The working titles of this film were Zapata, The Life of Emiliano Zapata, Zapata, the Little Tiger, Emiliano Zapata, The Beloved Tiger and The Tiger. The film is based on the life of Emiliano Zapata (1879--1919), a Mexican revolutionary leader and promoter of agrarian reform. As depicted, Zapata participated in the revolt against Mexican president Porfirio Díaz, along with Francisco "Pancho" Villa and Francisco Indalecio Madero. After Madero became president in Nov 1911, Zapata grew dissatisfied with his land policies and continued the guerrilla attacks on rich hacienda owners who he believed had stolen land belonging to peasants and Indians. Zapata continued to fight against regimes lead by Gen. Victoriano Huerta and Venustiano Carranza, and established a Rural Loan Bank, Mexico's first agricultural credit organization. As depicted in the film, Col. Jesús Guajardo arranged for a secret meeting with Zapata, at which Zapata was assassinated. The real Zapata had a number of romantic relationships and illegitimate children, and the Twentieth Century-Fox Records of the Legal Department, located at the UCLA Arts--Special Collections Library, indicate that there was some question as to the identity of Zapata's legal widow. Although the character of "Eufemio," Zapata's brother, is based on fact, the characters "Fernando" and "Pablo" are fictional.
       According to studio records and a Nov 1948 LAT news item, writer John Steinbeck began work on a screenplay about Zapata for Twentieth Century-Fox in 1948. Steinbeck, who had previously worked on a similarly themed screenplay for an unfinished Mexican production, had been interested in Zapata for many years, according to modern sources, and studio records note that Steinbeck had conducted extensive research into Zapata's life. According to contemporary news items, Twentieth Century-Fox purchased screen rights to the novel Zapata, the Unconquerable, written by Edgcumb Pinchon, from M-G-M in 1949. In addition to the rights to Pinchon's novel, Fox purchased a screen treatment written by Pinchon, as well as research about Emiliano Zapata that M-G-M had been gathering since 1940, when it was announced that Robert Taylor would be starring in the film about Zapata. At that time, Jack Cummings was scheduled to produce the picture. Fox also purchased M-G-M-owned treatments by Lester Cole and Marguerite Roberts, but it is unlikely that their work was used by Steinbeck for Viva Zapata! It is possible that Steinbeck used Pinchon's novel as a guide for his screenplay, although it is more likely that the studio purchased Pinchon's book from M-G-M in order to control the rights to the subject matter.
       When Fox purchased Pinchon's book, it was announced in a 12 Jan 1949 NYT news item that Tyrone Power would be the film's star. Mar 1951 HR news items indicate that Geraldine Brooks was tested for the role of "Josefa," and Marc Lawrence was considered for the role of "Huerta." A modern source adds that Kazan was interested in casting Julie Harris as Josefa. A 17 Jul 1951 HR news item included Tiger Joe March in the cast, but his appearance in the completed film has not been confirmed. Although studio publicity included the following actors in the cast, their roles were cut from the released picture: Joseph Granby (Gen. Fuentes), Harry Kingston (Don Garcia), Fernanda Eliscu (Fuentes' wife), Lisa Fusaro (Garcia's wife) and Belle Mitchell (Nacio's wife). According to a Dec 1956 NYT article, Eli Wallach was offered a role in the picture but turned it down. A modern source adds Brando's future wife, Movita Castenada, to the cast as an extra, and notes that Philip Rhodes acted as Brando's makeup artist and that Sam Shaw served as the still photographer.
       Information in the MPAA/PCA Collection at the AMPAS Library indicates that other studios, including Republic, had been interesting in producing a biography of Zapata, but the PCA discouraged them from pursuing the subject. According to a Jun 1948 memo in the PCA's files, in 1940, Nelson Rockefeller, the head of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, asked Addison Durland, the PCA's chief foreign relations official, to investigate the suitability of Zapata as the subject of a motion picture. Durland concluded that it would not be advisable for any American company to produce a film about Zapata for a variety of reasons, including possible controversy over presenting a heroic portrayal of a revolutionary leader who could be perceived as Communistic. Durland also cited Zapata's unsavory reputation with Mexican religious leaders and the difficulties in presenting an accurate representation of a time period critical to Mexican history as reasons why the picture should not be made. Although Fox was apprised of the PCA's reluctance to approve the subject, the studio pursued it and eventually received approval from the PCA.
       According to HR news items and studio publicity, the picture was partially shot on location at sites near the Rio Grande River in Texas, including Del Rio, McAllen, Roma, Laredo, San Ygnacio and Dolores. Other sequences were filmed in Durango, CO. Although studio records indicate that Fox wanted to shoot the picture partially in Mexico, contemporary sources reported that friction between the Mexican and U.S. governments prevented filming there. According to a 17 Jun 1951 NYT article, Mexican filmmakers hoped to produce a picture about Zapata themselves, and the government did not feel it was appropriate to cooperate with an American company. In a 5 Apr 1952 letter to SatRev, however, Kazan asserted that the refusal to extend cooperation was due to political pressures from Communist leaders, who did not consider Kazan and Steinbeck's depiction of Zapata to be accurate.
       Fox did negotiate with the Mexican government for approval of the screenplay, however, so that the film would be distributed in Mexico. Memos indicate that in order to satisfy governmental censors' reservations about the film, Fox agreed to produce two versions of certain scenes: one for distribution in the United States and Europe, and another for exhibition in Mexico. Among the scenes contested by Mexican historian and technical advisor Professor Sologuren, and either shot twice or eliminated, were the sequence in which Zapata shoots "Pablo," which in the Mexican version was altered so that Zapata did not himself execute his friend; references to Zapata's illiteracy; and scenes of Josefa squatting on the ground to wash clothes. Although a 13 Aug 1952 HR news item stated that the general release of the film in Mexico had been approved by the Mexican government, apparently without any cuts, Var reported on 3 Sep 1952 that the film had encountered difficulties with Mexican distribution. The news item stated: "After more than six months of huddles, the National Cinematographic Board, dropped the exhibition ban on the film when it was agreed to delete two reels of the production." The item added that the scenes to be cut "allegedly glorify Gen. Emiliano Zapata...at the expense of Gen. Francisco I. Madero, the first Revolutionary president," according to Mexican officials.
       Viva Zapata! received an Academy Award nomination for Best Story and Screenplay, and Brando was nominated for Best Actor. Anthony Quinn won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Brando received an award for Best Male Performance at the 1952 Cannes Film Festival and also won the Best Actor award from the British Film Academy in Mar 1953. The film was also named one of the top ten films of the year by NYT. On 3 Nov 1952, Lux Radio Theatre broadcast a version of the story starring Charlton Heston and Jean Peters. A 1970 Mexican production about Zapata, entitled Emiliano Zapata, was directed by Felipe Cazals and starred Antonio Aguilar in the title role.