Return of the Cisco Kid (1939)

In Arizona a young woman (Bari) being manipulated by an evil businessman (Barrat) is helped by the Cisco Kid who happens to be there on holiday.

Director:

Herbert I. Leeds

Writer:

Milton Sperling

Stars:

Warner Baxter, Lynn Bari, Cesar Romero

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Warner Baxter	...	The Cisco Kid
Lynn Bari	...	Ann Carver
Cesar Romero	...	Lopez
Henry Hull	...	Colonel Jonathan Bixby
Kane Richmond	...	Alan Davis
C. Henry Gordon	...	Mexican captain
Robert Barrat	...	Sheriff McNally
Chris-Pin Martin	...	Gordito
Adrian Morris	...	Deputy Johnson
Soledad Jiménez	...	Mama Soledad
Harry Strang	...	Deputy
Arthur Aylesworth	...	Stagecoach driver
Paul E. Burns	...	Hotel clerk
Victor Kilian	...	Bartender at stage stop
Eddy Waller	...	Guard on stagecoach

Storyline

Cisco is attracted to Ann Carver and is soon involved in her and her Grandfather's problems. Sheriff McNally has taken their money, their deed, and thrown them in jail. After breaking them out he makes a deal to buy back their land from McNally and to get the money he and his comrades rob the bank. When time for the payoff arrives, McNally has his men ready to nab him but Cisco has a surprise for McNally.

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Plot Keywords:

sequel | character name in title

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Genres:

Western

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 April 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Volta de Cisco Kid

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

70 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

'Cesar Romero', cast here as "Lopez" would take over the role of the Cisco Kid for the next six films in the 20th-Fox series, starting with The Cisco Kid and the Lady.

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Connections

Follows In Old Arizona (1928)

User Reviews

It smacks of "the formula", but with variations.

Warner Baxter's second outing as "Cisco" finds him barely escaping death before a firing squad. Escaping with his two sidekicks he just chances to meet an attractive senorita whose father has been cheated by unscrupulous land grabbers. Sound familiar? Naturally Cisco falls in love at once and takes care of the baddies. But, the lady already has a boy friend whom she prefers to Cisco (if you can believe it). Cisco is not one to tolerate this. He devises a job that is sure suicide for the boyfriend, but changes his mind at the last minute, and rides off into the sunset without the senorita, only with the side kicks.

That's the story, but there are some goodies to set it a bit higher than the usual "formula" western. For one thing, the photography is beautiful. Director and camera man must have been in love with the Arizona scenery! Always assuming, of course, that it wasn't shot in Griffith Park. For another, the comedy which was usually so intrusive and unfunny in the usual oater is here subtle and actually very funny. For example, when sidekick Chris Pin Martin is ordered by one of the villains to help put out a fire, he "helps" by spitting on it! Although O. Henry might feel the film adventures of Cisco are a far cry from those in "The Caballero's Way", on which IN OLD ARIZONA (the first Cisco movie) was sort of based, there are some echoes of the Kid's treacherous way of dealing with what he perceives as treachery to himself. When he thought the senorita had "led him on", he devised that plan already mentioned to get rid of her boyfriend. Actually, Cisco was mistaken. The girl had never loved him, she had only been friendly because of his help to her father.

Baxter makes a believable mexican and Lynn Bari is a lovely lady. The sidekicks didn't have to "act" being mexicans. They were the real thing.

Now for some disillusionment, if you think the movie and TV "Cisco Kid" is anything like what O.Henry created in his short story. In the first place, "El Chivato" as the mexicans called him, was not a mexican himself. The Texas Rangers when discussing him said his name was "Goodall". He was a very small, dark man, who might have passed as mexican, and his haunt was the prickly pear infested border country between the Frio and Rio Grande Rivers. He had no side kicks, only a treacherous half mexican girl friend who deserted him, to her cost, for a handsome Texas Ranger. As for Cisco's character, he was a conscienceless killer, for pleasure as much as for any other reason. And he didn't care if the fight was fair or not. If you would like to know the vicious way he got even with his girl friend, read "The Caballero's Way". It's only about twelve pages, and it led to so much!