Taglines: One man’s hero is another man’s traitor.
One Man’s Hero tells the little-known story of the “St. Patrick’s Battalion” or “San Patricios,” a group of mostly Irish, and other immigrants of the Catholic religion, who deserted to Mexico after encountering religious and ethnic prejudice in the U.S. Army during the Mexican-American War.
The plot centers around the personal story of John Riley, an Irishman who had been a Sergeant in the American Army, who is commissioned as a Captain in the Mexican Army, and commands the battalion, as he leads his men in battle, and struggles with authorities on both sides of the border.
One Man’s Hero is a 1999 historical war drama film directed by Lance Hool and starring Tom Berenger, Joaquim de Almeida and Daniela Romo. The film has the distinction of being the last film released by Orion Pictures’ arthouse division Orion Classics, as well as being the last Orion Pictures film, until 2013, when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer revived the Orion Pictures brand to release the remake of the 1976 film The Town That Dreaded Sundown.
The film is a dramatization of the true story of John Riley and the Saint Patrick’s Battalion, a group of Irish Catholic immigrants who desert from the mostly Protestant U.S. Army to the mostly Catholic Mexican side during the Mexican-American War of 1846 to 1848.
One Man’s Hero (1999)
Directed by: Lance Hool
Starring: Tom Berenger, Joaquim de Almeida, Daniela Romo, Mark Moses, Stuart Graham, Gregg Fitzgerald, Patrick Bergin, Wolf Muser, Stephen Tobolowsky, Carlos Carrasco
Screenplay by: Milton S. Gelman
Production Design by: Peter Wooley
Cinematography by: João Fernandes
Film Editing by: Mark Conte
Costume Design by: Carol H. Beule, Matthew Jacobsen
Set Decoration by: Enrique Estévez
Art Direction by: Héctor Romero
Music by: Ernest Troost
MPAA Rating: R for violence .
Distributed by: Orion Classics
Release Date: September 24, 1999
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