MEXICO
Apocalypto (2006) -- Mayan Rambo just before the arrival of the Spanish
Kings of the Sun (1963) -- Mayans pursued by Toltec invaders
X Retorno a Aztlan (1991) -- an ancient Indian empire in what became Mexico faces a severe drought and the priest prays for relief
X Christopher Columbus (1949) -- discoverer of America, not a short cut to India (with Fredric March and Francis Sullivan)
X Christopher Columbus (1985) -- mini-series starring Gabriel Byrne, Faye Dunaway, Oliver Reed
Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992) -- with Marlon Brando, Tom Selleck
1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992) -- Christopher Columbus
X Alba de América (Dawn of America) (1952) -- account of discovery of America
Captain from Castile (1947) -- serves with Cortez in conquest of Mexico
X El juicio de Martin Cortes (1974) -- mestizo son of Cortez represents fundamental dilemma of Mexican society
La Otra Conquista (The Other Conquest) (1998) -- Aztec resistance to Christianization by the Spanish under Cortez
Nuevo Mundo ( New World) (1978) -- in the future Mexico, the Spanish laity and clergy use torture and fear to try to force the native people to accept Christianity and abandon their pagan beliefs
X Tribu (1935) -- conquest of North America
Cabeza de Vaca (1992) -- 1528, explored parts of the future USA and Mexico
X The Spanish Main (1945) -- the area containing the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico was subject to a lot of piracy to get at the gold and other treasures of the New World headed to Spain
SETTLEMENT OF MEXICO
Mission to Glory: A True Story (1977) -- the story of Jesuit missionary Father Kino working in the lower southwest region of the future USA
X Kino (1993) -- Eusebio Francisco Kino (1645–1711) Catholic priest explores and works primarily in northern Sonora, Mexico and the future southern Arizona establishing 24 missions & country chapels
Seven Cities of Gold (1955) -- Portola's expedition to California in 1769 for the cities of gold and Father Junipero Serra and the founding of the California missions
Yo, la peor de todas (I the Worst of All) (1990) -- Sister Juana Ines de la Cruz of Mexico is punished for her writings by the Inquisition
Spain: House of Borbon (First Restoration) -- 1813-1868 Ferdinand VII (1813-1833) and Isabella II (1833-1868 deposed)
Proceso a Mariana Pineda (The Trial of Mariana Pineda) (1984) -- tv mini-series about a woman who fought for a republic in Spain and against Ferdinand VII and who pays a high price for her activities
X Zorro marchese di Navarra (Zorro, the Navarra Marquis) (1969) -- Zorro makes sure the exiled King Ferdinand VII (ruled 1808 & 1813-1833 after got rid of Joseph Bonaparte) gets back to Spain
Spain: House of Savoy -- Amadeo (1870-1873)
X Getrudis (1992) – Mexican War of Independence
The Republic of Texas and the Mexico-America War
Texas (1994)-- history of Texas from its settlement via Stephen Austin to statehood
X The First Texan (1956) -- based on life of Sam Houston (starring Joel McCrea) ($40)
Houston: the Legend of Texas (Gone to Texas) (1986) -- story of Sam Houston (including battle at the Alamo and the battle of San Jacinto)
X Man of Conquest (1939) -- Sam Houston
The Adventures of Jim Bowie (1956) (TV) -- TV series based on the life of Jim Bowie
X Travis (1991) -- a teenager watches the courage of Col. Travis at the Alamo
X Alamo: The Price of Freedom (1988)
X Alamo: 13 Days to Glory (1987) --
The Alamo (1960) -- 1836
X The Last Command (1955) Jim Bowie and the Alamo
X Heroes of the Alamo (1937) --
X One Man's Hero (1999) -- Irish Americans mistreated in the US army go over to the Mexican side
Santa Anna: Su alteza serenisima (2001) -- the last three days in the life of Santa Anna (1794-1876)
X The Robin Hood of El Dorado (1936) -- Joaquin Murrieta in California seeks revenge on the men who killed his wife and brother (possible source for Zorro character)
X The California Conquest (1952) -- 1840s, the push for statehood for the future California, then part of Mexico (currently unavailable)
Pirates of Monterey (1947) -- a Spanish woman is going to California to marry a Spanish officer, but instead falls in love with an American
