''Pancho Villa'' is a 1972 Italian-Spanish

spaghetti western The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

film directed by Eugenio Martín. It takes as its starting point the life and legend of the Mexican bandit-revolutionary of that name, but has no other basis in historical fact. The film features Telly Savalas, Clint Walker,

Chuck Connors Kevin Joseph Aloysius "Chuck" Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have p ...

and

Anne Francis Anne Francis (also known as Anne Lloyd Francis; September 16, 1930 – January 2, 2011) was an American actress known for her ground-breaking roles in the science-fiction film ''Forbidden Planet'' (1956) and the television action-drama seri ...

. Shot in Spain, this "brawling spectacle" has an often-overlooked light-comedy satirical facet, which to this day often confuses viewers. The storyline was developed during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and reflected certain antiwar sentiments in an American society. The title song "We All End Up the Same", with music by John Cacavas and lyrics by Don Black, is sung by Savalas.

Plot

After being double-crossed in an arms deal by a gun merchant McDermott (Luis Dávila) from

Columbus, New Mexico Columbus is a village in Luna County, New Mexico, United States, about north of the Mexican border. It is considered a place of historical interest, as the scene of a 1916 attack by Mexican revolutionary leader Francisco "Pancho" Villa that cau ...

, legendary Mexican revolutionary

Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (, Orozco rebelled in March 1912, both for Madero's continuing failure to enact land reform and because he felt insufficiently rewarded for his role in bringing the new president to power. At the request of Madero's c ...

( Telly Savalas) and his American lieutenant Scotty ( Clint Walker) decide to exact revenge by raiding a US Army weapons depot in Columbus and seizing McDermott. The detail-obsessed Colonel Wilcox ( Chuck Conners) and his army is stationed on the American side of the border. Also on the scene is Flo (

), Scotty's wife, the two of them enjoy a bickering relationship.

Cast

* Telly Savalas as

* Clint Walker as Scotty *

as Col. Wilcox *

as Flo *

José María Prada José María Prada Oterino (31 March 1925 – 13 August 1978) was a Spanish film and television actor. He appeared in more than 80 films and television shows between 1954 and 1978. Partial filmography * ''Comedians'' (1954) - Decorador * ...

as Luis *

Ángel del Pozo Ángel del Pozo (born 14 July 1934) is a Spanish actor. He appeared in more than seventy films since 1960. He retired in 1980, and from 1990 to 2008 he worked as a executive producer and public relations Public relations (PR) is the practi ...

as Lt. Eager * Luis Dávila as McDermott *

Mónica Randall Mónica Randall (born 1942) is a Spanish film actress. Randall has made some 110 appearances in film and TV since 1963. She appeared in numerous Spaghetti Westerns in the 1960s in films such as '' One Hundred Thousand Dollars for Ringo'' and ...

as Lupe * Antonio Casas as General Goyo *

Alberto Dalbés Alberto Dalbés (April 3, 1922 – September 14, 1983) was an Argentine film and television actor. who appeared in Argentinian and Spanish films, including horror films, giallo/ crime dramas (''Night of the Assassins'', ''A Quiet Place To Kill'' ...

as Captain Mendoza * Walter Coy as General Pershing

Production

Producer Bernard Gordon wrote in his autobiography that Telly Savalas and Clint Walker did not get along during the shooting of the movie. Savalas made attempts to upstage Walker and even insisted on changing some two-shots into solo shots. Conversely, Clint Walker enjoyed Anne Francis's companionship, unlike his onscreen character. This was important to Walker, as not much time had passed since he had barely survived a skiing accident, which, as he told Gordon, completely changed his life. Gordon stated that the production was finished on time and on budget despite script problems.

References

External links

* *
''Pancho Villa''
film at

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television series ...

*
''Pancho Villa''
at the Spaghetti Western Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Pancho Villa 1972 films 1972 Western (genre) films Spanish Western (genre) films Spaghetti Western films English-language Spanish films Films about Pancho Villa Films shot in Spain Films scored by Antón García Abril Films directed by Eugenio Martín 1970s English-language films Italian Western (genre) films 1970s Spanish films 1970s Italian films English-language Western (genre) films