I once saw a poster of a movie titled "And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself.
" This movie starred Antonio Banderas as Pancho Villa.
And though I've heard the name Pancho Villa before, I never really took time to find out about the man.
So, Pancho Villa is a Mexican revolutionary general and an outlaw -- a very interesting character.
He became provisional governor of the state of Chihuahua, among other things.
His real name was José Doroteo Arango Arámbula.
When he joined a band of bandits, he changed his name to Francisco Villa.
During the Mexican civil war, the government of Mexico saw several leadership changes, almost always in a violent manner.
Through these political shifts in Mexico, Villa found himself fighting for the government and fighting against the government at different times during the civil war.
During his heyday as a war hero, he was also seen as the Robin Hood of Mexico.
He raised money for the revolution and for his army by robbing trains and forced assessment, the act of asking "taxes" from landowners to avoid being ransacked.
He also seized haciendas and distributed them to the poor.
And when funding for the revolution started to wear thin, he decided to strike a deal with Hollywood.
This was the story of the movie stated above.
He basically told Hollywood producers that for a price, they may come and film him, the progress of the revolution and the actual gun battles.
The studio agreed, and that's how the movie "The Life of General Villa" came to be.
So, in one fell swoop, General Pancho Villa was able to fund his revolution to defend the Mexican flag from dictators and at the same time establish himself as a revolutionary that's truly larger than life.