Viva Villa! is a 1934 American pre-Code film directed by Jack Conway and starring Wallace Beery as Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. The screenplay was written by Ben Hecht, adapted from the 1933 book Viva Villa! by Edgecumb Pinchon and O. B. Stade. The film was shot on location in Mexico and produced by David O. Selznick. There was uncredited assistance with the script by Howard Hawks, James Kevin McGuinness, and Howard Emmett Rogers. Hawks and William A. Wellman were also uncredited directors on the film.
Francisco "Pancho" Villa was a Mexican revolutionary and prominent figure in the Mexican Revolution. He was a key figure in the revolutionary movement that forced out President Porfirio Díaz and brought Francisco I. Madero to power in 1911. When Madero was ousted by a coup led by General Victoriano Huerta in February 1913, Villa joined the anti-Huerta forces in the Constitutionalist Army led by Venustiano Carranza. After the defeat and exile of Huerta in July 1914, Villa broke with Carranza. Villa dominated the meeting of revolutionary generals that excluded Carranza and helped create a coalition government. Emiliano Zapata and Villa became formal allies in this period. Like Zapata, Villa was strongly in favor of land reform, but did not implement it when he had power.
"Pancho and Lefty", originally "Poncho and Lefty", is a song written by American country singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. Perhaps his most well-known song, Van Zandt recorded his original version of this song for his 1972 album The Late Great Townes Van Zandt. The song has been recorded by several artists since its composition and performance by Van Zandt, with a 1983 version by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard reaching number one on the Billboard country chart. In 2021, Van Zandt's version was ranked number 498 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso, known professionally as Gilbert Roland, was a Mexican-born American film and television actor whose career spanned seven decades from the 1920s until the 1980s. He was twice nominated for the Golden Globe Award in 1952 and 1964 and inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.
Rory Calhoun was an American film and television actor. He starred in numerous Westerns in the 1950s and 1960s, and appeared in supporting roles in films such as How to Marry a Millionaire (1953).
And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself is a 2003 American made-for-television western film for HBO in partnership with City Entertainment and starring Antonio Banderas as Pancho Villa, directed by Bruce Beresford, written by Larry Gelbart and produced by Joshua D. Maurer, Mark Gordon, and Larry Gelbart. The cast also includes Alan Arkin, Jim Broadbent, Michael McKean, Eion Bailey, and Alexa Davalos.
Any Gun Can Play is a 1967 spaghetti Western starring Gilbert Roland, Edd Byrnes and George Hilton. The film is directed by Enzo G. Castellari. The film revolves around a group of cowboys in search of gold, leading to double-crosses as they continually change allegiances and gain the upper hand, only to be thwarted by fellow outlaws, mysterious insurance investigators, and each other.
The División del Norte was an armed faction formed by Francisco I. Madero and initially led by General José González Salas following Madero's call to arms at the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in 1910. González Salas served in Francisco I. Madero's cabinet as Minister of War, but at the outbreak of the 1912 rebellion by Pascual Orozco, González Salas organized 6,000 troops of the Federal Army at Torreón. Orozquista forces surprised González Salas at the First Battle of Rellano. They sent an explosives packed train hurtling toward the Federales, killing at least 60 and injuring González Salas. Mutinous troops killed one of his commanders and after seeing the officer's body, González Salas committed suicide.
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a 1948 American Neo-Western film written and directed by John Huston, and starring Humphrey Bogart, Tim Holt, Bruce Bennett, and Walter Huston - the director's father. Based on B. Traven's 1927 novel of the same name, the film follows two downtrodden men who join forces with a grizzled old prospector, in searching for gold in Mexico.
Villa Rides is a 1968 American Technicolor Western war film in Panavision directed by Buzz Kulik and starring Yul Brynner as Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa and Robert Mitchum as an American adventurer and pilot of fortune. The screenplay is based on the biography by William Douglas Lansford. The supporting cast includes Charles Bronson as Fierro, Herbert Lom as Huerta and Alexander Knox as Madero.
General Rodolfo Fierro was a railway worker, railway superintendent, federal soldier and a major general in the army of Pancho Villa during the Mexican Revolution in the Division del Norte. Fierro and his counterpart and fellow lieutenant, Tomas Urbina, have been cited as the two halves of Pancho Villa, Fierro representing his malicious side. It is believed Fierro met Pancho Villa in 1913 following the Madero revolution. Originating from Sinaloa, Fierro was a former federal officer having taken part in fighting against the Yaqui Indians. Following his role as a federal officer, Fierro went on to work as a railway man, eventually being absorbed into Villa's ranks.
Bandido is a 1956 American western film directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Robert Mitchum, Ursula Thiess, Gilbert Roland, and Zachary Scott. The film, set in the Mexican Revolution and filmed on location around Acapulco, was written by Earl Felton. Robert Mitchum also co-produced the film through his DRM Productions company.
Martín Garralaga was a Spanish actor who worked in Hollywood from the 1930s through the 1960s. He was married to opera singer and actress Rosa Rey.
The Mexican Border War, also known as the Border Campaign, refers to a series of military engagements which took place between the United States military and several Mexican factions in the Mexican–American border region of North America during the Mexican Revolution. It was the last major conflict fought on U.S. soil.
Emil Lugwig "Lewis" Holmdahl was an American soldier of fortune, infantryman, machine gunner, spy, gun runner, and treasure hunter who fought under Frederick Funston and John J. Pershing in the Spanish–American War and subsequent Philippine–American War, under Lee Christmas in Central America, under Francisco Madero, Pancho Villa, and Venustiano Carranza in the Mexican Revolution, and under John J. Pershing again in World War I. In 1926, Holmdahl was accused of having stolen Francisco "Pancho" Villa's head.
J. Robert Bren was a Mexican-American screenwriter and producer who was active from the mid-1930s through the mid-1950s. He wrote either the story or screenplay for thirty feature films, as well as producing at least two of those films.
Four Guns to the Border is a 1954 American Western film directed by Richard Carlson and starring Rory Calhoun, Colleen Miller, George Nader, Walter Brennan and Nina Foch. It was produced and distributed by Universal-International Pictures.
King of the Bandits is a 1947 American Western film, directed by Christy Cabanne. It stars Gilbert Roland, Angela Greene, and Chris-Pin Martin, and was released on November 8, 1947.
The Gun Hawk is a 1963 American Western film directed by Edward Ludwig and starring Rory Calhoun, Rod Cameron, Ruta Lee and Rod Lauren.
The Second Battle of Ciudad Juárez, also known as the Capture of Ciudad Juárez or “Villa’s Trojan Train” was a decisive rebel victory over the forces of Mexican president Victoriano Huerta. The federal garrison of the border city of Juárez was tricked into allowing 2,000 revolutionaries to enter the city on board a hijacked coal train. The revolutionaries crept out of the train under the cover of darkness and easily overcame the federal forces with a surprise attack.
