Duncan Renaldo Movies

After several years' dormancy, the "Cisco Kid" western-film series returned to the screen with Monogram's The Cisco Kid Returns. Duncan Renaldo, actually Rumanian, starred as the Mexican "Robin Hood of the Old West", with Martin Garralaga as his corpulent sidekick Pancho. In the tradition of 20th Century-Fox's earlier "Cisco" efforts, our hero comes to the aid of an orphaned child, clears himself of a kidnapping charge, and proves that a "solid citizen" is in fact a criminal mastermind. After a trio of Cisco Kid films, Renaldo left the series, to be replaced by Gilbert Roland; but when time came in 1950 for a Cisco Kid TV series, Renaldo was back in the saddle again, this time with Leo Carrillo as Pancho. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

At 50 minutes, Call of the South Seas must qualify as the shortest of Republic's non-western B films. Janet Martin plays Tahia, princess of a faraway tropical island. Tahia's people are being victimized by extradition-free crooks led by an unsavory type named Landrau (Roy Barcroft). Disguised as a scruffy beahcomber, FBI agent Kendall Gaige (Allan Lane) infiltrates Landrau's gang, and along the way finds time for romance with Tahia. A climactic motorboat chase during a volcanic eruption, staged by the legendary Lydecker brothers, provided stock footage aplenty for future Republic programmers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In his third western for Republic Pictures, Allan Lane plays Tex Jordan, a cattle rancher en route to sell his stock to cattle baron Jack Hatfield (Roy Barcroft). But in the town of Sundown, our hero finds that the omnipotent Hatfield has been squeezing the small ranchers in general and Tex's friend Andy Craig (Jack Kirk) in particular. Andy, who threatens to blow the whistle on Hatfield's unfair business practices, is shot by persons unknown and Tex promises his dying friend to care for a young daughter, Little Jo (Twinkle Watts). Appealing the case to the governor (Herbert Rawlinson), Tex is made a special investigator but due to a lack of physical evidence, Hatfield continues his reign of terror almost unopposed. Until, that is, Tex and sidekick Chihuahua (Duncan Renaldo) concoct a plan to trap the evil empire builder. Sheriff of Sundown reunited Allan Lane with Linda Stirling, his co-star in the contemporary Republic serial The Tiger Woman (1944). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The most obvious discrepancies concerning this otherwise well-remembered cliffhanger from genre specialist Republic Pictures are the quite demure-looking leopard outfit worn by the serial's heroine, Linda Stirling, and that Darkest Africa looks suspiciously like the hills of suburban Chatsworth. Apparently, producer William J. O'Connell acquired the leopard costume on the cheap but too late for the title to be changed, and the location never really mattered to Republic's mostly juvenile target audience. Making her serial debut, Stirling's innate athleticism came in handy playing Kay Arnold, an heiress turned Jungle Goddess who helps oil company representative Allan Lane fight off a villainous competitor headed by unscrupulous attorney Fletcher Walton (LeRoy Mason) and his henchman, general store proprietor Tom Daggett (Crane Whitley). The remaining 11 chapters had either Stirling rescuing Lane from one peril after another, or vice versa. Although not quite as independently heroic as serial queens such as Pearl White and Ruth Roland, Linda Stirling came as close as anybody, which of course was Republic's goal all along. Her sex appeal, despite the demure costume, was obvious and although this was not why she had chosen the acting profession, Linda tore into her serial assignments with legendary gusto. Ironically, the native of Long Beach, CA, had begun her career studying with Ben Bard, the widower of Ruth Roland. The serial was re-edited and released in a feature version re-titled Jungle Gold. In 1951, Republic resurrected the entire chapterplay under the title Perils of the Darkest Jungle. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

