
Magic Fire is a 1955 American biographical film about the life of composer Richard Wagner, released by Republic Pictures.
Fashions of 1934 is a 1934 American pre-Code musical comedy film directed by William Dieterle with musical numbers created and directed by Busby Berkeley. The screenplay by F. Hugh Herbert and Carl Erickson was based on the story The Fashion Plate by Harry Collins and Warren Duff. The film stars William Powell, Bette Davis, Frank McHugh, Hugh Herbert, Verree Teasdale, and Reginald Owen, and features Henry O'Neill, Phillip Reed, Gordon Westcott, and Dorothy Burgess. The film's songs are by Sammy Fain (music) and Irving Kahal (lyrics). Sometime after its initial release, the title Fashions of 1934 was changed to Fashions, replacing the original title with an insert card stating "William Powell in 'Fashions'".
The New Virginia Colony was a colonization plan to resettle ex-Confederates in central Mexico after the American Civil War. The largest settlement was Carlota, named for Emperor Maximilian's wife Charlotte of Belgium and located near Córdoba, Veracruz; by early 1866, it was described as "thriving" and had a population of almost 500. Other settlements were planned near Tampico, Monterrey, Cuernavaca, and Chihuahua.
Juarez or Juarez and Maximilian is a 1934 Mexican historical drama film directed by Miguel Contreras Torres and Raphael J. Sevilla. The film is set during the French intervention in Mexico during the 1860s, and features the battle between Maximilian I of Mexico and Benito Juárez.
Bertita Harding was a royal German biographer with an easy and sometimes humorous style that made her a popular author.
The Mad Empress is a 1939 American historical drama film depicting the 3-year reign of Maximilian I of Mexico (Nagel) and his struggles against Benito Juarez (Robards). Empress Charlotte of Belgium (Novora) is the "mad" empress who has a breakdown when she realizes her husband is condemned to death.
El vuelo del águila is a Mexican telenovela produced by Ernesto Alonso and Carlos Sotomayor for Televisa in 1994–1995. Telenovela based on the Mexican soldier and President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz, from his name had come out the title "Época Porfiriana" or "Porfiriato" during the period of his rule, in the years 1876–1911.
The Continental Players was a short-lived albeit well-chronicled Hollywood-based theater workshop and stock company founded in 1938 by Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle. It was supported by Hollywood film executives with the aim of boosting the careers of European thespians in America, notably exiled Jews from Germany and Austria.
News from the Empire is a 1987 historical novel by Mexican writer Fernando del Paso about the Second French Intervention in Mexico and the Second Mexican Empire, with Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico and his wife Carlota of Mexico.
