Zapata's Hermano Steals The Show

 July13, 2026

   Checked out of our cool—and I mean that figuratively and literally!—Flagstaff abode this morning and made the trek back down into the furnace known this time of year as the Valley on the Sun. It was 78 when we left Flag and 106 when we landed back in Cave Creek. Still, it was good to be home because we have excellent AC and a swimming pool, and if you go from one to the other, life is tolerable.

Eufemio Zapata Steals The Show

   One of the best things about rewatching a classic movie is seeing new things I missed in the previous 27 viewings. For example, the character, Eufemio Zapata—the brother of Emiliano—is portrayed as a loud and bragadaccio warrior, who covers a pathos that is breathtaking and ultimately heartbreaking.

Anthony Quinn, at left, portrays

Eufemio Zapata the brother of the

title character.

  Anthony Quinn, born in Chihuahua, Mexico in 1915 (during the Mexican Revolution) and raised in El Paso and East LA, became the first Mexican born actor to win an Oscar. In addition to being a boxer, Quinn also wanted to be an artist and an architect and studied under Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona. I kid you not.

   His given name was Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca, but he starred in movies under the Irish sounding name Quinn and he later admitted, because of it, he was not accepted in his home country. His father Frank allegedly rode with Pancho Villa although Quinn later said that was Hollywood BS put out by the studios.

   The timeless theme of the movie is "integrity in the face of corruption" and John Steinbeck's brilliant script captures that magnificently with moral turns that come back to haunt Emiliano Zapata.

Anthony Quinn and Marlon Brando

as the Zapata brothers

   Although the film is now criticized in some circles because of Brando and the female lead, Jean Peters, being anglos in "brown face," there is no doubt that Anthony Quinn is the beating Mexican heart of the film. But don't take my gringo word for it.

"The clothing, the drama, the expressions and all in black and white. The way they murdered Madero and many other tidbits make this movie a classic. I have always loved it and I am so glad you and your family shared that together."

—Lynda Sanchez, Lincoln, New Mexico