The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982)

Gregorio Cortez is a folk hero among Mexican Americans along the Rio Grande border in Texas. In 1901, he was questioned by Sheriff W. T. (Brack) Morris regarding a reported horse theft.  When asked by Sheriff Morris's interpreter Boone Choate if he had traded a horse, Gregorio Cortez  truthfully told him, "No." Mr. Cortez had traded a mare (in Spanish, yegua), which in Spanish is distinct from a male horse or stallion (in Spanish, caballo). Boone Choate misunderstood this, and as a result Sheriff Morris decided to arrest Gregorio Cortez and drew his gun. He shot Gregorio Cortez's brother Romaldo, after which Gregorio Cortez shot Sheriff Morris in self-defence. Gergorio Cortez then took his brother to Kenedy, Texas to seek medical treatment, after which he fled. He was then pursued by the Texas Rangers and other law enforcement in what was the biggest manhunt in U.S. history up to that time. He was captured on June 22, 1901, and tried for murder. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison for second degree murder. This verdict was overturned and he was ultimately tried five more times, with the final trial resulting in life in prison for the alleged murder of Sheriff Robert M. Glover while he was on the run. In 1913,  Governor Oscar Colquitt issued him a conditional pardon.

Even as Gregorio Cortez was on the run, he was becoming something of a legend. He would become a folklore hero among Mexican Americans, admired for his ability to elude the Texas Rangers. The famous ballad "El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez" dates back even as Gregorio Cortez was on the run and transformed Gregorio Cortez into a legend. A study of the evolution of Gregorio Cortez into a folklore hero, With a Pistol in His Hand by Américo Paredes, was published in 1958. The book would serve as the inspiration for the movie The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982).

The origins of The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982) go back to producer  Moctesuma Esparza, who had been active in the Chicano civil rights movement as a teenager in Los Angeles. After receiving his Master of Fine Arts degree at UCLA, he decided to devote himself to making movies that would combat the Latin stereotypes common on film for much of its history. He then brought his idea of producing Mexican American films based on books such as With a Pistol in His Hand to the National Council of La Raza. They helped him raise $1.3 million from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Corporation for Public Broad­casting. Part of this went to buying the film rights to With a Pistol in His Hand. 

To write the screenplay, Moctesuma Esparza hired Victor Villaseñor, who had written such novels as Macho! and Jury. To play Gregorio Cortez, he hired Edward James Olmos, who had appeared on stage in Zoot Suit (as well as the movie version) and the movie Wolfen (1981). It was Edward James Olmos who suggested Robert M. Young as the director. He had directed such movies as Nothing But a Man (1964) and The Plot Against Harry (1971),  and had directed Alambrista! (1977) in which Edward James Olmos had a bit part. He had also made public affairs programs for the TV program NBC White Paper. 

Ultimately, Moctezuma Esparza had to go to work on another project, so that Robert M. Young and Edward James Olmos would be responsible for much of the production of The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez. For the film's cinematographer, Mexican American Reynaldo Villalobos was hired. He had shot both Urban Cowboy (1980) and 9 to 5 (1980). He would work with Edward James Olmos again on American Me (1992). 

The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982) was screened at a San Antonio cinema before it aired as the final episode of the first season of the PBS series American Playhouse on June 29, 1982. The film received largely positive reviews. At the 1983 Sundance Film Festival it won a Special Jury Award. It was added to the National Film Registry in 2022.

The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez does depart from history in that in the movie Gregorio Cortez does not speak English. However, according to records, Gregorio Cortez did speak English, although his command of the language may have been limited. 

One thing that is historically accurate about The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982) is the racism against Mexican Americans that existed in the early part of the 20th Century in Texas. Indeed, the movie challenges the idea of the Texas Rangers as heroic figures devoted to bringing in bad men. Despite their reputation in books, on film, and on television, the Texas Rangers have a history of violence against Mexican Americans. Indeed, it was in 1918 that the Texas Rangers, with local rangers and the U.S. Cavalry, killed 15 unarmed Mexican American boys and men outside Porvenir, Texas, despite having no proof that the villagers of Porvenir were involved in any wrongdoing. 

Although often described as a Western, The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982) is perhaps best described as a period piece. It is true that it features many elements of the Western, such as horses, sixguns, and trains, but it is also set in 1901. Both automobiles and cars appear. Even if one considers it a Western, it is very different from any Western before it. Gregorio Cortez is not only portrayed sympathetically, but is the protagonist of the film. It is the Anglo lawmen pursuing him who come off as villains. Furthermore, Gregorio Cortez is clearly not a traditional Western hero. Beyond being Mexican American, he is extremely gentle with horses, even petting them, hugging them, and talking to them. In the movie, horses not merely transportation to Gregorio Cortez, but living beings to be treated with dignity and sympathy. Furthermore, The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982) does not climax with a gunfight, but with a criminal trial. 

In many ways, The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982) was a pioneering film. Released before such classics as Stand and Deliver (1988) and Mi Vida Loca (1994), The Ballad o Gregorio Cortez pre-dates the films devoted to Chicanos in the late Eighties into the Nineties. It was also one of the earliest independent movies released during the indie boom of the 1980s, pre-dating the Coen Brothers' Blood Simple (1994), Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi (1993), and Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It (1996). Whether regarded as a Western or not, it turns the Western genre's conventions upon its head, with a heroic Mexican American on the run and villainous Anglo lawmen. Early in the 1980s indie boom and released before the Chicano movie boom of the late Eighties and Nineties, The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982) is in many ways a remarkable movie.