Beauty and the Bandit (1946)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

William Nigh

Writers:

Charles Belden (original screenplay)
Gilbert Roland (additional dialogue)

Release Date:

9 November 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Western

Tagline:

THE CISCO KID...That Gay, Romantic Rogue!

Plot:

In Old California, a young Frenchman transporting a chest full of silver travels by stagecoach to San Marino...

Plot Keywords:

Silver | Stagecoach | Bandit | Exposure | Scheme

Cast

Gilbert Roland	...	The Cisco Kid
Martin Garralaga	...	Dr. Juan Valegra
Frank Yaconelli	...	Baby
Ramsay Ames	...	Jeanne Du Bois
Vida Aldana	...	Waitress Rosita
George J. Lewis	...	Capitan
William Gould	...	Doc Wells
Dimas Sotello	...	Farmer
Felipe Turich	...	Sick Farmer

Also Known As:

Cisco and the Angel (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

77 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:Approved (11978)

Company:

Monogram Pictures

Trivia:

Although Glenn Strange has a fine singing voice, and sang in a number of "B" westerns, his voice is dubbed when his character, Sailor Bill, sings "Blow the Man Down".

Soundtrack:

Blow the Man Down

A strange and not-too-well made B-western, saved by the interplay of the two stars

Beauty And The Bandit was tecnically part of the Cisco Kid series of films from Monogram Pictures, except that some kind of legal trouble intervened, thus forcing the re-dubbing of the name "Cisco Kid" whenever it was spoken on the soundtrack, and the blacking out of some of the credits. It's a somewhat clunky western, slower moving than its short running time would indicate, and there are long stretches with little going on. What does help hold the picture up as it sags in the middle is the interplay between Gilbert Roland and Ramsay Ames, the two leads, who try to strike some sparks with their portrayals. They don't exactly succeed (and she was not a good enough actress to do it), but at least their scenes together are lively and unpredictable, in contrast to most of the action, which is telegraphed well in advance and also rather on the depressing side, since the plot involves a land-grab and children and animals being poisoned.