Juarez is a 1939 historical drama film directed by William Dieterle.
The plot revolves around the French intervention in the Republic of Mexico
in the 1860s. As the film opens it is 1863 and the French have already been in Mexico for two years. Napoleon III (Claude Rains), Emperor of the French, gets some unwelcome news: Union forces have defeated the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg, and it seems likely that the Union will win the war. This is bad for France's Mexico adventure, because the U.S. government is strongly opposed to French involvement there, and once the Americans are no longer distracted by civil war they will probably intervene.
Napoleon III and the Empress Eugenie hit upon an idea: they will install a friendly prince as Emperor of Mexico, in order to give their presence in the country some legitimacy. They pick Archduke Maximilian of Austria (Brian Aherne), who arrives to take the throne of Mexico along with his wife Carlota (Bette Davis). Maximilian, who is gullible and not terribly bright, thinks that he has the support of the common people of Mexico and does not realize he is a French puppet.
Maximilian's empire is not stable. The President of Mexico, Benito Juarez (Paul Muni) still commands an army in the field even after he was overthrown by the occupying French forces. Juarez and his right-hand man Porfirio Diaz (John Garfield) lead the fight for democracy and freedom. Meanwhile, Maximilian eventually learns some unpleasant truths about how he received the throne.
Erich Wolfgang Korngold composed the score. A young John Huston co-wrote the screenplay.
Tropes:
- Added Alliterative Appeal: Napoleon III dismisses the idea of democracy as "parliaments, plebiscites, proletarians."
- Art Imitates Art: One scene shows a Mexican patriot getting shot by firing squad. Standing against a wall, wearing a white shirt, he throws out his arms and says "Viva Benito Juarez!" before the soldiers shoot him. The scene is staged to mirror the famous Francisco de Goya painting◊ The Third Of May 1808.
- As You Know: In the opening scene Napoleon and Eugenie tell each other a lot of stuff they already know about how the US cites the Monroe Doctrine to oppose European intervention in the Americas, how Maximilian is Catholic, and more.
- Based on a True Story: A lot more accurate than most historical epics of the era. Maximilian really did tip his firing squad and ask them to aim at his heart.
- Brownface: Both Paul Muni and John Garfield wear brownface to look more like Mexicans.
- Les Collaborateurs: There are a fair amount in Mexico, like Senor Montares, ambassador to Napoleon's court. The collaborators are mostly landowners who want back the lands that Benito Juarez took from them and distributed to the peasantry.
- Desk Sweep of Rage: Dr. Basch, who is playing chess with Maximilian, sweeps the chess pieces off the table after Maximilian refuses to abdicate.
- Disturbed Doves: A single dove flies off when Maximilian and his two generals are shot by firing squad.
- "Eureka!" Moment: A shepherd's tale of how his dogs killed a wolf causes Juarez to realize how to beat the French: hit-and-run raids all over the country instead of meeting them in set battles.
- Evil Chancellor: Juarez's vice president, Uradi. He advocates surrender when the military situation starts looking grim. Later, when Juarez's elected term expires without an election due to the country being under French occupation, Uradi tries to claim the presidency for himself. Eventually he turns traitor and throws his support to Maximilian.
- Historical Domain Character: Many. Empress Carlota lived for another 60 years after her husband was executed. Even the court doctor was a real guy.
- Honor Before Reason: After Maximilian finally clues in to how the plebiscite was a hoax and he has no support, he refuses to abdicate, because doing so would make him look bad. Near the end, as his cause is clearly collapsing, he refuses a chance to abdicate and flee the country, because he feels bad about abandoning his generals. He's captured and executed.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: A rebellious Mexican commoner is shot by a French soldier as he says "Viva la republi—".
- Landslide Election: The French rig a plebiscite that purports to show over 90% support for Maximilian taking the throne. Maximilian, who is an idiot, believes it.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Empress Carlota is desperate to provide her husband with a son. No one has told her that she can't have children.
- Mononymous Biopic Title: Juarez (although it's not really a biopic).
- Royal "We": Both Maximilian and Carlota use this a lot. Notably Emperor Napoleon III, a jumped-up commoner, does not.
- Secondary Character Title: It's called Juarez but the film focuses more on Maximilian than Benito Juarez.
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Spiritual Successor: This movie followed The Story of Louis Pasteur and The Life of Émile Zola, previous Warner Brothers historical epics starring Paul Muni. - Time-Passes Montage: A montage shows repeated scenes of Mexican commoners being shot by Maximilian's men and his French allies, intercut with scenes of mourning and vows of vengeance from the common people.
- Too Dumb to Live: Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico, who doesn't understand that he's a French stooge. He thinks he has the support of the common people, which he doesn't. So he refuses to give the land back to the nobles—and since that was the only reason they put him on the throne in the first place, they withdraw their support too, leaving him with hardly anybody in Mexico who backs him. As things get worse, he refuses to leave the country, citing his duty to Mexico; this leads an infuriated Dr. Basch to say "What of Mexico? You're Austrian!"
- White Man's Burden: Napoleon III characterizes the French intervention in Mexico as "a crusade to restore to our race and the rest of the civilized world our force and prestige."
- You Wouldn't Shoot Me: Juarez doesn't actually say it. But when he goes to confront Uradi, Uradi's soldiers face him with rifles raised. Their officer screams "FIRE!" as Juarez calmly walks towards them. Juarez is right, as the soldiers never pull the trigger and he walks right through them to face Uradi in person.