Mexico under Juarez (president 1858-1872) Back to Chapter VII Back to Contents
Juarez (1939) -- Mexican leader against Napoleon III's man in Mexico
X Aquellos años (1973) -- Benito Juarez
Major Dundee (1965) -- Dundee hunts down an Apache warrior group raiding in Texas during the Civil War & runs into French troops in Mexico
X The Eagle and the Hawk (1950) -- in 1863 Texas Ranger and a Union spy cross into Mexico to investigate power struggle between French puppet Maximilian and Mexican Benito Juarez
Vera Cruz (1954) -- Americans try to steal the gold while escorting a countess to Vera Cruz and Emperor Maximilian; Juaristas also want the gold
Mexicanos, al grito de guerra (Mexicans, to the Cry of War) (1943) -- a soldier defends Mexico against the French while in love with the French ambassador's daughter
The Undefeated (1969) -- a group of Confederate soldiers from USA decide to establish a new life in Mexico under French Emperor Maximilian
X Guadalupe La Chinaca (1938) – a love story set during French Intervention in Michoacán
X La paloma (1937) -- Emperor Maximilian and the war for independence
Rio Grande (1950) -- Col. Ranald Mackenzie's 1873 raid against the Comanche and Kiowa hiding in Mexico
Labor Troubles:
Frida (1986) -- the life and paintings of Frida Kahlo (married to the great muralist Diego Rivera)
Frida (2003) -- two left-wing Mexican artists interact with the Rockefellers
X Tina in Mexico (2002) -- life of photographer Tina Modotti and her contacts with intellectual circles (including Diego Rivera)
Raíces de sangre (Roots of Blood) (1979) -- the fight for unionization of the fabric factories around the US/Mexican border
MEXICAN REVOLUTION/CIVIL WAR (1910-1917) ( 1,000,000 dead) Back to Chapter IX Back to Contents
Dictator General Porfirio Diaz (1876-1880) and (1884-1911)
Madera (president 1911-1913)
El Cometa (The Comet) (1999) -- a young Mexican girl wants to get the collected money to San Antonio, Texas to support Madero in his fight against dictator General Porfirio Diaz
Cuartelazo (military uprising) (1977) -- General Vitoriano Huerta overthrows Madera in a plot with US ambassador to Mexico, Henry Lane Wilson; he was president 1913-1914
X Mexico de mis recuerdos (My Memories of Mexico) (1944) -- (no English subtitles) remembrances of Mexico under Diaz
X Mexico de mis recuerdos (My Memories of Mexico) (1963) -- (no English subtitles) remembrances of Mexico under Diaz
X Thunder over Mexico (Que viva México) (1933) -- excesses of the powerful in the days of dictator Porfirio Diaz
Pancho Villa (leader of the northern forces)
Viva Villa! (1934) -- Pancho Villa, head of the army of the North, 1916, Mexico
Let's Go with Pancho Villa (1936) -- a group of 6 men from the same village decide to join the Villa forces
And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (2003) -- Pancho Villa raises money by agreeing to let the Americans film his battles
X Villa! (1958) dull; Mexican revolutionary
Villa Rides! (1968) -- an American pilot becomes involved with Pancho Villa and the Mexican Revolution
The Old Gringo (1989) -- about the writer Ambrose Bierce who at 70 was a volunteer with Villa
Pancho Villa (1972) -- non-historical comedy
La soldadera (Soldier's Woman) (1966) -- (no English subtitles) a wife becomes a soldier's woman when her husband is conscripted into the Mexican Revolution
Reds -- journalist John Reed interviewed Villa
X Reed, México insurgente (1973) -- American journalist John Reed and the Mexican Revolution ($1,000 for VHS tape)
Caballo prieto azabache (Midnight Stallion) (1965) -- (no English subtitles) shelters Villa in his early days after he killed a landowner and then Villa repays a debt
X El principio (2007) -- (no English subtitles) an artist joins the forces of Villa
Un Dorado De Pancho Villa (1966) -- (no English subtitles) a Villa supporter finds a rich man, steals his sweetheart and Villa is asked for help
X El tesoro de Pancho Villa (The Treasure of Pancho Villa) (1957) -- Mexican Revolution (currently unavailable)
X Flor Silvestre (Wild Flower) (1943) -- set against the Mexican Revolution, class differences between a rich man and poor woman leads to family divisions
Los de abajo (1940) -- farm worker joins Pancho Villa General; fights in takeover of Zacatecas; promoted to rank of lieutenant colonel
