Viva Maria! (1965)

Brigitte Bardot is the daughter of an IRA revolutionary who has spent most of her young life traveling the world, helping him blow up things.

When he’s killed destroying a bridge, she finds herself orphaned, hungry and hitching a ride atop a wagon in a traveling circus.

Turns out the star of the show — Jeanne Moreau as Maria — has just lost a partner to suicide.

She instantly takes a liking to the pretty young blonde and decides they’ll form a new song and dance team called Maria and Maria.

There’s just one problem, this new Maria isn’t very good at song or dance. But when her costume malfunctions and starts falling apart during her debut … well, the guys so silent, then crazy.

And so the song and dance show transforms into a song, dance and strip show. And the ladies become an absolute sensation.

Then a wrinkle disrupts their happy travels. They witness a peasant village being attacked by the henchmen of Rodriguez, a major land holder in San Miguel.

Turns out some of those villagers were involved in a revolution spearheaded by a man named Flores (George Hamilton).

The scene sparks anew Maria’s revolutionary spirit. But it’s the more seasoned Maria who vows to keep the revolution going; one glance and she’s fallen in love with Flores.

Review:

A delightful romp, especially once our song and dance beauties transform into revolutionary heroes.

Scenes that are sure to make you smile – Brigitte’s walk of shame following her night with her first three men, her Tarzan-like ascent to destroy an army gun emplacement, the circus leader’s fascination with developing a curved rifle for shooting around corners, the attempted torture of our heroines by hooded priests in an ancient torture chamber and the blowing up of a dictator’s statue.

Except for the strongman (Poldo Bendandi), you won’t spot a whole lot of familiar Spaghetti faces in this Spanish-French co-production. But if only all Spaghetti comedies could be this entertaining. Of course, most don’t have Brigitte to light up the screen.

Directed by:
Louis Malle

Cast:
Brigitte Bardot … Maria I (Marie Fitzgerald O’Mally)
Jeanne Moreau … Maria II
Claudio Brook … The Great Rodolfo
Carlos Lopez Moctezuma … Rodriguez
Poldo Bendandi … Werther (Strongman)
Paulette Dubost .. Madame Diogene
Gregor von Rezzori … Diogene
Jonathan Eden … Juanito Diogene
Jose Angel Espinosa … The Dictator
Francisco Reiguera … Father Superior
George Hamilton … Flores
Roberto Pedret … Pablo

Score: Georges Delerue

Runtime: 110 min.

Memorable lines:

Maria II: “We use lots of makeup, to kill stage fright. If it’s thick enough, you don’t feel so scared.”
Maria I: “Scared of what?”
Maria II: “All those people. There’s also men who stare.”
Maria I: “Well, don’t think I’m afraid of men. Who are they?”

Maria I, returning from a night with three lovers, her first: “I’m bushed. You were right, you know? Too marvelous for words.”

Maria I: “I’m not sure what love is. But I’m dying to be educated.”

Trivia:

The film sparked a censorship case because the movie board in Dallas, Texas, considered the stripping scenes — which contain no nudity — as too racy. The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled that censorship was OK for minors — those under 17 — but not for adults. The ruling helped form the movie rating system still used today.

Brigitte Bardot stepped away from her acting career in 1973 at age 39, noting in her 2019 memoir that “the majority of great actresses met tragic ends. When I said goodbye to this job, to this life of opulence and glitter, images and adoration, the quest to be desired, I was saving my life.” She’s devoted the rest of her life to fighting for animal rights.

Jeff Stafford of Turner Classic Movies says director Louis Malle and co-writer Jean-Claude Carrière modeled the film after the Western buddy movie “Vera Cruz,” starring Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster.

The film was the ninth most popular in French in 1965, based on its box office draw of more than 3.4 million. Jeanne Moreau and Brigitte Bardot were both nominated for Best Foreign Actress at the 20th British Academy Film Awards; Moreau won the award.