Viva Buddy: A Short, Loud Trip to the Cantina

Is it worth your time?

If you have a soft spot for weird, forgotten shorts from the thirties, yeah, give this a whirl. It's not high art, but it’s got a certain rattled energy that’s hard to hate. If you’re looking for a serious western or even a well-paced story, you’ll probably want to skip this and go watch Speed for the hundredth time instead.

The whole thing kicks off in a cantina that feels like it’s held together by nothing but stage glue and enthusiasm. Pancho storms in, acting like he owns the place, and honestly, the sheer audacity of his entrance is the best part of the whole film.

It’s a parody of Viva Villa!, which is funny because the movie itself feels like it’s barely holding onto its own plot. Buddy isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, but he’s determined, which is really all you need for a flick like this. 🤠

Odd moments and observations

• The sound design in the cantina scene is aggressively loud. Every gunshot sounds like a frying pan hitting a brick wall.
• There’s a moment where a character tries to look intimidating and just ends up looking like they forgot their lines for a split second. I think they kept it in.
• The way they handle the "damsel" character is pretty standard for the era, but there’s a flicker of annoyance in her eyes that makes me think she’s the only one actually in on the joke.

Watching these old shorts is like digging through a junk drawer. You find some rusted paperclips, a dead battery, and maybe a perfectly good marble. Viva Buddy is definitely the marble. It doesn't do much, it’s a bit chipped, but it rolls fine.

It’s not trying to reinvent the wheel like Skyscraper Souls might have tried to do in its own way. It just wants to shoot some blanks, make a mess, and get to the credits before anyone realizes it’s mostly just noise. Honestly? I respect the hustle.

The pacing is all over the place. It jumps from a standoff to a chase without bothering to explain why anyone is even running. It just felt like the director realized they were running out of film stock and decided to just go for it.

Is it better than White Zombie? No. But it’s not trying to be. Sometimes you don't want a mood piece; you just want to see someone get hit with a prop chair. Mission accomplished.