There's practically no western action in Hands Across the Border, but there's music aplenty. Roy Rogers stars as a wandering cavalier (named "Roy Rogers", naturally), who comes to the aid of entertainer Kim Adams (Ruth Terry). The daughter of a rancher, Kim does her patriotic bit by raising prize horses for the Army. But villainous Brock Danvers (Onslow Stevens) does his best to keep Kim's stock from reaching the Army, and that's when Rogers comes to the rescue. The final two reels of Hands Across the Border is a virtual nonstop parade of musical numbers by the likes of Hoagy Carmichael and Ned Washington, and featuring Rogers, Ruth Terry, Janet Martin and that zany European comedy trio The Wiere Brothers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The popular operetta by Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein II enjoyed its second screen adaptation with this film, which added four new songs and updated the story to World War II. Paul Hudson (Dennis Morgan), an American veteran of the Spanish Civil War, makes his living playing piano in a Morocco nightclub; in his spare time, he romances Margot (Irene Manning), the club's featured singer. Caid Yousseff (Victor Francen) is a Moroccan in cahoots with the Nazis who is trying to win the support of a local gang called the Riffs, even though they're under the control of the French. The Riffs are led by El Khobar, a masked do-gooder who wants to persuade Col. Fontaine (Bruce Cabot) that the Riffs deserve their independence; if it is granted, he promises that they will gladly fight against the Nazis. What Fontaine doesn't know is that El Khobar and Paul Hudson are actually the same person. The Desert Song received an Oscar for Art Direction and was much praised for its beautiful color cinematography. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls is a romantic drama set against the turbulent tapestry of the Spanish Civil War. Gary Cooper plays Robert Jordan, an idealistic American fighting with a Spanish guerilla band. He is assigned to blow up a crucial bridge in order to halt the enemy's progress. He falls in love with Maria (Ingrid Bergman), a young peasant girl who's joined the fight after being ill-used by enemy troops. Pablo (Akim Tamiroff), the eternally drunken leader of the guerillas, resents Jordan's attentions toward Maria, and he refuses to help Jordan in his sabotage work. Pablo's wife Pilar (Oscar-winner Katina Paxinou) takes over command of the guerillas and helps Jordan by arranging horses for the band's departure after their job is done. The man supplying the horses (Joseph Calleia) is killed, and Jordan is left to finish his task minus a means to escape. For Whom the Bell Tolls was a long, faithful adaptation of the Hemingway novel, with excellent performances, torrid love scenes, and first-rate Technicolor photography. Available for many years only in the 130-minute reissue version, it was restored to nearly its full original length of 168 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rod Cameron is the virile hero, and Joan Marsh the dauntless heroine; both are Allied secret agents working to outwit the Gestapo in North Africa. The acting honors go to Lionel Royce, who plays the dual role of kindly Sultan Abou Ben Ali and the sadistic German Baron Von Rommler. The baron imprisons the sultan, then takes his place, the better to swing the African Arabs to the Nazi cause. Running 15 episodes, Secret Service of Darkest Africa was directed by Spencer Gordon Bennett, who here as elsewhere indulges in his specialty: well-choreographed action sequences, with plenty of heavy objects being thrown directly at the camera. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Strange but true: Norma Shearer turned down the title role in Mrs. Miniver to star instead in the insignificant trifle We Were Dancing. Loosely based on two Noel Coward playlets originally presented as part of the omnibus production Tonight at 8:30, the story concerns the romance between socialite Vicki Wilomirsky (Norma Shearer) and Nicki Prax (Melvyn Douglas), an impoverished baron who supports himself as a "professional guest." Nicki steals Vicki away from her stuffy attorney fiance Hubert Tyler (Lee Bowman), but their subsequent marriage comes to an end when Vicki spots Nicki in the arms of his ex-lover Linda Wayne (Gail Patrick). Returning to Tyler, Vicki is on the verge of a second marriage, when Nicki once again waltzes into her life?.and on and on it goes, where it will stop, nobody knows. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Panama Menace is the reissue title of PRC's South of Panama. Secret agent Roger Pryor is dispatched below the border to protect an important scientific formula. Believe it or don't, this mixture has the ability to render things invisible. Enemy agents, Lionel Royce and Lucien Prival want to get their mitts on this vital secret. Femme fatale Virginia Vale spends most of her time cowering the corner, allowing two-fisted Pryor to make the world safe for democracy. Watch for Beaver Cleaver's future dad Hugh Beaumont in a minor role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ever on the lookout for original story ideas, the producers of the "Hopalong Cassidy" series came up with a lulu in Outlaws of the Desert. In this one, Hoppy (William Boyd) and his saddle pals Johnny (Brad King) and California (Andy Clyde), is assigned by the US government to head to Arabia, there to buy a herd of Arabian steeds. Once they've arrived in the desert, our heroes are kidnapped by swarthy Sheik Suleiman (played by future "Cisco Kid" Duncan Renaldo). In his efforts to figure a way out of his predicament, Hoppy must also attempt to rescue distressed damsels Susan Grant (Jean Phillips) and Marie Karitza (Luli Deste). Good escapist fun, Outlaws of the Desert is definitely the most unusual of the early-1940s "Hopalong Cassidy" entries (even though the film's "Arabia" is obviously located near Chatsworth, California). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide