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New Feature Film: One
Man's Hero
By Mark R. Day
One Man's Hero, a newly released film about the San Patricio
Batallion is worth seeing, if not in the theaters, then later,
when it is released on video. It teaches us a valuable but forgotten
lesson about a dark chapter in U.S. history.
The movie, starring Tom Berenger and Mexican actress Daniela
Romo, is a story about a group of newly arrived Irish immigrants
who joined the U.S. army and were sent to the Rio Grande to conquer
half of Mexico's territory in 1846.
Mistreated by their officers
in the U.S. army, more than 500 "San Patricios" deserted
and joined the Mexican army instead. Nearly 80 captured at war's
end and 50 were executed.
Berenger plays Captain John Riley of County Galway, and Romo,
the mistress of a Mexican guerrilla leader who falls in love
with Riley.
There is no record that
Riley had contact wtih Mexican guerrillas or any love affair
with a Mexican woman, but the romance sub-theme does add spice
to the film. Producers Lance and Conrad Hool have been trying
to make this picture for 20 years, but there was little interest
in what the Hollywood studios saw as a story "about a bunch
of traitors." The name of the film, by the way, comes from
the phrase "one man's hero is another man's traitor."
The script was written by Milt Gelman, a long-time Hollywood
screenwriter who died of a heart attack six years ago.
Critics say the dialogue is oftentimes a bit stiff and preachy
and I agree with them. Sometimes the generals sound more like
history professors and hard-bitten warriors, and the villains
are double and triple-dyed.
But in spite of a relatively low budget, ($14 million for a war
movie) the battle scenes come off rather convincingly. I also
agree with some observers that a John Ford could have directed
film with a lot more sweep and passion and a higher quality of
acting. But my hat is off to Tom Berenger who told the premiere
audience that he personally "kicked butt for five years"
to get the movie made.
In any case, a finished and released feature film about the San
Patricios is much better than the masterpiece that was never
made. Originally Orion Pictures was scheduled to release the
film, but they were bought up by MGM, which shamefully has given
it little support. One MGM exective told a Tom Berenger fan that
he thought the film was "antiAmerican."
Reports from friends and
colleagues indicate that many theatres showing it are sparsely
populated, but in Mexico the film is playing to full houses.
Maybe this is because every Mexican school kid knows about the
"unjust U.S. invasion of Mexico in 1846," while most
U.S. citizens don't have a clue how we acquired California, Texas
and most of the Southwest.
And in Mexico, there is
still a fond memory of "Los Colorados" the red-headed
Irishmen who gave their lives in the struggle for Mexican sovereignty.
Hopefully, MGM will give this film wider release in the near
future. It should. We all need this valuable history lesson. |
