Customer Reviews

CISCO KID DOUBLE FEATURE Vol 1: South Of Rio Grande & The Girl From San Lorenzo

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Of all the Western heroes in the 1940's and 1950's the "Cisco Kid" (Duncan Renaldo) and his sidekick Poncho (Leo Carrillo)were the most loved and easily recognized. They were the first internationally accepted western stars.

Now through VCI Entertainment we have 3 great samples of "The Kid". The first installment a 1945 movie, "South of the Rio Grande" (Standard Format / Black & White - digitally remastered, excellent quality) is about the daring duo go to the aide of a rancher friend to thwart a terrorizing dictator. The second movie (1950), "The Girl from San Lorenzo" (also a Standard Format/ Black & White - not digitally remastered, fair quality) - has Cisco & Poncho tracking down a criminal gang which has been robbing stagecoaches disguised as them. (Cisco & Poncho) The third film is from "The Cisco Kid" tv show of the 1950's (Standard Format / in Color - not digitally remastered (fair quality).

The extra features include; Photo & Poster Gallery, Biographies & Interview with Duncan Renaldo.

You get alot with this double feature DVD. A great introduction or re-introduction to "The Cisco Kid". Duncan Renaldo is "Cisco" and Leo Carillo was the perfect "Poncho". For many movies & for several years this duo graced the big screen and our television sets with their lovable personalities.

This is fun family stuff. A real touch of western nostalgia. Enjoy.

VCI Entertainment presents "The Cisco Kid Double Feature" (Dolby digitally remastered)...here's adventure, here's romance, here's O'Henry's famous Robin Hood of the Old West...the Cisco Kid featuring Duncan Renaldo as Cisco and Leo Carrillo as his comical sidekick Pancho, in the first film Martin Garralaga plays Pancho...relive those thrilling days from the early '40s and '50s when romance and drama took us down the dusty trails and the plains to exciting adventures.

First up of this double feature from Monogram Pictures is "South of the Rio Grande" (1945)...Under director Lambert Hillyer, producer Philip N. Krasne with screenplay by Ralph Gilbert Bettison, Victor Hammond and Johnston McCulley...the cast include a very young Duncan Renaldo (The Cisco Kid), Martin Garralaga (Pancho), Armida (Pepita), George J. Lewis (Miguel Sanchez), Lillian Molieri (Dolores Gonzalez), Francis Macdonald (Torres - chief henchman), Charles Stevens (Sebastian), Pedro Regas (Luis), Soledad Jimenez (Mama Maria), Tito Renaldo (Manuel Gonzalez) and some fine musicians The Guadalajara Trio...an early outing for Duncan Renaldo as Cisco with musical numbers taking front row at the beginning of our story...even Duncan Renaldo sings and romances just to get in thick with the thieves...will adventure take the form of undercover work for our hero and find out whose been rustling the cattle...can the evidence that Cisco discovers put an end to all murdering and trouble for the local people...this film is shot for the most part on a soundstage...another great film performed by many veteran actors during their heyday of the mid '40.

Chapter Titles (South of the Rio Grande)
1. Bandits Strike
2. Holdup
3. Honest Lie
4. Respectable Citizens
5. No Soup
6. Clean Get Away

The second feature is United Artists "The Girl from San Lorenzo" (1950)...Under director Derwin Abrahams, producer Philip N. Krasne with screenplay by Ford Beebe and O'Henry...the cast include Duncan Renaldo (The Cisco Kid), Leo Carrillo (Pancho), Jane Adams (Nora Malloy), Edmund Cobb (The Phoney Pancho), David Sharpe (The Phoney Cisco), Leonard Penn (Tom McCarger), William Lester (Jerry Todd ), Byron Foulger (Ross, station agent), Don C. Harvey (Kansas, a thug), Lee Phelps (Sheriff Marlowe)...this time we have Cisco and Pancho being blamed for a series of stagecoach holdups...who is impersonating the duo and will they be discovered and brought to justice...check out Pancho's mispronouncing the English language, it is a riot...this is the last feature film before their successful "The Cisco Kid" 1950-1956 television series.

