Juarez (1939) on Netflix
NR19392h 5mDramaHistoryRomance
Napoleon III places Maximilian von Habsburg on Mexico's throne. Maximilian and his wife Carlota come to rule a country whose president, Benito Juárez, will not give up democratic self-rule.
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- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb6.8/102,790 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes71%
Trailer
Plot summary
Benito Juárez, the U.S.-backed president of Mexico, refuses to surrender democratic self-rule, and in France Napoleon III is unwilling to lose the country. He sidesteps the Monroe Doctrine and arranges an election that puts the Austrian archduke Maximilian von Habsburg on the throne. Maximilian arrives with his wife, Carlota of Belgium, and finds that he is expected to hold French supremacy by seizing the land Juárez had given back to the native people and punishing the rebels under his command. He considers giving up the crown, and Carlota argues him out of it. He offers Juárez the office of prime minister, and Juárez turns him down rather than bargain away democratic rule for the Mexican people.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Juarez (1939)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
SPOILER
The first preview went so badly that Juarez was recut, with entire scenes transposed, and a new ending was shot in which Juárez visits the cathedral where Maximilian is lying in state and asks for his forgiveness - a scene with no basis in fact.- Paul Muni spent three hours a day with makeup artist Perc Westmore, who altered his bone structure and skin tone to make him resemble Juárez; Jack L. Warner complained about paying Muni "all this dough" without recognizing him, yet the Mexico City premiere audience gasped at the likeness.
- John Garfield was cast as Porfirio Diaz at the request of Paul Muni, his co-star in the 1932 Broadway play Counsellor at Law; studio executives questioned the minor role, but his box-office appeal won out over his heavy Bronx accent.
- Juarez boasted 1,186 supporting players on 54 sets designed by art director Anton Grot and his assistant Leo Kuter; the largest was an 11-acre replica of Mexico built on a ranch in Calabasas, California.
