Around the Island

Movies at the Shelter Island Library features Brando flick

Marlon Brando in ‘Viva Zapata!’
Marlon Brando in ‘Viva Zapata!’

Rescheduled due to the winter of 2015, the stunning, little-known biographical film “Viva Zapata!” will be shown by Movies at the Library at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28.

Zapata is Emiliano Zapata, the Mexican firebrand who led a rebellion against his country’s oppressive dictator, Porfiro Diaz, in the early days of the 20th century.

The film is notable in a number of ways.  First, the screenplay is by John Steinbeck, who was so fascinated by Zapata that he wrote a book about him, although it is not the one this film is based on.

Second, the director is Elia Kazan, whose brilliant films are well known but none have the historical significance of this one.

Third, the cast is superb and led by Marlon Brando early in his career, so little recognized that the New York Times reviewer referred to him only as a “young performer.”

Others in the cast turn in unforgettable performances, notably Anthony Quinn, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Emiliano’s brother, and Joseph Wiseman as a newspaperman. Jean Peters is luminous as Emiliano’s wife, Mildred Dunnock plays his mother and Alan Reed is Pancho Villa.

Bosley Crowther of the New York Times wrote, “The portrait throbs with a rare vitality and is a masterful picture of a native in revolutionary fervor.”

Don’t miss this mesmerizing movie. As usual, it will be shown in the library’s Community Room on the lower level.