Chapter Titles (The Girl from San Lorenzo)
1. To The Rescue
2. The New Singer
3. Imposter
4. Wine & Song
5. Treachery & Deceipt
6. The Confession

Third and final feature is "Railroad Land Rush" (10/24/1950)...Director Derwin Abrahams , screenplay by Sherman L. Lowe...the cast include Duncan Renaldo (The Cisco Kid), Leo Carrillo (Pancho), Pamela Blake (Margie Holbrook), Pierre Watkin (Mr. Holbrook), Nelson Leigh (James Blake), Fred Kohler Jr (Steve), Forrest Taylor (John Warren), George DeNormand (Manning), Carol Henry (Larry), Jack Ingram (Rocky)...our story has Cisco and Pancho in pursuant of a con man who killed a suspicious railroad detective...can they stop this scheme of using an innocent real estate dealer from a phony land promotion...will hard riding and quick thinking bring this to adventure to a positive conclusion...one of the first television programs to be filmed in color from 1950-1956...a word or two about Jack Ingram and Fred Kohler Jr who were the top character actors during the early B-Western years...are these two veterans the good or bad guys, don't touch that dial you're about to find out.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
1. Photo Gallery (stills from "The Cisco Kid" television series - Lobby Cards)

BIOS:
1. Duncan Renaldo
2. Leo Carrillo
3. Martin Garralaga

INTERVIEW with DUNCAN RENALDO
1. Very informative and enlightening interview tracing Duncan Renaldo's career of how he came to play "The Cisco Kid" plus behind the scenes with Leo Carrillo and various trailers.
2. In 1980, Renaldo received a Special Lifetime Achievement Award from Nosotros, which honored him for "providing a postive Hispanic role model for Americans"...and what's more states "The Cisco Kid" a perennial television favorite.
3. This DVD is dedicated in Loving Memory of Duncan Renaldo 1904-1980

Renaldo was in his '60s and Carillo in his '70s when they appeared at the "Firemen's Rodeo" in St. Louis during the '50s ~ my Grandmother and Great Aunt took me to see them, and I believe both of them had a crush on the two actors (Renaldo and Carrillo) came galloping out into the center of the arena, every kid in attendance was in awe, as I was and when the show was over, I rode my imaginary horse home.

Own them now on DVD....if you crave action, drama and plenty of adventure then this is the place for all of the above...if you enjoyed this serial check out another VCI Entertainment release the first big screen full length in color "Lone Ranger" (1956) (digitally remastered in Dolby), long running Lone Ranger series on radio and then turned out in the early '40s in the movies...it's all new and in Warnercolor the west's greatest hero...the story line is excellent with outstanding action scenes and production with over hours worth of entertainment

Great job by VCI Entertainment for releasing the digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more of the same from the '40s vintage...order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment, stay tuned once again with a top notch serial from VCI...so saddle up and get ready for some hard riding and adventure that only The Cisco Kid and Pancho can deliver...just the way we like 'em!

Total Time: 145 mins on DVD ~ VCI Entertainment 8331 ~ (6/25/2002)

Very pleased with the quality of this DVD. 2 one-hour movies. The first is "South of the Rio Grande" (1945) with Garralaga as Pancho. They help a rancher friend and his neighbors whose ranches are being terrorized by a ruthless dictator and a gang of horse thieves. In "The Girl from San Lorenzo" (1950), with Carrillo, they have to find the robbers who are dressing like them to hold up stage coaches. There is one color TV episode "Railroad Land Rush" where a man impersonates a Railroad man who is coming to town on the stage coach to stop swindlers from selling land to the people of the town Echo. The TV episode is a little blurry, but the color is pretty good.

In the interview with Duncan Renaldo (Cisco) he tells us what went on during the filming of the movies and about why Pancho changed during his time as Cisco--why Martin Garralaga did not continue as Pancho and how Leo Carrillo became Pancho. He also talks about why he has a mustache in one movie and it's gone another. Mr. Renaldo (Cisco) talks about Mr. Carrillo's funny use of words during his interview. It is great fun watching him play with words in the American language.

I wrote a lot about my opinion on "Cisco Kid Double Feature Vol. 2". The same review includes Vol. 1 as well.
It's hard trying to find reasonable reproductions of old pre-1960 TV shows.
These films had the handicap of cellulose which quickly deteriorated along with the images over time if it wasn't remastered. Also archived "B" movies and old TV shows probably weren't stored with the same respect a renown movie or TV show would have.
To a purist the video quality may be unacceptable. But those of us who choose to overlook this and judge it for it's historical value and reminiscence will find a wonderful inexpensive video treat.
...."Oh ho, Cisco"..."Oh Ho, Pancho, heh heh heh".

VCI has done a superb job all the way around. Wonderful transfer and picture quality for the Cisco films that, until today, was only available on VHS in poor quality transfers.

Recommend the Cisco book from the University Press by Francis M. Nevins as a companion piece.