Villa Rides (1968)

Robert Mitchum is Lee Arnold, a pilot smuggling guns to President Madero’s foes in Mexico when his plane breaks down.

That sends him off to the town of Tupedaro, and smack dab in the middle of a revolution.

While he’s there, the Colorados under Ramirez attack. The blacksmith who has been helping Arnold with his plane is hung; his daughter Fina (Maria Grazia Buccella) is raped.

Ramirez is still hanging townspeople when Pancho Villa (Yul Brynner) and his men arrive.

Ramirez escapes with his life; most of his men are not so lucky.

Villa takes one look at the American-made machine guns used by Ramirez’s men and takes Arnold into custody. His life is spared under one condition: He use his plane to help the revolution.

And so Arnold becomes a one-man air force for Villa and his band of bandits turned revolutionary heroes.

But Villa’s military success spawns jealousy among his fellow commanders, especially Gen. Huerta (Herbert Lom).

Villa’s not even sure of Huerta’s allegiance to his beloved Madero.

Yul Brynner as Pancho Villa, forcing Lee Arnold to let him fly a plane in Villa Rides (1968)

Robert Mitchum as Lee Arnold, forced to use a borrowed airplane to help the revolutionaries in Villa Rides (1968)

Review:

On the plus side, the film features an excellent score, fine action scenes and a strong and understated performance from Charles Bronson as a cold-blooded killer under Villa’s command.

On the other hand, this will not be as one of the better performances from Brynner of Mitchum. And the film bogs down badly near the end, when the action stops and the political infighting begins.

Maria Grazia Buccella looks lovely as the gal who “marries” Villa after being raped, but winds up in the arms of Lee Arnold. Diana Lorys has a small, but smoldering role as another of Villa’s wives.

Western fans might not recognize Herbert Lom, but he played Napoleon in “War and Peace” (1956), was Captain Nemo in the semi-Western “Mysterious Island” and later played Peter Sellers’ boss in five Pink Panther films.

Charles Bronson as Fierro, threatening to gun down yet another man in Villa Rides (1968)

Maria Grazia Buccella as Fina, the young woman Lee Arnold falls for in Villa Rides (1968)

Directed by:
Buzz Kulik

Cast:
Yul Brynner … Pancho Villa
Robert Mitchum … Lee Arnold
Maria Grazia Buccella … Fina
Herbert Lom … General Huerta
Robert Viharo … Urbina
Frank Wolff … Ramirez
Diana Lorys … Emilita
Alexander Knox … President Madero
Robert Carricart … Don Luis
Andres Monreal … Capt. Herrera
Fernando Rey … Fuentes
Julio Pena … General
Jose Maria Prada … Major
Regina de Julian … Lupita
Antonito Ruiz … Juan
Charles Bronson … Rodolfo Fierro

Runtime: 125 min.

Frank Wolff as Ramirez, the officer who rapes Fina during an attack on her village in VIlla Rides (1968)

Herbert Lom as Gen. Huerta, the Mexican commander Villa doesn’t trust in Villa Rides (1968)

Memorable lines:

Villa to Lee Arnold: “Hey, gringo, you haven’t seen a gun-running son-of-a-bitch gringo around here, have you?”

Villa to Arnold: “You know, you amaze me, Gringo. You run guns and you don’t care who gets killed, so long as you get paid and you don’t have to watch. It must be a terrible thing — to kill men without hating them.”

Arnold: “Pancho Villa is a bandit, a bigamist and a barbarian. It takes more than dumb luck to turn that into a national hero. That chili-picker’s got brains. I may have stepped into a manure pile, but I just might come out with a golden horse shoe.”

Robert Mitchum as Lee Arnold, watching Fierro gun down Mexican soldiers in Villa Rides (1968)

Alexander Knox as President Madero, hearing Villa’s concerns about Huerta in Villa Rides (1968)

Robert Viharo as Urbina, one of Pancho Villa’s chief lieutenants in Villa Rides (1968)

Fernando Rey as Fuentes, the man ordered to execute Pancho Villa in Villa Rides (1968)

Diana Lorys as Emilita, who’s sultry dance earns a wedding proposal from Pancho Villa in Villa Rides (1968)

John Ireland as Dave, a barber shop client who shares news of Madero’s death in Villa Rides (1968)

Charles Bronson as Fierro, one of the most blood thirsty of the men serving under Pancho Villa (Yul Brynner) in Villa Rides (1968)

Robert Mitchum as Lee Arnold, explaining his mercenary attitude to Fina in Villa Rides (1968)