''Viva Max!'' is a 1969

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Jerry Paris William Gerald Paris (July 25, 1925 – March 31, 1986) was an American actor and director best known for playing Jerry Helper, the dentist and next-door neighbor of Rob and Laura Petrie, on ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'', and for directing the majo ...

and starring

Peter Ustinov Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, director and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received #Awa ...

Jonathan Winters Jonathan Harshman Winters III (November 11, 1925 – April 11, 2013) was an American comedian, actor, author, television host, and artist. He started performing as a stand up comedian before transitioning his career to acting in film and te ...

and

John Astin John Allen Astin (born March 30, 1930) is an American actor and director who has appeared in numerous stage, television and film roles, primarily in character roles. He is widely known for his role as patriarch Gomez Addams in ''The Addams Famil ...

. The film was written by Elliott Baker based on the 1966 novel of the same name by James Lehrer.

Plot

Riding a white horse, Brigadier General Maximilian Rodrigues de Santos of the army of Mexico arrives at a United States border crossing with a small company of soldiers on foot. He claims to be leading his men to Laredo,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

to march in a parade on

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

's birthday. The soldiers' destination is actually

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, where the general intends to carry out a quixotic mission to "re-occupy" the

Alamo The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alam ...

. None of his men are aware of his plans, but without argument they do whatever they are told by Max's devoted Sergeant Valdez. Disguising himself in an ill-fitting suit as a tourist, Max goes on ahead and takes a guided tour of the Alamo. In the gift shop, he encounters an attractive young blonde, Paula, who, when she isn't selling postcards, is a radical student activist. He returns to his men and, after racing through the streets of San Antonio, they seize control of the fort, taking Paula and two other Americans as their prisoners. Max places a call to the local authorities, telling police chief Sylvester that the flag of Mexico now flies above this piece of hallowed Texas ground. Sylvester doesn't take him seriously at first, but quickly discovers that Max is an actual Army general and that everything else he has claimed is true. The chief goes to the Alamo to meet Max in person, using the passwords "John Wayne" and "Richard Widmark" to gain entry. Max instructs him to contact

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

and report the fort to be back under Mexico's control. As Max will only negotiate with another general, Sylvester calls on Billy Joe Hallson, a brigadier general of the state's

National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...

, whose day job is running a mattress store. Max is unimpressed. A low-level bureaucrat from Washington condescendingly promises that if Max leaves quietly the United States will not take this "invasion" too seriously and mocks Mexico as "not exactly the Soviet Union." To which Max announces he will hold the Alamo for thirteen days in response to the snub. Paula sees Max as a heroic revolutionary but he tells her his only reason for the invasion was to impress his girlfriend back home who told him that his men wouldn't follow him into a brothel. A three-star U.S. Army general named Lacomber arrives to take charge. A company of his men scale the wall and enter the fort, but without ammunition, so as to avoid bloodshed and an international incident. It turns out Max's men are not carrying ammo, either, but the Americans fall for Max's bluff to open fire and promptly surrender. Max celebrates by doing a Mexican hat dance. Paula brings the general back to earth by explaining that she has learned his soldiers follow him only because Valdez shoots any who do not obey orders. Disheartened, Max decides to wave the white flag of surrender and go peacefully. A private anti-communist militia, who think Max is a front for the Chinese, arrives just as Max is surrendering to Lacomber. Their leader, whose aunt is one of the hostages, shoots Max in the shoulder. Max bravely orders his unarmed men to attack the armed militia. His men, for the first time, willingly follow his orders and the militia flee as their leader is arrested. Max then tells the U.S. authorities that he intends to "advance"—to Mexico. Satisfied at that, Sylvester, Lacomber and Hallson let the Mexican general get back on his horse. He rides out of town triumphantly with his men chanting proudly: "Viva Max!"

Cast

as General Maximillian Rodrigo De Santos aka Max * Pamela Tiffin as Paula Whitland *

as General Billy Joe Hallson *

as Sergeant Valdez *

Keenan Wynn Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn (July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was an American character actor. His expressive face was his wikt:stock-in-trade, stock-in-trade; though he rarely carried the leading actor, lead role, h ...

as General Lacomber *

Harry Morgan Harry Morgan (born Harry Bratsberg; April 10, 1915 – December 7, 2011) was an American actor whose television and film career spanned six decades. Morgan's major roles included Pete Porter in both '' December Bride'' (1954–1959) and '' Pet ...

as Chief Sylvester *

Alice Ghostley Alice Margaret Ghostley (August 14, 1923 – September 21, 2007) was an American actress and singer on stage, film and television. Ghostley was best known for her roles as bumbling witch Esmeralda (1969–72) on '' Bewitched'', as Cousin Alice ...

as Hattie *

Larry Hankin Lawrence Alan Hankin (born December 7, 1937) is an American character actor. He has had major film roles as Charley Butts in '' Escape from Alcatraz'' (1979), Ace in '' Running Scared'' (1986), and Carl Alphonse in '' Billy Madison'' (1995). H ...

as Pedro Romero * Kenneth Mars as Sam Gillison *

Ann Morgan Guilbert Ann Morgan Guilbert (October 16, 1928 – June 14, 2016), sometimes credited as Ann Guilbert, was an American television and film actress and comedian who portrayed a number of roles from the 1950s on, most notably as Millie Helper in 61 episode ...

as Edna Miller * Bill McCutcheon as Desmond Miller *

Gino Conforti Gino Conforti (born January 30, 1932) is an American film, television, and theatre actor. He is perhaps best known for his recurring role as kitchen helper/chef Felipe Gomez in the American television sitcom '' Three's Company''. Early life C ...

as Contreras * Christopher Ross as Gomez * Paul Sand as Moreno *

Don Diamond Donald Alan Diamond (June 4, 1921 – June 19, 2011) was an American radio, film, and television actor who portrayed "Crazy Cat", the sidekick and heir apparent to Chief Wild Eagle on the popular 1960s television sitcom, ''F Troop'' (1965–19 ...

as Hernandez * Jack Colvin as Garcia * Jessica Myerson as Mrs. Dodd * Ted Gehring as Customs Guard Collins * Jim B. Smith as Customs Guard Michaels * Eldon Quick as Quincy

Music

The film's musical styles drift back and forth between the sound of the 'invading' army's military band and the late-1960's pop groove, the former during scenes focusing on the movement of Max's forces, and the latter during wider views of the invaders as seen within the surrounding activity of everyday American life going on all around them. The film credits the music to

Hugo Montenegro Hugo Mario Montenegro (September 2, 1925 – February 6, 1981) was an American orchestra leader and composer of film soundtracks. His best-known work is interpretations of the music from Spaghetti Westerns, especially his cover version of Ennio M ...

along with the duo of Ralph Dino & John Sembello, with the ostentatious trumpet solos by virtuoso

Al Hirt Alois Maxwell "Al" Hirt (November 7, 1922 – April 27, 1999) was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his million-selling recordings of "Java (instrumental), Java" and the accompanying album ''Honey in the Horn (album ...

Production

A controversy occurred when The Daughters of the Republic of Texas objected to the filming of the Alamo to the point of staging protests on location. This caused some scenes to be filmed at an

replica in Brackettville,

and interior shots at studios in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

instead of in

at the actual Alamo.

Release

The film premiered in

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

on December 18, 1969.

References

External links

* * {{Jerry Paris 1969 films 1969 comedy films 1960s English-language films American comedy films American political satire films Films based on American novels Films directed by Jerry Paris Films scored by Hugo Montenegro Films set in Texas Films shot in Texas Films shot in San Antonio 1960s American films Casting controversies in film