Viva Zapata!

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Viva Zapata!
Image:Viva zapata(1).jpg Film poster
Directed by	Elia Kazan
Produced by	Darryl F. Zanuck
Written by	John Steinbeck Edgecumb Pinchon
Starring	Marlon Brando Jean Peters Anthony Quinn
Music by	Alex North
Cinematography	Joseph MacDonald
Editing by	Barbara McLean
Distributed by	Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Release date(s)	February 7, 1952
Running time	113 min.
Language	English Spanish
IMDb profile

Viva Zapata! is a 1952 biographical drama film directed by Elia Kazan.

This fictionalized film of rebel Emiliano Zapata (Marlon Brando) follows his life from his peasant upbringing, through his rise to power in the early 1900's, to his death. Zapata was joined by Pancho Villa (Alan Reed) in his rebellion against tyrannical President Porfirio Diaz.

[edit] Awards

Academy of Motion Pictures, AMPAS (1952) Won: Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Anthony Quinn.
Academy of Motion Pictures, AMPAS (1952) Nominations: Best Actor in a Leading Role, Marlon Brando; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White: Lyle R. Wheeler, Leland Fuller, Thomas Little, Claude E. Carpenter; Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture: Alex North; Best Writing, Story and Screenplay: John Steinbeck.

[edit] Trivia

The phrase "Viva Zapata!" is also used in times of protest by who face injustice. The shout is often accompanied by "Tierra y Libertad"
Filming locations: Durango, Colorado; Roma, Texas; and New Mexico.
The film tends to romanticize Zapata and in doing so distorts the true nature of the Mexican Revolution. Still, Zapata did fight - not to conquer Mexico but to free the land for the peasants of Morelos and the other southern Mexican provinces.
There is also a book titled Zapata by John Steinbeck. The original screenplay was written by the author and the book contains a newly found introduction by Steinbeck, the original proposed screenplay, and the official movie script.