The Treasure of Pancho Villa (1955)

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Rory Calhoun (Tom Bryan), Shelley Winters (Ruth Harris), Gilbert Roland (Juan Castro), Joseph Calleia (Pablo Morales), Fanny Schiller (Laria Morales), Carlos Mosquiz (commandant), Tony Carvajal (Farolito), Pasquel Pena (Ricardo). Director: GEORGE SHERMAN. Screenplay: Niven Busch. Story: J. Robert Bren, Gladys Atwater. Photographed in Eastman Color by William Snyder. Prints in Color by Technicolor and Superscope. Film editor: Harry Marker. Music: Leith Stevens. Art director: Jack Okey. Hair styles: Ruby Felkner. Special effects: Jack Lannon. Unit manager: John E. Burch. Production supervisor: Cliff Broughton. Assistant director: Lew Borzage, Sound recording: Jose Carles, Terry Kellum. RCA Sound System. Producer: Edmund Grainger. An Edmund Grainger Production.Copyright 1955 by Edmund Grainger Productions. Released through RKO- Radio Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Palace: 24 November 1955. U.S. release: 19 October 1955. U.K. release: 30 January 1956. Australian release: 11 October 1956 (sic). Sydney opening at the Palace (ran a pre-determined two weeks). 8,582 feet. 95 minutes. SYNOPSIS: Yankee mercenary aids Villa's guerrillas in Mexico in 1915.COMMENT: A thinly disguised adaptation of For Whom the Bell Tolls (with elements from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre thrown in), even down to the cutting of the heroine's hair. Unfortunately, the snidely smiling Rory Calhoun is no Gary Cooper, and the passably attractive Shelley Winters (hampered by the fervor of her amateurish dialogue) even less an Ingrid Bergman. Gilbert Roland tries hard as a sort of composite moralistic revolutionary, but only Joseph Calleia in the Akim Tamiroff role (Pablo in both films) and his feisty wife, Fanny Schiller (played by Katina Paxinou in Sam Wood's 1943 version), really excel. True, the action scenes are put across with a modicum of panache, but the film often grinds to a shuddering halt for some lengthy dialogue exchanges. Most of these could be heavily scissored to advantage. On the other hand, the rugged Mexican locations are vividly realized and William Snyder's sharply detailed Superscope photography never fails to fascinate.

The Treasure of Pancho Villa is directed by George Sherman and adapted to screenplay by Niven Busch from a story written by J. Robert Bren and Gladys Atwater. It stars Rory Calhoun, Gilbert Roland and Shelley Winters. Music is by Leith Stevens and cinematography by William Snyder.It's 1915, Mexico, and two adventurers are in the throes of revolutionary greed, loyalties and plain stubbornness...It's all rather dull, really, a film not without a good action quotient, yet it drags itself through the slumber with weak characterisations. Winters is shoehorned into the pic as a sort of love interest, but ultimately her character achieves nothing more than under developed dressage, while Calhoun and Roland are saddled with some dire passages of chatter that come off as weak willed time filler. There's some sturdy machismo on show, especially when Calhoun lets fly with his Lewis Machine Gun, the location photography at Morelos (Technicolor/SuperScope) engages the eyes, and the last hurrah battle excites, but this is one that quickly fades from memory, sadly. By this point even the buzzards have had enough... 5/10

Great film for Gilbert Roland fans. He goes the full nine yards in sartorial fetishism. The thigh-high multi- buckled leather boots, the narrow wrist thongs to emphasise his thewed hirsute forearms, the double flap-pocketed and epauletted safari shirt diagonally crossed with a bullet-laden bandoleer, the mandatory trouser belt above the matching holster belt (if the revolution succeeds, gringo, everyone in "May-he-co" will be able to dress like theece). This ensemble is topped off with the classical Gilbertian contest between his moustache and his cheroot as to which was thinner. In this period he starred in any film in which he appeared notwithstanding his actual billing which was dictated by him being Mexican rather than WASP(apart of course from his waist).

Rory Calhoun leads the way as American Mercenary Tom Bryan, who is persuaded by fellow American Ruth Harris (Shelly Winters) to join Jaun Castro (Gilbert Roland - a David Niven wannabee) and his rebels in 1915 Mexico right in the middle of the revouloution. Together, they rob a Mexican train and steal its cargo of gold which they then trek across the desert to find Pancho Villa himself and deliver the gold to him, so it can fund him to buy more weapons and ammunition.Of course there is plenty of double crosses and gunfights along the way, pushing the body-count up to around 80, but there were a few things i enjoyed quiet allot. One is the Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid esquire outnumbered showdown, but the thing which I was not suspecting was when Tom Bryan mows down several Mexicans at the start of this film with a machine gun! A frickin machine gun. I was definitely not expecting that from a 50s Western. Check it out.