Over 11 years and 570 episodes, John Rabe and Team Off-Ramp scoured SoCal for the people, places, and ideas whose stories needed to be told, and the show became a love-letter to Los Angeles. Now, John is sharing selections from the Off-Ramp vault to help you explore this imperfect paradise.
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Marc writes, "Here are some classic, Post WW II non-Mexican movies about the Mexican Revolution. The list is by no means comprehensive..."
Viva Zapata (1952). Marlon Brando, Anthony Quinn. Elia Kazan directed it and John Steinbeck shares script credit. To me, it's the classic liberal Yanqui vision of the event.
Viva Maria (1965). Jeanne Moreau and Brigitte Bardot. Revolucion with a French touch -- to say the least.
Villa Rides (1968) Yul Brynner in a wig as Pancho Villa.
The Wild Bunch (1969). Peckenpah's vision. Everyone likes it but me.
A Fist Full of Dynamite (1971). Sergio Leone's version of the above. I like it much better. James Coburn and his famous teeth.
And here are some classic Mexican films about the Revolution and its period. They are available with English subtitles but not easy to find that way.
El Principio (1972) Director: Gonzalo Martinez Ortega
Cananea (1976) director: Marcela Fernandez Violante
La Casta Divina (1976) Director: Julian Pastor
Cuartelazo (1976) Director: Alberto Isaac
The library of books on the subject is too huge to cover. But my favorite primer is "El Revolucioncita Mexicana" by the Mexican graphic artist Rius. It's a little cartooned paperback in Spanish, but readable by 2nd year Spanish dropouts.