Leofwine_draca 1972 saw Spanish director Eugenio Martin make two films starring Telly Savalas. One of them, HORROR EXPRESS, is an all-time masterpiece which I enjoy watching over and over again. The other, PANCHO VILLA, isn't. This lame would-be comedy follows Pancho Villa's life in his final days, after his defeat. He's betrayed, loses all his money, and decides to embark on an audacious robbery in the USA to get himself rich again. He's aided by his right hand man Clint Walker and opposed by a psychotic army colonel, played by western regular Chuck Connors. Where to begin with this mess? It's a cheesy, over the top comedy which spends long segments of its running time on absolute nonsense lowbrow set-pieces, like the hunt for a bluebottle in a dining hall. Savalas gives an ultra-laidback performance and there are regular bursts of action, but it's all very silly, unbelievable, and good for nothing. It's hard to believe that this was made by the same guy who directed HORROR EXPRESS the very same year.

Armand comedy, western,cartoon, music and Telly Savalas. in one film. a film about nothing except easy amusing. because each character is only caricature. few fight scenes are not worthy spice for this salad.and poor Pancho Villa is absent. his story is only subject for not very inspired party. is it a disappointment ? no way ! it is only slice from a time.small experiment for a kind of public, ironic piece about USA and different form of cartoon about a really Mexican hero.nothing more. after 40 years it can be a curiosity. but the purpose is entertainment, discover of a good actor as clown and few drops of comedy with French nuances.

FightingWesterner Fast and funny account of Pancho Villa's invasion of the United States in order to get revenge on an unscrupulous arms dealer that double crossed him, only to get side-tracked by various mishaps and distractions.Telly Savalas and Clint Walker are great as the smarmy Villa and his number one crony but Chuck Conners is wasted on the caricatured role of a gung-ho Colonel racing to repel Villa's army. All his scenes (particularly the fly in the mess hall) are cringe-worthy in their silliness!All the fun is somewhat spoiled by the (historically accurate) sight of foreign invaders murdering US soldiers. These scenes would have been better off if they had been whitewashed as they undermine Savalas' "lovable rogue" performance, though it probably played better in those early-seventies days of "radical chic" than it does now.Overall, the film is so fast-paced that you never slow down long enough to realize how dumb it is until the ending credits roll and Telly starts singing to you!

classicsoncall Finally, the mystery solved as to how Telly Savalas became bald! Starting out, "Pancho Villa" appears to be a serious treatment of the Mexican revolutionary's legend, but it quickly dissolves into a farcical comedy Western. Things get under way somewhat tentatively with Colonel Wilcox' (Chuck Connors) 'fly in the mess hall scene', quickly followed by Villa trading a horse for Miss Clara's tin lizzy. By the time Villa feigns being dead, I realized for sure that this one was intended to be an over the top flick, with Savalas going over the top more than once. Without even knowing anything about the historical Pancho Villa, I'm sure this film had nothing remotely to do with him.It's always neat though, to see legendary TV Western personalities make a comeback, in this case, both 'Rifleman's' Connors, and Cheyenne Bodie himself, Clint Walker. Walker portrays Villa's American sidekick, though it's never made clear why he sides with the Mexicans. A full decade following the end of the 'Cheyenne' series, he looks as good as ever, but it's a mystery why he's in that seafaring get up, though it makes as much sense in it's way as the rest of the film. Even Anne Francis makes an appearance as Scotty's (Walker) ex-wife, giving further star power to this revolutionary tale.Others on this board have mentioned that train crash scene with some enthusiasm, so I'm not sure if the print I viewed was edited in some way. It appeared to me that once the locomotives made contact with each other the action froze and then we see the aftermath. Why not just show the whole wreck take place, unless it was to save those great antiques for real.Best line of the film - "He don't need a doctor, he needs a change of underwear", as a doctor removes a lizard from Pancho's shirt while he appears to be dying from some sort of convulsion. But the one each of the principals had to be thinking by the end of the story - "You know, if I was you, I'd jump off this train".