Villa Rides (1968)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Buzz Kulik

Writers:

Robert Towne (screenplay) and
Sam Peckinpah (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

20 September 1968 (West Germany)

Genre:

War | Western

Tagline:

Villa rages! Villa lusts! Villa kills! VILLA RIDES!

Plot:

Mexican rebel Pancho Villa lead a revolution helped by an American aviator imprisonned in Mexico.

Plot Keywords:

Pancho Villa | Mexico | Revolution | Mexican Revolution | Gunrunner

Cast

Yul Brynner	...	Pancho Villa
Robert Mitchum	...	Lee Arnold
Maria Grazia Buccella	...	Fina (as Grazia Buccella)
Charles Bronson	...	Rodolfo Fierro
Herbert Lom	...	Gen. Victoriano Huerta
Robert Viharo	...	Urbina
Frank Wolff	...	Ramirez
Alexander Knox	...	President Francisco Madero
Diana Lorys	...	Emilita
Bob Carricart	...	Don Luis
Fernando Rey	...	Fuentes
José María Prada	...	Major
Antonio Ruiz	...	Juan
Jill Ireland	...	Girl in restaurant
Regina de Julián	...	Lupita
Julio Peña	...	General
Andrés Monreal	...	Capt. Herrera
John Ireland	...	Client in barber shop
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Seyyal Taner	...	Guerrilla Girl (uncredited)

Directed by
Buzz Kulik

Writing credits
Robert Towne		(screenplay) and
Sam Peckinpah		(screenplay)
William Douglas Lansford		(adaptation)
William Douglas Lansford		(novel "Pancho Villa")

Produced by
Ted Richmond	....	producer

Original Music by
Maurice Jarre

Cinematography by
Jack Hildyard

Film Editing by
David Bretherton

Casting by
Lillian Kelly

Production Design by
Ted Haworth

Set Decoration by
Román Calatayud

Costume Design by
Eric Seelig

Makeup Department
Richard Mills	....	makeup artist
José Antonio Sánchez	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Eduardo García Maroto	....	unit production manager: Spain
Robert Goodstein	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Carlos Gil	....	assistant director
Chuck Hayward	....	second unit director
José María Ochoa	....	assistant director
Arthur Squire	....	second unit director

Sound Department
Ray Chapman	....	sound
Gordon Daniel	....	sound editor
Enrique Mayberg	....	sound

Special Effects by
Milt Rice	....	special effects

Stunts
Chuck Hayward	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
John Cabrera	....	director of photography: second unit
Ricardo Navarrete	....	camera operator
George Rice	....	camera operator
Vincent Rossell	....	still photographer

Music Department
Maurice Jarre	....	conductor
Tommy Tedesco	....	musician: guitar (uncredited)

Other crew
Ricardo Hupkins	....	script supervisor

Thanks
Pancho Villa	....	dedicatee

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1968) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1973) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Paramount (1968) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Legend Films (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

USA:125 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R | West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

El Casar de Talamanca, Guadalajara, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of the extras in the film, playing a Mexican guerrilla girl, is Turkish singer Seyyal Taner. She would later receive notoriety for scoring no points in the 1987 Eurovision song contest.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Obvious ropes due to flying hay in the wall scene.

Quotes:

Rodolfo Fierro: Pancho. Don't argue with him. Shoot him, and let's go.
Pancho Villa: No. No, we don't do that any more.

A classic western that's under appreciated and hard to find

"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.