Juarez (film)

Juarez is a 1939 American historical drama film directed by William Dieterle. The screenplay by Aeneas MacKenzie, John Huston, and Wolfgang Reinhardt is based on the novel The Phantom Crown by Bertita Harding and the play Juarez and Maximilian by Franz Werfel.

In 1863, Napoleon III of France, fearful he will lose Mexico to its newly elected president Benito Jurez, circumvents the Monroe Doctrine by instituting sovereign rule and controlling an election that places Maximilian von Habsburg on the Mexican throne. Upon his arrival in the country with his wife Carlota, Maxmilian realizes he is expected to establish French supremacy by confiscating land Jurez had returned to the native people and penalizing the rebels under his command. Maximilian decides to abdicate his throne but is deterred from doing so by Carlotta.Maximillian offers Jurez the position of prime minister, but Jurezs refusal to compromise democratic selfrule for the Mexican people creates an unbridgeable rift between the two. When the American Civil War comes to an end, the United States warns Napoleon that it intends to enforce the Monroe Doctrine by military force if necessary, and sends arms in support of Jurezs army, but their efforts are thwarted by vicepresident Alejandro Uradi, who seizes the American ammunition and therefore virtually guarantees victory for Maximilian. However, Napoleon orders all French troops to evacuate Mexico, leaving Maximilian without an army. ........

Source: Wikipedia