Villa Rides

Villa Rides is a 1968 American Western film directed by Buzz Kulik and starring Robert Mitchum in the role of Lee Arnold.
Lee Arnold is forced to land his biplane in Mexican territory due to technical problems during the flight. Once in Mexico, Arnold witnesses the country's army kidnapping an entire town to hang supporters of revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa. Later, Villa himself and a horde of his revolutionaries free the people from the Mexican Army, imprisoning the surviving soldiers, including Lee Arnold, accused of smuggling weapons for the army. Lee is pardoned on the condition of helping the revolution with his plane to attack the Mexican Army.
Villa Rides was originally written and directed by Sam Peckinpah, however, actor Yul Brynner had disagreements with Peckinpah regarding the script, which was eventually rewritten and the director changed to Buzz Kulik. Presumably, Sam Peckinpah was inspired by this film to create his famed western epic The Wild Bunch, released a year later and which also set in the midst of the Mexican Revolution.
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=Revolvers=
==Single Action Army==
Rodolfo Fierro (Charles Bronson) uses two Colt Single Action Armys with pearl grips as his personal sidearms. Ramírez (Frank Wolff) uses a Colt Single Action Army as his service weapon, which varies between the standard model and the Bisley variant. Most soldiers in the Mexican Army carry the Colt Single Action Army as their service sidearms. The revolutionaries also carry the Colt Single Action Army as their only weapon in combat. Pancho Villa (Yul Brynner) and one revolutionary stand out from the rest by carrying a Colt Single Action Army with a 7.5" barrel.
==Colt Bisley Single Action Army==
Ramírez (Frank Wolff) uses a Colt Bisley Single Action Army as his service weapon, which varies between the Bisley variant and the standard model. Rodolfo Fierro (Charles Bronson) briefly arms himself with two Colt Bisley Single Action Armys during the execution of the counterrevolutionaries.
==Single Action Army Buntline Special==
Pancho Villa (Yul Brynner) stands out for always carrying the Buntline Special variant of the Single Action Army. Rodolfo Fierro (Charles Bronson) briefly uses Villa's Buntline Special to shoot some Mexican soldiers. It is anachronistic to the 1910s Mexican Revolution, as the Bluntline Special was first described (and believed to have been invented by) writer Stuart N. Lake for his 1931 biography Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal, and later first produced by Colt in 1957. 
==Colt New Service==
Lee Arnold (Robert Mitchum) carries a Colt New Service in his holster when he lands in Mexico at the beginning of the film. During the ambush on the train station protected by the Mexican Army, one of the revolutionaries is seen carrying a Colt New Service to threaten a Mexican soldier.
==Webley .455 Mk VI==
Some Mexican Army soldiers carry a Webley .455 Mk VI as a sidearm, rarer to see than the more common [[Single Action Army]. The Webley Mk VI can also be seen used by revolutionaries, although it is never fired. Although it is a minor detail, it should be noted that Webley revolvers were not used in the Mexican revolution, neither by the Mexican Army or by the Zapatistas and Villistas.
thumb|none|350px|Webley Mk VI - .455 Webley
=Rifles=
==Garate El Tigre==
Both the revolutionaries and the Mexican soldiers carry the Garate El Tigre during various confrontations. This film was filmed in Spain, so the rifle seen in the film is that country's copy of the period-appropriate Winchester Model 1892 Saddle Ring Carbine.
==M43 Spanish Mauser==
Ramírez (Frank Wolff) carries a M43 Spanish Mauser as his primary long gun. Lee Arnold (Robert Mitchum) uses an M43 Spanish Mauser as a club to defend himself against a Mexican soldier when Pancho Villa and his group appear to liberate the Mexican city taken by the army. A large number of Mexican soldiers carry an M43 Spanish Mauser as their primary service rifle. This anachronistic Mauser rifle is standing in for the many variants of the Mauser Rifle Series used by all sides of the Mexican Revolution.
==Springfield Model 1873 Trapdoor Carbine==
Several Mexican soldiers are seen carrying the Trapdoor Springfield Rifle as another of their service rifles.
=Machine Guns=
==Vickers Mk. I==
Lee Arnold (Robert Mitchum) carries several Vickers Mk. Is in his biplane that he would later hand over to the Mexican Army to fight against the revolution. Rodolfo Fierro (Charles Bronson) uses Vickers Mk. I to save the inhabitants of the town taken over by the Mexican Army. The Mexican Army is the most common user of the Vickers Mk. I throughout the entire film.
thumb|none|450px|Vickers Mk. I w/ ribbed water jacket - .303 British
Category:Movie
Category:Action
Category:Drama
Category:Western
Category:Western Movie
Category:Spanish Produced/Filmed