Viva Zapata!

"Viva Zapata!" is the story of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, played by Marlon Brando, who led a rebellion against the corrupt, oppressive dictatorship of president Porfirio Diaz in the early 20th century.

Throughout the 1940s, various studios were interested in making a Zapata biopic, but the Production Code Authority frowned on the idea, worried that a film about the revolutionary leader might be perceived as pro-Communist, that Zapata had an antagonistic relationship with Catholic Church leaders in Mexico, and that any inaccuracies in the film might damage U.S. relations with Mexico.

A Zapata biopic finally became a reality when "Grapes of Wrath" author Steinbeck, who'd been researching Zapata for years, teamed up with A-list director Kazan. Both men were former Communists who had become disenchanted with Communism as practiced by the tyrannical government of Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union. Their take on Zapata was a cautionary tale about how revolutionary movements tend to become as corrupt and oppressive as the established orders they overthrow. To them, Zapata was unique for gaining power via rebellion and then walking away from it.