O Bandoleiro do El Dorado

A suave (if too old) Warner Baxter plays legendary bandit Joaquin Murieta in this creaky Western, set in 1848 California just after Mexico ceded California to the U.S. and gold fever swept the land. Murieta, a simple farmer at the time, loses his wife to land-grabbing Americans and he exacts revenge upon them, making him a wanted man. Later, his brother is killed by another gang of Mexican-hating Americans, and he joins forces with a notorious bandit (Naish) to fight the gringos. Beautifully written, although watching men constantly riding horses at a full gallop gets tired very quickly. Also, the film has way too many long shots, making it hard to follow the action at times. It's almost like a silent movie, although this was shot in the mid-1930s. Five years later came "The Mark of Zorro" with Tyrone Power and which tells a similar tale of revenge and banditry in old California. But "Mark" is a far smoother production and stands as a masterpiece. "El Dorado" looks like a dinosaur by comparison, and is to be viewed for historical purposes.