And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself

And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself
Directed by	Bruce Beresford
Produced by	Tony Mark
Written by	Larry Gelbart
Starring	Antonio Banderas Eion Bailey Alan Arkin Jim Broadbent
Cinematography	Peter James
Country	United States
Language	English
Release date	September 7, 2003 (2003-09-07)
Running time	112 minutes

And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself is a 2003 television film starring Antonio Banderas as Pancho Villa.

At the time of production, this was the most expensive 2-hour television/cable movie ever made, with a budget of over $30 million.^{[citation needed]}

The film concerns the filming of The Life of General Villa (which was shot in 1914) and is seen through the eyes of Frank N. Thayer, a studio boss's nephew who gets a career boost when he is placed in charge of the project. The resulting film became the first feature length movie, introducing scores of Americans to the true horrors of war that they had never personally seen. Thayer sold the studios on making the film despite their concerns that no one would sit through a movie longer than 1 hour, by convincing them that they could raise the price of movies to ten cents, doubling the going price at that time. The actual contract that Pancho Villa signed with Frank N. Thayer and the Mutual Film Company on January 5, 1914 to film the Battle of Ojinaga still exists and is in a museum in Mexico City. The original film has been lost, but some unedited film reels of the battle, showing Pancho Villa and his army fighting Federal forces, as well as photographs and publicity stills taken from the original film still exist.

Plot

Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa (Antonio Banderas) finds himself without adequate funding to finance his war against the military-run government. He also finds himself at odds with the Americans because of the Hearst media empire's press campaign against him. To counter both of these threats, he sends emissaries to movie producers to convince them to pay to film his progress and the actual battles. Producer D.W. Griffith (Colm Feore) is immediately interested and convinces Mutual Film Studios boss Harry E. Aitkin to send a film crew. Aitkin's nephew Frank Thayer is initially a mere errand boy for the studio, but he makes a good impression with Villa, who demands that Thayer be placed in charge of the project. Thayer and a camera crew team film Villa leading his men to victory in battle. Despite the failure of this initial footage (which draws derisive laughter from potential backers) Thayer convinces Aitkin to invest even more money in a second attempt, and also convinces Villa to participate in making a more narrative film.

Thayer returns to Mexico with a director, actors, producers, cameramen and screen writers, and begin to film Villa's previous exploits using a younger actor. The filming goes well, although Villa becomes angry that the screenwriters and the director have changed history to make a more dramatic film.

Villa then assembles an army to attack a Federal held fort at Torreon. Thayer and his team go into film the action. After a skirmish on the way to the fort, Villa's army arrives at Torreon and lays siege to the fortress. Villa orders an attack and personally leads the charge. Villa's army is initially successful, but they suffer heavy casualties and are forced to withdraw. That night, Villa orders his army to bombard Torreon into submission, and, after a long, brutal bombardment, Villa's cavalry finish off the last of Torreon's Federal defenders. However, Thayer and his camera crew team witness Villa personally shooting a Mexican widow in cold blood with his handgun during the aftermath of the battle. Disgusted, the team leaves.

'The Life of General Villa' is shown in theaters in America, and to great success, although Thayer and his camera crew members regret making the film.

Nine years later General Villa is driving his car with an associate and two of his bodyguards through Parral, Chihuahua. His car is flagged down by a Mexican civilian, when several Federals suddenly pop up with machine guns. Villa reaches for his pistol, but is shot several times and is killed.

Cast

• Antonio Banderas — Pancho Villa
• Eion Bailey — Frank Thayer
• Alan Arkin — Sam Dreben
• Jim Broadbent — Harry Aitken
• Matt Day — John Reed
• Kyle Chandler — Raoul Walsh
• Michael McKean — William Christy Cabanne
• Colm Feore — D. W. Griffith
• Alexa Davalos — Teddy Sampson
• Anthony Head — William Benton (as Anthony Stewart Head)

Awards

• Won 2005 Art Directors Guild award for Excellence in Production Design
• Nominated in 2004 for Broadcast Film Critics Association for Best Picture Made for Television
• Nominated for 2004 Costume Designer Guild CDG Award for "Excellence in Costume Design for Television"
• Won 2004 Emmy Award for "Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special"
• Nominated for 2004 Emmy Awards for "Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special", "Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or Movie", "Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special", "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie", "Outstanding Made for Television Movie", "Outstanding Makeup for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special", "Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special"
• Nominated for 2004 Golden Globe for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television" (for Antonio Banderas)

External links

• And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself at the Internet Movie Database