Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

MartinHafer Wow, does this film creak with age--as did most of the award-winning films of the late 1920s (such as Broadway MELODY OF 1926 and COQUETTE)! While it won the Best Actor Oscar for Warner Baxter, today it seems very antiquated and his performance seems very broad and, at times, silly. Now I can't blame this all on Baxter, as overacting was still rampant in talking films--and the studios demanded it. The subtleties and realism that would be standard in the 1930s just weren't seen in the early talkies. Baxter play the Cisco Kid was painful at times because the character seemed even less realistic than Charlie Chan!! However, I think most of the problem was the direction, as Baxter was able to credibly play Latinos, as his ROBIN HOOD OF EL DORADO (1936) was an exceptional performance--playing a guy much like the Cisco Kid. And, in THE PRISONER OF SHARK ISLAND, Baxter was spectacular--showing he really was a capable actor.Another problem with this odd award-winning film is that although it is an adventure film and has many outdoor scenes, most of the film is static and set indoors. There are just too many scenes filmed inside a studio and it shows. In particular, his scenes with his lady love dominate almost the entire second half of the film and really slow down the film to a crawl. It also didn't help that Dorothy Burgess (as 'Tonia Maria') was a terrible actress who way overplayed all her scenes--far more than Baxter did in the film.There are a few things of interest in the film. Being a Pre-Code film, there is some cursing in the film that might surprise viewers. In addition, the way the film ends is really cool---and something they probably wouldn't have allowed in the post-Code world. The Kid just doesn't act as heroic as a post-1934 hero did!! See for yourself to find out what I mean.So, if you want to see a better Cisco Kid film, see one of the later ones. I cannot find a copy of the 1931 CISCO KID (also starring Baxter) but have seen and enjoyed the Cesar Romero versions of the Cisco Kid and know that the films can be great fun. IN OLD ARIZONA, unfortunately, isn't all that much fun--it's more just a curio for film historians. Interesting but not all that good. It still gets a 7 because for this era, it's a good film--just don't compare it to films made just a year or two later, as the quality and production values improved tremendously in the interim.By the way, the DVD has absolutely no extras whatsoever! I would have loved a featurette on the series--information on the Romero or Gilbert Roland or Duncan Ronaldo versions of the Cisco Kid.

whpratt1 It was so enjoyable going way back in time to the Year 1928 and view Warner Baxter,(The Cisco Kid) who played his role the way I would want to see an actor portray The Cisco Kid. Dorothy Burgess, (Tonia Maria) is the girl friend of Cisco Kid and gives a great supporting role as a gold digger who wants plenty of gold, romance and any man who desires her charm. Edmund Lowe, (Sergeant Mickey Dunn) plays a soldier who is hunting down the Cisco Kid and gets himself involved with Tonia Maria in order to set up a trap to catch the Cisco Kid. Sgt.Mickey Dunn is from New York and talks and sings about the Bowery and brags about the cost of a beer for only five (5) cents and all the food you can eat. It is nice to know that Warner Baxter won an Oscar for his performance as the Cisco Kid, who was also the star of many "Crime Doctor" films as Dr. Ordway. This is a great classic film that you will not want to miss from 1928 and also has sound for the voices. Enjoy

drednm Warner Baxter might have deserved an Oscar nomination for the great 42nd Street, but winning for this slow and dated western is amazing. He beat out Paul Muni, Lewis Stone, Chester Morris, and George Bancroft. Maybe because In Old Arizona was the first talkie to use lots of location shots. Baxter now seems like a very strange choice to have played the Cisco Kid (where was Ramon Novarro?), and it's hard to accept him in the role. Dorothy Burgess made her film debut here as Tonia Maria. She veers wildly from incredibly bad overacting to a few scenes where she is good. Edmund Lowe (like Baxter) was an established silent film star (What Price Glory?) and he comes off best here as the Sergeant. While Baxter and Burgess chew the scenery, Lowe underplays and seems natural and breezy. J. Farrell MacDonald is on the stage coach that Cisco robs; Soledad Jimenez is good as the cook, and Henry Armetta is the funny barber. The other actors are just plain awful. In Old Arizona also won an Oscar nomination as best film, losing (thank god) to The Broadway Melody. All 5 nominees were talkies. To be fair, there are some good outdoor shots in this film, but the sound is generally weak. And the song that opens the film (played to a black screen, before the title even comes up) is hideous.

FISHCAKE This is likely the first sound western film as well as the first sound film done out-of-doors. Suggested by "The Caballero's Way", a short story by William Sidney Porter (O.Henry), the main character, "The Cisco Kid", has been considerably upgraded. Porter's "Kid" was a ruthless bandit who didn't like people who got in his way, especially sheriffs. When a sheriff seduced the "Kid's" girl-friend into betraying him into an ambush, the "Kid", ruthlessly clever, took his revenge in a sadistic fashion. In case one might want to read the story, I will say no more. In the film, the "Kid" is a bandit right enough, but a sympathetic one, and sufficiently clever to outwit a sheriff who persuades the girlfriend to disarm the "Kid". She does this by charming him into taking off his gun when he meets her for a tryst. Don't worry, the "Kid" is one up on this trick, too, but protects himself in somewhat gentler fashion than in the story. If one could view this film today it would seem a museum piece, but not without some pictorial charm. I remember the photography as very pictorial, as with some later sequels, and there is a scene of bacon frying over a campfire that rather startled 1929 film goers with the realistic sound.