Cinema Revisited: The Gay Caballero (1940)

Directed by Otto Brower. Starring Cesar Romero, Chris Pin-Martin, Robert Sterling, C. Montague Shaw, Sheila Ryan, Janet Beecher, Edmund MacDonald, Jacqueline Dalya, Hooper Atchley. Released October 4, 1940. 58 minutes.

To us baby boomers, The Cisco Kid is Duncan Renaldo, and Cesar Romero is The Joker. But we of the television age must realize that Cesar Romero played The Cisco Kid in a handful of B movies for 20th Century Fox. Not having seen one before, I screened a random entry, "The Gay Caballero."

In this one, an innocent man is identified as the bandit Cisco Kid and is killed. The actual Cisco Kid comes upon the grave, and decides to investigate. He stumbles upon a woman, deeply in debt, whose land was sold to an Englishman by her bank. When he arrives from England, he is told by the woman she won't sell. It causes conflict and Cisco unravels the mystery about his death while also clearing some accusations as to his innocence. The Cisco Kid having to clear his name as a corpse and as an accused bandit makes for an interesting story, and while the direction is not at all stylistic, it is competent and effective.

Cesar Romero is an appealing actor, and his approach to the Cisco Kid role is as a rogue bandit with a playful attitude. His partner, played by Chris Pin-Martin, is Gordito, a Mexican comical stereotype. Fox's B unit was solid and always told good, compact stories in just under an hour. So, the lack of logic that sneaks up is never an issue, because the film is brisk and entertaining. C. Montague Shaw plays the man coming from England, and Sheila Ryan plays his daughter. Shaw was Australian-born, so he can present a British accent effectively. Ms. Ryan doesn't even try. She sounds every bit as American as her Topeka, Kansas roots. Edmund McDonald is the central bad guy. He and Ms. Ryan would score nicely the following year in "Great Guns," Laurel and Hardy's first movie for Fox. Robert Sterling as the juvenile enjoyed a long career in movies and TV well into the 1980s.

Director Otto Brower was an established B movie master whose sudden death at age 50 in 1946 shortened his prolific career. He directed over 40 movies in 18 years. “The Gay Caballero is one of four feature films he directed in 1940.

ICesar Romero broke his leg during filming and was out for nearly two months, causing that long of a production delay. Filming was suspended in June and picked up again in August. It was ready for release in October. t is impressive how well "The Gay Caballero" flows, when one considers the circumstances.

Since this B movie was specifically designed as a second feature or for neighborhood theaters, there are no pretentions beyond its base entertainment value. And, of all the Cesar Romero films featuring him as The Cisco Kid, "The Gay Caballero" is considered the best, and was the most successful at the box office.