It's a little curious why a film with the name of Pancho Villa in the title doesn't actually have the historical character Pancho Villa in the story. Instead, it's about Mexican revolutionary Juan Castro (Gilbert Roland) and his band of rebels stealing a gold train shipment in order to fund Villa's activities. At times, working with him and against him is American mercenary Tom Bryan (Rory Calhoun), who's only loyalty is to himself, and who has his sights on the gold himself, although he's willing to split it with Castro since he doesn't know the lay of the land. Of the two, Castro appears to be the more honorable man, as he's committed to his ideal of freedom and loyalty to Villa. But when push comes to shove, they have to team up to avoid capture and death from the Mexican federales chasing the stolen gold. I had to laugh when both men stacked up the gold as a defense shield against the soldiers; there were more bags than could possibly have been carried by twenty mules!
While it doesn't get very far, there's also the tease of a romance between Bryan and American school teacher Ruth Harris (Shelley Winters). They do exchange a kiss or two, but she's sent away to safety by Bryan and Castro with the man they thwarted in stealing the gold from them, Pablo Morales (Joseph Calleia). He in turn tried to deal with the Federales, but was cut down by Castro, who viewed the Mexican as a traitor. Bryan's handheld machine gun he affectionately named 'La Cucaracha' came into play at various times, but for the grand finale, Bryan set off a huge rockslide that buried the encroaching soldiers. Quite honestly, the way it was filmed, it didn't look like the landslide was anywhere near the troops.
Another reviewer got my attention by mentioning an advertising sign for Coca-Cola in the picture. I've made it a game to shout out 'Coca Cola' with my family whenever its appearance shows up in a film. Now that I've mentioned it, I bet you'll see Coke advertising in more movies than you would have ever expected.
While it doesn't get very far, there's also the tease of a romance between Bryan and American school teacher Ruth Harris (Shelley Winters). They do exchange a kiss or two, but she's sent away to safety by Bryan and Castro with the man they thwarted in stealing the gold from them, Pablo Morales (Joseph Calleia). He in turn tried to deal with the Federales, but was cut down by Castro, who viewed the Mexican as a traitor. Bryan's handheld machine gun he affectionately named 'La Cucaracha' came into play at various times, but for the grand finale, Bryan set off a huge rockslide that buried the encroaching soldiers. Quite honestly, the way it was filmed, it didn't look like the landslide was anywhere near the troops.
Another reviewer got my attention by mentioning an advertising sign for Coca-Cola in the picture. I've made it a game to shout out 'Coca Cola' with my family whenever its appearance shows up in a film. Now that I've mentioned it, I bet you'll see Coke advertising in more movies than you would have ever expected.