And Starring Pancho Villa As Himself Page #5

I gathered.

Guess I was fairly obvious.

Girls don't mind that one bit.

- What have we got here, boss?

- New wardrobe.

Civil War surplus?

Yeah, Aitken got a good deal on it.

You don't think these guys are gonna mind?

- Dressing up like the losing side.

- I think we'll keep that our little secret.

Pretty impressive.

French, 75 mm. Perfect for the job.

Really! Mary Pickford doesn't take this long

in makeup.

Mary Pickford isn't running a revolution

on the side.

Don't think she couldn't.

Here we go.

How do I look?

You're weary, General.

Trappings of power mean nothing to you.

Your every goal has been achieved.

You've avenged your family.

You've righted the wrongs

against your people.

Many lives have been sacrificed...

but in the end, you have

saved the life of your beloved Mexico.

But the work of a president is never done.

Lawrence.

And return to your desk, General.

Pick up the pen...

and sign the document.

Good.

Lawrence, take the paper and leave.

Bow and go.

And now the weariness returns.

Can you give me a sigh, General?

Beautiful.

And now your speech.

Into the camera...

into the lens that is the eye

that sees for all the world.

Chapeau to you, sir. One take.

Is there anything the man cannot do?

It is easy to be president in a movie.

In a movie, Pancho Villa could be the Pope.

In the end, there will be other better men

who will sit in Mexico City.

And you'll do what? Surely not retire?

I think the government would open a factory

to make good saddles at Frago.

Pancho Villa, his hands filled with leather.

Pancho Villa's hands are leather.

And you would settle for just doing that?

That and watch that Mexico

does not become...

another star on the flag of your country.

And what about you?

What Pancho Villa wants...

for himself?

A parade when he dies.

A parade, many tears, and many flowers.

For the children to miss his candy.

A funeral...

with many poets and singing.

And at the end, a tomb.

A big tomb...

where they can come...

where people can come,

and see Pancho Villa...

will be always there for them.

Always.

You know, I wrote this scene in my head...

the very first time I laid eyes on you.

Was I okay?

You want to try one more take?

Is it too soon?

I don't know. Maybe not.

I'm sure not.

"Onward and upward" is the ticket.

That's what Mom always taught me.

Tomorrow we leave...

to begin the last chapter of the Revolucin.

Bravo, General.

You have much to film in the battle,

my friend.

- The battle, sir?

- The battle of Torren.

I won't be going with you.

No, I finished my part in this film.

I'm going to New Jersey.

To start a new one.

Really. You can call my agent.

Excuse me, Gen. Villa.

Me, I don't go, sir.

You, too? You're not going?

No, sir, my work's through here.

Only the camera operators are going.

- What's happening?

- I'm not sure.

Oh, my God!

Calling for a firing squad.

Here, Pancho Villa is the director.

Here Pancho Villa says

who is finished and who is not finished.

Now you know

what you will miss at Torren.

Will you take this?

Too bad them actresses don't do no jazzing.

The hell they are!

Put the gun away.

General, these boys

have been such a help to the movie...

and now you're turning them into soldiers?

You can't.

Is this what you want

for the children of Mexico?

Schools for only some,

Harvard just for yours, death for the rest?

One boy for you, one boy for Villa.

How can anyone possibly make that choice?

That one for you. I'll take the winner.

Now we find the end of the shots.

Close your stinking mouth.

- You remember our agreement.

- Pancho Villa forgets nothing.

All right, got your cameras?

Ready?

Everyone ready?

Start cranking!

And action!

Keep firing.

Come here.

In the center in the valley of Torren...

is the armory of Huerta.

Enough guns for Pancho Villa

to make a hundred revolutions.

At Torren...

Pancho Villa will give his General ngeles

and your Seor Aitken...

the mucho boom-boom.

Excuse me, sir.

You're attacking from here. This is the east?

You're firing at the Federales from the east?

Is there any special reason

for that plan, sir?

S. Because it's mine.

What?

Your camera's going to shoot

into the sun, huh?

Your lenses are not strong enough.

Nowhere near enough, no, sir.

Maybe you can move the cameras

to the side.

This way the sun can come across.

Or...

Or what?

Could you change your attack

so that you fire from the west...

instead of the east?

That would give us so much better a picture.

We kill them all your way.

Action, Seor Griffith.

Action.

The thing is, it's always easier for an army

to defend a position...

than it is for one to take it.

I suppose you're right. Took the Turks

What's this?

If we fight the Federales for 1,000 years

we cannot beat them...

unless we fight them this way.

By day we can win the battle,

by night we will win the war.

But you always must've known that.

In the dark I can smell the Federales' fear.

With fear comes defeat.

You never really intended

to honor our contract, did you?

My only contract is honored with Mexico.

There's no choice.

It's better for me to lose the movie

than the Revolution.

What the hell was in there?

The Federales hide their ammunition

in the church.

This way they go to heaven faster.

Plenty of light now, Francisco.

- Hello, sonny boy.

- Hi.

Take some of this.

Thanks.

Frigging rainwater.

That's all there is.

If you ask me, cows have been pissing in it.

Hell of a show the boss put on last night.

I didn't get one foot of it.

There are those days, kid.

There are those days.

- Sorry, Sam.

- Don't worry about it.

You can take a Jew apart,

you can never kill him altogether.

Used to aggravate the hell out of my mother.

There's a law, you know.

Anybody with a tattoo, no Jewish cemetery

will let you get buried there.

As if it's gonna bother somebody

in the next grave, right?

I can't tell you how happy

this is going to make my mother.

Charlie, set up fast.

This is the scene we missed at Ojinaga.

My God.

How could you?

Don't speak to me of God.

God has never been to Mexico!

If he has been, he has a heart of stone!

Go home, Frank.

All of you!

Go where to be born is to be equal.

The children of Mexico are not yet so lucky.

Mr. Walsh.

One more!

Very still, now. Very still.

As far as I'm concerned,

two-reel films are a thing of the past.

I can imagine the time...

when a 5-reel picture was...

It's not gonna be an easy thing to see

for us, because we...

Good evening.

Nice to see you again.

Good evening.

Onward and upward. That's the ticket.

Jack.

I want you to know

I fought against editing that shot that way.

It means a lot to me

for you to understand that.

I understand the difficulty

in selling tickets to see a hero...

who mows down widows in cold blood.

I even understand the commercial need

to transform an outlaw into an aristocrat.

Or passing off whores as loving wives.

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