Viva Zapata! (1952)

Directed by Elia Kazan. Starring Marlon Brando, Anthony Quinn, Joseph Wiseman, Jean Peters, Harold Gordon, Arnold Moss, Frank Silvera, Alan Reed, Margo, Fay Roope.

It’s less galling to see Brando play Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata than it is to see him as a Japanese interpreter in The Teahouse of the August Moon (or John Wayne as Genghis Khan, for that matter), but he fails to disappear into the role, which is ennobled with more heavy purpose than this drama can withstand. Oscar-winner Quinn steals the star’s thunder anyway with a vibrantly macho turn as brother Eufemio; maybe if the movie was about him and raised blinders to its mishandled and often preachy version of sentimental liberalism it might have worked. John Steinbeck was in full-blown “Grapes of Wrath” symbolism mode when he penned the screenplay, and director Elia Kazan (months away from his unforgivable testimony before the HCUA) follows suit—check out the white horse in the final shot—resulting in disjointed storytelling which fails to fluidly combine the political position and “big picture” scope with more personal and intimate details. As such, it’s not always clear what’s happening and why, which is bad news for a movie meant to build a fire in the belly of every viewer. Jean Peters is unconvincing as Emiliano’s wife, but most of the other supporting actors are credible and robust. Mildred Dunnock and Henry Silva have minor roles.

45/100