Pancho Villa 1968

[martin goddard]

Watched this film last night.
Yul Bruyner plus wig = Pancho Villa.
Charles Bronson as = Fiero
Robert Mitchum as the necessary central US character.
Herber Lom as Huerta  (baddy).

For a 50 year old film it was great.
It is very easy to "nit pick", which some wargamers use in order to bring misery to all they meet.
The uniforms and equipment was very good. Including the NCO sleeve stripes.

The version I bought was the French special one. English with French subtitles but it was only £9.

Recommended by me.


martin

[Flaminpig0]

It was the film that got me into the period when  I was a teen,  its a wonderful piece of nonsense.

We need a Robert Mitchum figure!

[John Watson]

It was a Fistful Of Dynamite film for me. We also need a James Coburn, dustcoat full of dynamite sticks, cheroot in mouth, figure too.
John

[martin goddard]

Good to see enthusiasm for the period.
Don't think I will be making any Hollywood skirmish figures though, sorry.

I will leave that to the 29-33 mm figure makers. Such figures could be formed into warband factions in a mex universe story-journey (see how I am understanding the biditab kids??).

martin

[Hman]

Gentlemen sorry but you are wrong.. The Professionals with the best ending in film...

[martin goddard]

Professionals.
Good source for seeing US and Mexican uniforms.
GGGGreat film.
Villa has a better soundtrack though.


martin

[Leslie BT]

Pancho Villa 1972 on Sony Classic channel tonight.

[Leslie BT]

Not very good at all. A few of the characterisation were good but a bit over done.
Telly Savalas played Pancho Villa, a bit silly but he did portray Pancho as a bit of a dandy.
Like the brass band that was always with his force and he had some women in the entourage.

So who ever had done the research had been through bit Hollywood just made a mess of the story.

[Stewart 46A]

Very painful to watch, I like a lot of the actors but this film does them no favours, watching it in pieces have about 1/2 to go.


Stewart

[Roy Beers]

For film inspiration (apart from the 1960's/70's stuff, of which Villa Rides is easily the best) I recommend "And starring Pancho Villa as himself", a 2003 TV movie which has some superb and harrowing action sequences: if you search "Battle of Torreon" on Youtube you will get that particular excerpt.
The crazed American machine-gunner (MG mounted on truck) is completely accurate and was a real-life character: fully described in the Frank McLynn Villa and Zapata book (which again I heartily recommend: it tells the full story of the Revolution years in a very accessible and intelligent way).

[martin goddard]

Thanks for input Roy!
Ae you keen on the mexrev?


martin

[Roy Beers]

Hi Martin - yes, very keen; and I will be getting an initial order in shortly.
Of course interest began with Spaghetti Westerns and whatnot when I was a lad (a long time ago), then eventually the period became something I wanted to read books about and to wargame ...but until now I've done nothing about it, more conventional periods taking my time up: that and the relative dearth of suitable available figures.
There are some larger scale options, but 15mm is perfect if you want impressive numbers of Villista cavalry, etc.
Some of your contributors have already spotted plenty of PP items they can already use - some obvious, some not so obvious, like the WW1 Serbian armed women, who are I think ideal (with a paint job that hood becomes a mantilla).
I hope the range, as it develops, does well - and that just maybe you might eventually consider adding a couple or three buildings: for some reason Hispanic-style buildings are hard to find in 15mm, although for the basics there are adobe N African buildings that can easily be converted; but some Latin buildings with terracotta roofs, and particularly a classic Spaghetti Western church, would be ideal - and would have masses of different potential uses, either adding to the pirate range or being used for the Peninsular War etc.

[martin goddard]

Hello Roy

Yes there will be some buildings. That will be after there are some rebels.

martin