User:Barnopolipolis/Robin Hood of El Dorado (Film, 1936)

The Robin Hood of El Dorado is a western film directed by William A. Wellman for MGM in 1936. The film stars Warner Baxter as real life Mexican folk hero Joaquin Murrietta and Ann Loring as his love interest. J. Carroll Naish portrays Murrietta's notorious nemesis, "Three Fingered Jack." The screenplay was written by Wellman, Joseph Calleia and Melvin Levy, along with Robert Carson, who was assigned by MGM to be Wellman's writing partner. The film was based on the biography of Murrietta by Walter Noble Burns and was MGM's attempt at a follow up to Viva Villa. The film's working title was "I AM JOAQUIN!"

The Film
The movie portrays Joaquin Murrietta as the Robin Hood of Old California in 1850, a kind, gentle man who was driven to violence. Wellman made it a hard-hitting story about racial prejudice and violence on both sides--Murrietta and his Mexican band and the white settlers.

Film historian Frank T. Thompson writes that "Wellman made a stronger statement on the subject of racism than a whole spate of later films (like Gentleman's Agreement)."

The Robin Hood of El Dorado also anticipates the revisionist westerns of the 1960's, especially The Wild Bunch (1969) by Sam Peckinpah. Both films mix violence and sentimentality with an undercuurent of regret for a vanishing way of life. Specifically, the Mexican folk song, La Golondrina, is used to similar effect in both films-- as a farewell to the outlaw band and as a prelude to an extremely violent climax.

The Cast

 * Warner Baxter (Joaquin Murrietta)
 * Ann Loring (Juanita de la Cuesta)
 * Bruce Cabot (Bill Warren)
 * Margo (Rosita)
 * J. Carroll Naish (Three-Fingered Jack)
 * Soledad Jimenez (Madre Murrietta)
 * Carlos de Valdez (Jose Murrietta)
 * Eric Linden (Johnnie Warren)
 * Edgar Kennedy (Sheriff Judd)
 * Charles Trowbridge (Ramon de la Cuesta)
 * Harvey Stevens (Captain Osborne)
 * Ralph Remley (Judge Perkins)
 * George Regas (Tomas)
 * Harry Woods (Pete)
 * Francis McDonald (Pedro the Spy)
 * Kay Hughes (Louise)
 * Paul Hurst (Wilson)
 * Boothe Howard (Tablard)