The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez
Forced to run from the Texas Rangers after a heated misunderstanding leads to the death of a lawman, Mexican American farmer Gregorio Cortez sets off in desperate flight, evading a massive manhunt on horseback for days. Producer-star Edward James Olmos, seeking to shed new light on a historical incident that had been enshrined in a corrido (folk song), enlisted director Robert M. Young, a longtime practitioner of socially engaged realism, to helm this trailblazing independent film, a landmark of Chicano cinema. Shifting its perspective between the pursuers and the pursued, The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez is a thrilling chase film and a nuanced procedural that peels away the layers of prejudice and myth surrounding Cortez, uncovering the true story of an ordinary man persecuted by the law and transfigured by legend.
BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- New interview with actor and producer Edward James Olmos
- New interview with Chon A. Noriega, author of Shot in America: Television, the State, and the Rise of Chicano Cinema
- Cast-and-crew panel from 2016 including Olmos; director Robert M. Young; producer Moctesuma Esparza; cinematographer Reynaldo Villalobos; and actors Bruce McGill, Tom Bower, Rosanna DeSoto, and Pepe Serna
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by film scholar Charles Ramírez Berg
New cover by Juan R. Fuentes
BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- New interview with actor and producer Edward James Olmos
- New interview with Chon A. Noriega, author of Shot in America: Television, the State, and the Rise of Chicano Cinema
- Cast-and-crew panel from 2016 including Olmos; director Robert M. Young; producer Moctesuma Esparza; cinematographer Reynaldo Villalobos; and actors Bruce McGill, Tom Bower, Rosanna DeSoto, and Pepe Serna
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by film scholar Charles Ramírez Berg
New cover by Juan R. Fuentes
Cast
- Edward James Olmos
- Gregorio Cortez
- James Gammon
- Frank Fly
- Tom Bower
- Boone Choate
- Bruce McGill
- Reporter Blakely
- Brion James
- Captain Rogers
- Alan Vint
- Mike Trimmell
- Timothy Scott
- Sherriff Morris
- Pepe Serna
- Romaldo Cortez
- Michael McGuire
- Sherriff Glover
Credits
- Director
- Robert M. Young
- Screenplay by
- Victor Villaseñor
- Adapted by
- Robert M. Young
- Based on the book With His Pistol in His Hand by
- Américo Paredes
- Produced by
- Moctesuma Esparza
- Produced by
- Michael Hausman
- Executive producer
- David Ochoa
- Executive producer
- H. Frank Dominguez
- Director of photography
- Ray Villalobos
- Music composed and adapted by
- W. Michael Lewis
- Music composed and adapted by
- Edward James Olmos
A scene from The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez
