And starring Pedro Armendariz as Pancho Villa

I wasn't too impressed by Mr. Banderas as Villa. Overall, I felt that he didn't possess the charisma for such a role. Moreover, I think I'm too accustomed to seeing Pedro Armendariz in that role.

For anyone interested in seeing an extremely entertaining depiction of Villa, I highly recommend the Pancho Villa triology that was made by Ismael Rodriguez during the 1950s. The triology is in no way factual, and the disclaimer at the opening credits emphasize that the movie focuses on anecdotes dealing with Villa's character, as recollected by word of mouth among the common people. Nevertheless, Pedro Armendariz's performance as Villa makes the movie all the worthwhile. Most U.S. audiences are only familiar with Armendariz's work in "Enamorada" and "La Perla." In many ways, however, the Villa films are among the best he ever did, surpassing in many ways his acting in "La Perla."

Oddly, what many people don't know is the John Steinbeck (who is credited for writing "Viva Zapata") wanted Armendariz for the Zapata role. Unfortunately, Hollywood had its way and cast Marlon Brando in the title role. Throughout his Hollywood career, Armendariz was largely limited to secondary roles in "Fort Apache," and "From Russia with Love" (his final role before his suicide in June 1963). This was probably due to his not falling into the "Latin Lover" cliche that Hollywood like to promote so often back then (and to some degree, even now). For this reason, it's all the more ironic to see Banderas (the current prototype for the "Latin Lover" cliche) play a role that was perfected by Armendariz.