Old Gringo (1989)

45% of critics liked it
(11 reviews)
42% of users liked it
(999 ratings)

In this historical drama based on Carlos Fuentes' novel, Harriet Winslow (Jane Fonda) is a naive woman who, hoping to broaden her horizons, accepts a job as a governess in Mexico in 1913. However, Harriet unknowingly finds herself thrown into the middle of the Mexican revolution, where she attracts… More In this historical drama based on Carlos Fuentes' novel, Harriet Winslow (Jane Fonda) is a naive woman who, hoping to broaden her horizons, accepts a job as a governess in Mexico in 1913. However, Harriet unknowingly finds herself thrown into the middle of the Mexican revolution, where she attracts the attentions of two very different men: an elderly American gentleman (Gregory Peck) who has come to Mexico to die, and Tomas Arroyo (Jimmy Smits), a general with Pancho Villa's army of rebels who is fighting for the freedom of his people. The American's attraction to Harriet is more intellectual (though he unmistakably finds her attractive), while Arroyo holds a greater romantic allure to Harriet, who is still a stranger to the ways of love. In time, she gains a new sense of freedom and self-knowledge in Mexico, but while the victories of Villa's forces bring out an unseemly arrogance in Arroyo, Harriet makes a surprising discovery about the Old Gringo -- that he is in fact the fabled author Ambrose Bierce, who vanished years before. Old Gringo was the first American film for director Luis Puenzo, and the next-to-last for star Jane Fonda. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 59 min.
Directed By: Luis Puenzo
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure

In Theaters: Oct 6, 1989 Wide
On DVD: Jul 2, 2002
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Ryan Cracknell, Apollo Guide
While there's nothing inherently awful about Old Gringo, it had the potential to be something more than it is - a semi-coherent romantic melodrama.
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
Propelled by the desperate yearning of three strangers who meet in Mexico in l913 during Pancho Villa's revolution.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Dean M

No wonder Jane Fonda gave up films after striving so long to drag this average Mexican epic to the screen. She plays a spinster who gets daught up with Pancho Villa's revolution and discovers her own sexuality along the way. It's a pretty dull revolution, hardly worth waking… More
No wonder Jane Fonda gave up films after striving so long to drag this average Mexican epic to the screen. She plays a spinster who gets daught up with Pancho Villa's revolution and discovers her own sexuality along the way. It's a pretty dull revolution, hardly worth waking Gregory Peck up for.

Cast

            Jane Fonda as Harriet Winslow

            Gregory Peck as Ambrose Bierce

            Jimmy Smits as Gen. Tomas Arroyo

            Patricio Contreras as Col. Frutos Garcia

            Jenny Gago as La Garduna

            Jim Metzler as Ron

            Gabriela Roel as La Luna

            Anne Pitoniak as Mrs. Winslow

            Pedro Armendariz Jr. as Pancho Villa

            Sergio Calderón as Zacarias

            Guillermo Ríos as Monsalvo

            Stanley Grover as Consul Saunders

            Josefina Echánove as Clementina

            Maya Zapata as Dolores

            Jose Olivares as Trinidad

            Carlos Cardan as Matias Salazar

            Víctor Carpinteiro as Hilario

            Pedro Damien as Capt. Ovando

            Samuel Valadez de la Torre as Pedrito

            Alicia del Lago as His Wife

            Laurel Lyle as Librarian

            Richardson Morse as Editor

            Salvador Sanchez as Floreal

            Steve Spencer as Assistant Consul

            Jessica Tandy
            
            Abel Woolrich as Tall Soldier

            Jorge Zepeda as Administrator of Hacienda

            Mario Arevalo as Casimiro

            Maria Luisa Coronel as Maria

            Arturo Rodriguez Doring as Mexican Journalist

            Mark Kelty as Journalist

            Juan Antonio Llanes as Assistant Hotel Clerk

            Evangelina Sosa Martinez as Guadalupe

            Roberto Sosa Martinez as Lucio

            Maria Victoria Mondragon as Old Woman

            Fernando Moya as Hotel Clerk

            Roberto Ortiz as Federal Officer

            Martín Palomares as Wounded Man

            Rene Pereyra as Short Soldier

            Hector Rivera as Ataulfo

            Jose Juan Rodriguez as Old Man

            Stewart Smith as Journalist with Glasses

            Amelia Zapata as Juana

            John Williams as Journalist

            Paul Williams as Cinematographer
See full cast