X Los de abajo (1978) --
La muerte de Pancho Villa (The Death of Pancho Villa) (1974) -- (no English subtitles) the murder of Pancho Villa, 1923
X Under Strange Flags (1937) -- Pancho Villa prevents some Americans from getting their mined-in-Mexico silver
They Came to Cordura (1959) -- story of courage or the lack of it set during raiding activities of Pancho Villa along the Mexico/USA border
Zapata (leader of the southern forces)
Viva Zapata (1952) -- Marlon Brando 1916, Mexico
X Emiliano Zapata (Zapata) (1970) -- played by Antonio Aquilar
Zapata: Amor en Rebeldia (2004) -- Zapata in a three-way relationship
X Zapata: El sueño de un héroe (2004) -- Emiliano Zapata, leader of the southern forces fighting the Mexican Revolution
El Compadre Mendoza (1934) -- a wealthy land owner survives the revolution by playing friends to both governmental and Zapata forces
Lucio Vasquez (1968) -- (no English subtitles) a close comrade to Zapata wants revenge for the killings of Zapata and his father
La casta divina (1977) -- the Yucatan aristocracy on the eve of the Mexican Revolution
X Trini (1976) -- East German movie involving the Mexican Revolution
Other:
Cannon for Cordoba (1970) -- soldiers against Mexican bandits on the Texas border ca. 1912
X La Sombra del caudillo (1960) -- corrupt politics in post-revolutionary Mexico
X Peregrina (El asesinato de Carrillo Puerto Mexico - (subtitle)) (1974) -- (no English subtitles) love affair between journalist Alma Reed and Governor of Yucatan, Felipe Carillo Puerto during time of Obregon (pres 1920-1924)
X La Guerra Santa (1979) -- (no English subtitles) a poor pottery maker is coerced into fighting with the Christian army in the Cristero Rebellion (1926-1929)
X De todos modos Juan te llamas (The General's Daughter) (1975) -- (no subtitles) centers on the Cristero movement, an uprising of Catholic fundamentalists (currently unavailable)
X Esperanza (1988) -- Russian man flees the Russian Revolution and goes to Mexico
La ley de Herodes (Herod's Law) -- political corruption in Mexico
X Rosa Blanca (translation: White Rose) (1961) (released 1972) -- set in 1930s when powerful oil companies appropriate vast amounts of Mexican land; farmer resists and tragedy ensues (banned until 1972)
Río escondido (1948) -- (No English subtitles) a dedicated school teacher works in a poverty-stricken community, set during presidency of Miguel Alemán Valdés (1946-1952)
X México '68 (2010) – Mexican student revolt of 1968
Canoa (1976) -- a group of university employees get into real trouble when they are mistaken for Communists
Rojo amanecer (1989) -- family's physical security threatened by their sons' commitment to the 1968 student revolt
X Crates (1970) -- post-1968 militant students have hard time adjusting in face of government repression and society's indifference (Carl J. Mora "Mexican Cinema")
X Mecánica nacional (National Mechanics) (1972) ---- criticism of Mexican lower middle class values; clearly no new Mexican revolution can come from these shallow, sybaritic young people (Carl J. Mora "Mexican Cinema")
X El Cambio (The Change) (1971) -- a kind of Mexican "Easy Rider"
Raíces de sangre (Roots of Blood) (1976) -- attempts to form labor union for the employees of maquiladoras (the mostly American-owned assembly plants along the Mexico border with USA)
X Lola (1989) -- set against the background of the 1985 earthquake, story of a woman overwhelmed by urban existence; awarded two Best First Feature prizes in Latin American film festivals
El violin (The Violin) (2005) -- grandfather tries to retrieve ammunition for the guerilla movement behind government army lines
Mexican emigration:
X El Jardín del Edén (The Garden of Eden) (1994) -- three main stories interwoven dealing with emigration from Mexico (focus is on Tijuana)
X Al otro lado (2004) -- To the Other Side; stories of Cuban boy, Moroccan girl and Mexican boy and the effects of emigration on their lives
X Espaldas mojadas (1955) -- Wet Backs; film made to discourage Mexicans from emigrating to the USA; Mexican illegals at mercy of exploiters and fearful of being discovered
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