Viva Max -

The supporting cast is a time capsule of 1960s character actors. Jonathan Winters plays a fast-talking, cynical general with a crew cut. John Astin (fresh off The Addams Family ) is a manic press agent. And in a small, sweaty role as a Texas governor, a young character actor named John Hillerman steals every scene.

In the summer of 1969, as America was nervously watching the Apollo 11 astronauts prepare to land on the moon, a much smaller, stranger landing was taking place in movie theaters. It was called Viva Max! , and it asked a question no one was ready for: What if a modern-day Mexican general, mounted on a horse and wielding a dress sword, tried to reclaim the Alamo? Viva Max

Viva Max! was not a good movie. But it was a brave one. And in an era where border politics are no laughing matter, a comedy that dares to laugh at the very idea of a border might be exactly what we need—or exactly why Hollywood is too scared to make it today. The supporting cast is a time capsule of

With a ragtag platoon of teenage cadets and a horse named after a Spanish poet, Max crosses the Rio Grande. He finds the Alamo defended by exactly one sleepy security guard. Within an hour, the Mexicans have "reclaimed" the shrine, run up the Mexican flag, and confused the hell out of a group of schoolchildren. And in a small, sweaty role as a