‘American Commandante’ review: Fidel Castro cohort gone wrong
William Morgan, who rose to power in Cuba during the revolution, gets a hand from Fidel Castro. Morgan is profiled in "American Commandante" on PBS' "American Experience." Credit: William Morgan, who rose to power in Cuba during the revolution, gets a hand from Fidel Castro. Morgan is profiled in “American Commandante” on PBS’ “American Experience.”
THE DOCUMENTARY “American Commandante” on PBS’ “American Experience”
WHEN | WHERE Tuesday night at 9 on WNET/13
GRADE B+
WHAT IT’S ABOUT William Anderson Morgan of Toledo, Ohio, was not anyone’s idea of a revolutionary. He was someone’s idea of a clown, however. In fact, he was a clown, working for a time in the circus after he had been dishonorably discharged from the Army, while serving in Japan. He also had ties with mobsters in Toledo. He was an embarrassment to his mother, and family. And then he did join the revolution — in Cuba, as a soldier, then leader of the Second National Front of the Escambray, in central Cuba, to overthrow Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.
MY SAY History’s full of what-ifs, and “who-whats,” too. William Morgan was a combination of both. Who exactly was this bizarre character in the midst of the Cuban revolution, and what did he do and why did he do it? And if he had never gone to Cuba on a lark in the late ’50s, would Fidel Castro’s revolution have failed, or at least stalled? This unusual “American Experience” about this exotic soldier of fortune doesn’t bother with that what-if. The “who-what” is plenty.
Compassionate and sympathetic, “Comandante” charts the uneven course of a small-time loser, wannabe wiseguy (and clown) in search of his destiny. He finds that in the mountains of Cuba. Using his skills as a failed soldier, and circus knife-thrower (seriously), he leads a vigorous jungle campaign against Batista’s forces, joins forces with Che Guevara and leads Castro to victory. Then, the story gets really odd as Morgan helps Castro secure $1 million in a scheme that brings the “comandante” to the attention of a wrathful J. Edgar Hoover. An anti-communist himself, Morgan quickly lost favor of his sponsor after he tried to stage a coup against him. Morgan met his end — without blindfold, after handing his rosary to a priest — in front of a firing squad.
In a later era (ours), someone like Morgan would have a book deal by now, the “60 Minutes” profile, and of course a movie (Tom Hanks would play him). But he was quickly forgotten, just as the Cold War was about to turn hot. Fifty-four years after his death, this “AmEx” portrait restores his memory, and dignity.
BOTTOM LINE Establishes that this forgotten figure wasn’t just as asterisk to history but a key player on the stage.
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