The mythical arrival of the Mexican Revolution in Hollywood: the day Charles Chaplin brought Pancho Villa to the stage

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During the first days of January 1914, Harry Aitken, legal representative of Mutual Film Corporation, met with General Pancho Villa in El Paso, Texasto sign a very special contract that linked the leader of the Mexican revolution to Hollywood cinema.

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in that contractthe leader of the Northern Division relinquished the exclusive rights to film his military campaign against the federal army, which would have culminated in Mexico City. The legal document stipulated, among other stipulations, that Villa and his superiors would wear new uniforms to be used during filming and that the battles would be planned in agreement with the cameramen to ensure the best scenes and light conditions.

They will also retake the shots if they are not satisfactory enough.. Through this agreement, Pancho Villa would get $25,000 and 20% of its box office; Also, the warlord was busy starring in a biopic that was being planned at the same time.

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The acting side of Pancho Villa

North Centaur’s acting career in cinema The life of General Villadirected by William Christy Cabanne and starring, as well as Doroteo Arango Arámbula. It was a work that goes beyond fiction and history to become a reflection on the unusual perspectives and difficulties when it comes to representing the Mexican Revolution in cinema. Which explains why Villa demanded a large sum of money for time and brand new uniforms to show off behind the cameras.

The life of General Villait’s finally a lost film, It was produced by the company of David Wark Griffith, Charles Chaplin himself and Mutual, and included not only real scenes from the battles fought during the second revolutionary phase, but also fictional sequences to introduce the hero to the audience..

In the film, it is shown how Villa started out as a factory worker, became an independent rancher, and hired some of the evil Federal Army officers (WH Lawrence and Walter Long) after they kidnapped, seriously injured and raped his sister, played by actress Teddy Sampson.

This provoked Villa’s thirst for revenge and the revolt against the regime, as he furiously pursued those responsible, killing one as the other escaped. Assaulted by federal troops, the caudillo fled into the mountains before finding and killing the second mate at the famous Battle of Torreón.

North Centaur vowed to avoid night battles as they made cameras difficult to operate in 1914; however, she ignored him out of military strategy. It is known that he blew up a church with dynamite for better lighting, but that’s all between legend and fact.

The ups and downs of Pancho Villa’s debut as an actor

The first images exhibited by Mutual date back to the battle of Ojinaga, on January 10, 1914; then, that of Torreón, on April 3 of the same year. After, Hollywood forgot Villa and recognized Venustiano Carranza, Villa’s rival, as head of the victorious army and new Mexican ruler.

On March 9, 1916, the Villistas attacked Columbus, New Mexico, killing 17 Americans. While on March 15, 1916 an expedition under the command of General John Pershing crossed the border and entered Chihuahua to try to capture it.

The film and film projects around the leader of the Mexican revolution have been forgotten.

Between 2000 and 2003, documentary filmmaker Gregorio Rocha rummaged through various international film archives, as well as the Library of Congress in Washington, looking for those images.

The result was The Lost Scrolls by Pancho Villawhere he established the relationship between the leader of the Northern Division and the Mutual Film Corporation based on various film materials, interviews with film historians and curators, photographs and fictional recreations discovered during film research.

Also in 2003, the famous Australian director Bruce Beresford, director of Driving Miss Daisymade the TV show Introducing Pancho Villa with Antonio Banderas as Villa, Kyle Chandler as Raoul Walsh and Damián Alcázar as General Rodolfo Fierro, among others.

The film reconstructs the events of Centauro del Norte’s acting contract in 1914 The life of General Villa at a time when the American press was spreading terrifying news about Villa, and how the Mutual Film Corporation convinced him that this film would change public opinion about him. In the end everything remained unfinished but the myth of the revolutionary increased.

Source: Clarin

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