Customer Reviews

Cisco Kid: Western Triple Feature

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

VCI Entertainment presents "CISCO KID: WESTERN TRIPLE FEATURE - DUNCAN RENALDO" (Fully Restored/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.

The first feature -- THE CISCO KID RETURNS (aka: Daring Adventurer) (16 February 1945) (64 min/In Glorious Black & White)
Directed by John P. McCarthy, Produced by Philip N. Krasne

Storyline, first time appearance of Duncan Renaldo as the Cisco Kid with the kidnapping of a young girl who is the heir to money left by her murdered father --- marriage and a beautiful senorita comes into the picture and Cisco is up to his old tricks of bringing the guilty party to justice

Cast includes -- Duncan Renaldo (Cisco), Martin Garralaga (Pancho Gonzales), Roger Pryor (John Harris), Cecilia Callejo (Rosita Gonzales), Fritz Lieber (The Padre), Jan Wiley (Jeanette), Sharon Smith (Nancy Page), Vicky Lane (Julia, the fake Mrs. Page), Anthony Warde (Paul Conway), Bud Osborne (Sheriff) - - - - special footnote, Bud Osborne (aka Lennie B Osborne) became one of the busiest supporting character actors in westerns of the '30s and '40s, altogether he appeared in more than 550 films, almost all of it in westerns as he handled the reins for horse drawn coaches and wagons from the early '20s through the late '50s.

Second feature -- OLD NEW MEXICO (15 May 1945) (62 min/In Glorious Black & White)
Directed by Phil Rosen, Produced by Philip N, Krasne

Storyline -- damsel in distress is kidnapped by Cisco and Pancho and taken to the mission, she is falsely accused of a murder and Cisco sets out to prove it --- The second of Monogram's 1945 trio of "Cisco Kid" westerns --- After a third "Cisco Kid" entry, South of the Rio Grande, Duncan Renaldo would temporarily leave the series, returning with a vengeance three years later.

Cast includes -- Duncan Renaldo (Cisco), Martin Garralaga (Pancho), Gwen Kenyon (Ellen Roth), Pedro de Cordoba (Father Angelo), Lee Lasse White (Sheriff Clem Petty), Norman Willie (Hastings)

Third and final feature -- THE GAY AMIGO (1946) (62 min/In Glorious Black & White)
Directed by Wallace W. Fox, Produced by Philip N. Krasne, Associate Producer Duncan Renaldo, David Sharpe (stunt double for Duncan Renaldo)

Storyline -- a crime they didn't commit, Cisco Kid and Pancho are once again the prime suspects, the cavalry is on their heels and Cisco must prove himself innocent, they're mistaken by a U.S. Army patrol for members of a terrible Mexican gang. However, The Cisco Kid has learned they're not Mexicans at all, but Americanos in disguise

Cast includes -- Duncan Renaldo (Cisco), Leo Carrillo (Pancho), Armida (Rosita), Joe Sawyer (Sergeant McNulty), Clayon Moore (Lieutenant), Kenneth MacDonald (Brack)...special footnote, actor Clayton Moore appears without his Lone Ranger mask.

BIOS:
1. Duncan Renaldo (aka: Renault Renaldo Duncan)
Date of Birth: 23 April 1904 - Spain
Date of Death: 3 September 1980 - Goleta, California

2. Leo Carrillo
Date of Birth: 6 August 1881 - Los Angeles, California
Date of Death: 10 September 1961 - Santa Monica, California

3. Martin Garralaga (aka: Norman Garralaag)
Date of Birth: 10 November 1894 - Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain
Date of Death: 12 June 1981 - Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California

SPECIAL BONUS FEATURES:
1. Trailers
2. Photo Gallery
3. Scene selection
4. Cisco Kid TV Episode in Color.

Great job by VCI Entertainment for releasing "Cisco Kid: Western Triple Feature - Duncan Renaldo", the digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more of the same from the '40s and '50s vintage...order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment, stay tuned once again with a top notch B-Westerns from VCI --- so saddle up and get ready for some hard riding and adventure that only The Cisco Kid and Pancho can deliver --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 187 mins on DVD ~ VCI Entertainment 6338 ~ (3/25/2008)

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.

The first feature, "The Cisco Kid Returns", was ok. But it was too much like "Satan's Cradle" where a woman, and her female handmaid, suddenly shows up in town as the widow of a recently murdered wealthy man. Pancho (Garralaga) plays a guitar and sings in this movie.

The second feature, "Old New Mexico", was weird. There were choreographed dancing girls in outfits that looked like something off old broadway--one piece fancy bathing suits with half their rears sticking out. (I'm not old enough to know if that is historically correct. I've seen a lot of westerns and it just didn't look right.) Cisco was in a fight with the saloon owner while college students in sweater vests and coats and ties were standing in an archway watching. (Did someone forget to put the audience behind the camera?)

The third feature, "Gay Amigo", has a few break-up problems and the sound was fuzzy a lot of the time--I'm sure because it's an old film. I really enjoy Carrillo's fun with the American language. Good movie.

In one of the movies the guy said he drove there. Did they used to say "drove" when they rode on horses or in a buggy?

The 2 movie trailers included look like Italian westerns--a bit risque.

The extra TV episode is the one where an old man and his burro find some gold coins. While he is trying to give the coins away, they arrest him for murder. (I've seen it on RTV, but don't know the name for this episode.)

Even so, most of the actors did a good job of acting.
A good set to have in your Cisco collection.