VIVA ZAPATA! (1952)

Viva Zapata! is a biographical film starring Marlon Brando and directed by Elia Kazan in 1952. John Steinbeck wrote the screenplay based on Edgcomb Pinchon's 1941 novel Zapata the Unconquerable. Jean Peters and Anthony Quinn, who won an Academy Award for his portrayal, are among the cast members. From his peasant origins through his rise to prominence in the early 1900s and his death in 1919, the film is a dramatized version of Mexican rebel Emiliano Zapata's life.

Brando adopting heavy makeup and a thick accent to play Mexican rebel Emiliano Zapata in this epic drama is admittedly unsettling. Despite this, Elia Kazan's Viva Zapata! is a thrilling account of his life, from his peasant background through his uprising against President Porfirio Diaz's cruel regime. For his role as Zapata's hard-drinking, skirt-chasing brother, Eufemio, Anthony Quinn earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. And, despite his dubious make-up, Brando captures the essence of the enigmatic Zapata, a guy propelled into leadership practically by accident. He was nominated for Best Actor but lost to Gregory Peck, but he did win the BAFTA for Best Foreign Actor, so at least he got some recognition for his work.

Detailed information:

Directed by: Elia Kazan

Release date: February 7, 1952

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045296