1h 35min. // A charming outlaw known as the Cisco Kid rides the dusty trails of the Southwest, robbing stages with a disarming grin and a code all his own. Feared by the law but adored by the public, he turns every holdup into a performance, punctuated by easy banter and the occasional song. His greatest weakness, however, is not a sheriff’s bullet but a fickle sweetheart waiting back in town, whose affections are as changeable as the desert wind.

While the Cisco Kid toys with the authorities, a determined U.S. Army sergeant is dispatched to bring him in. The sergeant thinks he’s found the perfect angle when he learns of the outlaw’s love for the flirtatious Tonia Maria, a woman who enjoys the attention of any man who happens to be nearby. What begins as a simple plan to use her as bait quickly turns into a dangerous triangle of deception, jealousy, and shifting loyalties.

As the sergeant grows more entangled with Tonia Maria, the line between duty and desire blurs. The Cisco Kid, sensing betrayal in the air, responds with his trademark mix of humor and menace, turning the chase into a psychological game played out against sweeping canyons, mission walls, and stark desert vistas. The story builds toward an ironic and morally ambiguous climax, true to its O. Henry roots, where charm and bravado can no longer shield anyone from the consequences of their choices.

Along the way, the film revels in its new sound technology: the jangle of spurs, the echo of gunshots, and the Cisco Kid’s casual serenades lend an immediacy that pulls audiences straight into the frontier. Beneath the light touches and romantic entanglements, though, lies a surprisingly sharp portrait of betrayal and survival on the borderlands, where even a singing cowboy can’t quite ride clear of fate.

 

Directed by: Raoul Walsh, Irving Cummings

Writing Credits: Tom Barry, Paul Girard Smith

Starring: George Arliss, Frank Campeau, Henry Armetta, Warner Baxter, Edmund Lowe

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Awards:

WON. Academy Award for Best Actor. Category. Warner Baxter.

 

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