If one overlooks the fact that O. Henry's "Cisco Kid" was an Anglo-gringo and not a Mexican, then one can say that Warner Baxter's and Gilbert Roland's portrayals of "The Cisco Kid" were those that came closest to the character, as written by Mr. Porter.
Unlike the Cisco Kid portrayed by Duncan Renaldo in the United Artists films (and the later TV episodes), Roland's character had more than just a few vices---cigarettes, tequila-quaffing and skirt-chasing most of the females in sight (married or unmarried)---and Gilbert Roland, in his usual Gilbert Roland using his Gilbert Roland image for Cisco---brought a different image to the B-Western hero. (Duncan Renaldo, playing Cisco in the Monogram series before Roland took over the lead, also played his Monogram-version of Cisco in the same vein but Duncan Renaldo, at his best, was far removed from being a Gilbert Roland in screen presence.)
This entry finds Eduardo Belmonte (Travis Kent) overhearing his new step-mother, Maria (Evelyn Brent), and her lover, Don Ricardo Gonzales (Jack La Rue)---a match made in film Heaven---plotting to take over the Belmonte rancho on the night of the fiesta given by her husband, Don Carlos Belmonte (Pedro De Cordoba.) Eduardo offers Maria money if she will depart the hacienda premises, but she refuses (why take a little when you can have it all?)and then accuses Eduardo of making love to her. The old Don doesn't take kindly to his son hitting on his step-mother and attacks him in a rage. The lights go out, the father is killed and Maria blames Eduardo, who escapes from the house, chased by Ricardo's men.
The Cisco Kid (Gilbert Roland) and Pancho (Chris-Pin Martin)rescue Eduardo, who has been shot, and hide him while they investigate. Cisco discovers that bullets from Maria's gun, a handy little derringer of the type favored by Evelyn Brent characters, are the same type that killed Don Carlos. But the Alcaide (Nestor Paiva) arrests Cisco and Pancho, and Cisco is "supposedly" executed by a firing squad, but IS NOT shot and escapes by a trick.
And now Maria and Ricardo are in real trouble with Cisco on the loose.
Unlike the Cisco Kid portrayed by Duncan Renaldo in the United Artists films (and the later TV episodes), Roland's character had more than just a few vices---cigarettes, tequila-quaffing and skirt-chasing most of the females in sight (married or unmarried)---and Gilbert Roland, in his usual Gilbert Roland using his Gilbert Roland image for Cisco---brought a different image to the B-Western hero. (Duncan Renaldo, playing Cisco in the Monogram series before Roland took over the lead, also played his Monogram-version of Cisco in the same vein but Duncan Renaldo, at his best, was far removed from being a Gilbert Roland in screen presence.)
This entry finds Eduardo Belmonte (Travis Kent) overhearing his new step-mother, Maria (Evelyn Brent), and her lover, Don Ricardo Gonzales (Jack La Rue)---a match made in film Heaven---plotting to take over the Belmonte rancho on the night of the fiesta given by her husband, Don Carlos Belmonte (Pedro De Cordoba.) Eduardo offers Maria money if she will depart the hacienda premises, but she refuses (why take a little when you can have it all?)and then accuses Eduardo of making love to her. The old Don doesn't take kindly to his son hitting on his step-mother and attacks him in a rage. The lights go out, the father is killed and Maria blames Eduardo, who escapes from the house, chased by Ricardo's men.
The Cisco Kid (Gilbert Roland) and Pancho (Chris-Pin Martin)rescue Eduardo, who has been shot, and hide him while they investigate. Cisco discovers that bullets from Maria's gun, a handy little derringer of the type favored by Evelyn Brent characters, are the same type that killed Don Carlos. But the Alcaide (Nestor Paiva) arrests Cisco and Pancho, and Cisco is "supposedly" executed by a firing squad, but IS NOT shot and escapes by a trick.
And now Maria and Ricardo are in real trouble with Cisco on the loose.