Viva Maria! **** (1965, Jeanne Moreau, Brigitte Bardot, George Hamilton) – Classic Movie Review 5,833

Brigitte Bardot and Jeanne Moreau star as two women named Maria who meet and become revolutionaries in the early 20th century, in Louis Malle’s 1965 French adventure comedy film Viva Maria!

The surprisingly but delightfully paired French icon megastars Jeanne Moreau and Brigitte Bardot star as the two Marias, a song ‘n’ dance duo who get involved in serious political affairs, and a joint love affair with a socialist revolutionary called Flores (George Hamilton) in a Central American republic in 1907. The two Marias then lead a revolution against the country’s dictator, the capitalists and the Catholic Church there.

Director Louis Malle’s 1965 film is unpretentious, carefree and great fun, with everybody concerned, some of them normally very serious people, apparently relishing the opportunity to let their hair down, conveyed their sense of joy.

Bardot (as Maria I, a singer in a circus) and Moreau (as Maria II, the daughter of an Irish terrorist) are seen at their best in this rather splendid, very good-looking movie, beautifully shot in widescreen and Eastmancolor by Henri Decaë, with costumes by Pierre Cardin.

Also in the cast are Paulette Dubost, Claudio Brooks, Gregor Von Rezzoni and Carlos Lopez.

Moreau was the winner of the 1967 BAFTA Film Award as Best Foreign Actress for Viva Maria!

Moreau’s film career started in 1949, but Louis Malle made her a star and French New Wave icon in Elevator to the Gallows (1958) and The Lovers (1958).

Filming began on 18 January 1965 for 16 weeks in Mexico, including Texcoco, and Moreau and Bardot became ‘like two pals in the army’.

The cast

The cast are Brigitte Bardot as Marie Fitzgerald O’Malley (Maria II), Jeanne Moreau as Maria I, Paulette Dubost as Mme Diogène, Claudio Brook as The Great Rodolfo, Carlos López Moctezuma as Rodríguez, Poldo Bendandi as Werther, Gregor von Rezzori as Diogène, Francisco Reiguera as Father Superior, Jonathan Eden as Juanito Diogène, Roberto Pedret as Pablo, José Ángel Espinosa as dictator of San Miguel, George Hamilton as Flores, and Fernando Wagner as Maria II’s father.

Jeanne Moreau

Jeanne Moreau died on 31 July 2017 at her home in Paris at the age of 89.

RIP Jeanne Moreau. The French President Emmanuel Macron called her ‘a legend of cinema and theatre… an actress engaged in the whirlwind of life with an absolute freedom.’

She also won the 1960 Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for Moderato cantabile (1960) and the 1992 Best Actress award for La vieille qui marchait dans la mer (1991) at the César Awards. It is striking that she won very few awards for her films, and none for her most renowned appearances, with only one Bafta and no Oscars or Golden Globes. Happily, the films speak for themselves.

Brigitte Bardot

Brigitte Bardot retired in 1973 after acting in 47 films at the age of 39 and has since been involved with various animal rights causes. She achieved international fame for And God Created Woman (1956), and later starred in Clouzot’s La Vérité (1960), Jean-Luc Godard’s Le Mépris (1963) and Louis Malle’s Viva Maria! (1965).

She died in Toulon in southern France on 28 December 2025, aged 91.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5,833

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