The Return of the Cisco Kid

Warner Baxter made his third and last appearance as the Cisco Kid in this film. Return Of The Cisco Kid had Cisco for the one and only time have two companion sidekicks. In that the film was joining the trio western formula that was popular in the day led by Hopalong Cassidy and the Three Mesquiteers.

Cesar Romero and Chris-Pin Martin are the sidekicks and I think Romero was there for the experience. I'm sure Darryl F. Zanuck already had him in mind as the new Cisco Kid when he made this film.

Baxter, Romero, and Martin come across Lynn Bari and her roguish grandfather Henry Hull making their way west to claim a ranch left to them. Up till then they live by Hull's wits and ways as a conman which Baxter recognizes from the start and that endears them to him.

But in the town they are heading for they have a crook for a sheriff in Robert Barrat who is your basic Snidely Whiplash type villain. He's stolen title to the ranch and wants big bucks for it and might not even accept those. This was a case for either Cisco Kid or the A-Team.

After that the story takes a twist from the plot of Warner Brothers 20th Century which also came out in 1939. It works out better for Baxter than it did for James Cagney. In fact Baxter's turning of the tables on Barrat at the end of the film is a hoot. It relies on the natural elements of their surroundings.

Return Of The Cisco Kid is hardly as good as In Old Arizona where Baxter won the second Best Actor Oscar for the part. But it's a fun western and I've always been a fan of the Cisco Kid.