The Bold Caballero (1936)

Considering that this film was from Republic Pictures and it stars Robert Livingston (an actor that made tons of B-westerns, such as the Mesquiteer and Lone Rider films), I honestly didn't expect much. While it wasn't quite as good as the Zorro films starring Douglas Fairbanks or Tyrone Power, it was very, very good...surprisingly good in fact. You can tell Republic invested heavily in this film. Unlike the tons of cheap Bs they made during this era, "The Bold Caballero" was shot in Technicolor. This is even more surprising when you consider that very, very films were being shot in color at this time--even by the major studios (and Republic was never a major studio).Lingston plays Don Diego and his alter-ego, Zorro. When the film begins, a new governor and his daughter arrive in California. As the Commandante is very corrupt and will no doubt be arrested for his thievery, he arranges for it to look as if Zorro has killed the Governor--and his daughter's all-consuming goal is capturing and hanging Zorro.The film is essentially a film encapsulating the entire story of Zorro--with no apparent attempt to turn this into a series--which is surprising considering Republic made a ton of series films and serials. Because of this, by the end of the film the saga appears rather complete--Don Diego has revealed who he is and he's gotten the girl, freedom for the peons and a pardon.The film has pretty good acting, nice action and a nice polish--which all work together to make a dandy little adventure film. I was taken by surprise at the quality and watchability of "The Bold Caballero" and am surprised to see that it has fallen into the public domain.

Robert Livingston stars in what is probably the first color Zorro film and a film that predates the release of the classic Tyrone Powers film. The film begins with Zorro captured but still masked being lead into the village square when word reached the evil commandante of the garrison that Spain has sent a new governor. In the confusion Zorro escapes and the military is once more on the prowl for the masked avenger. One of the lesser Zorro films, its clear this was made to show off the Magnacolor process and be a spectacle of some sort (There are a couple of songs, but no big numbers). There's lost of romance and flashy costumes but the action adventure seems to be skimped on. Its good but not great and certainly not what one thinks of as a Zorro film , especially from Republic Studios who turned out over half a dozen Zorro and Zorro related serials. Worth a look as a rental and if you run across it on cable, but unless you need to see every Zorro movie ever made you don't need to go out of your way to see it.

Enjoyable. Creaks, shows it age. Primitive in many ways, but nice bantering and humor between Livingston, the girl and the evil commandant. Sometimes I found the dialogue and acting stilted and silly, other times quite amusing................This film should interest Zorro fans for comparisons with other versions of the story -- here the girl plays a major role (her father is killed early in the story, and she inherits his position as governor of the province), Zorro's father/family are not even mentioned, and it is the Indians who are oppressed (in other versions I think it was the Hispanic peasants and others being oppressed).

Well received in it's time and holds up well today. Plot and dialog are notable, and the Heather Angel character is powerful decades before feminism. Skip Banderas. Watch this one.