''The Bold Caballero'' is a 1936 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film written and directed by

Wells Root Wells Crosby Root (March 21, 1900 – March 9, 1993) was an American screenwriter and lecturer. In the mid-1930s he was involved with the Screen Writers Guild and in the 1950s the University of Southern California asked him to teach Film and Tel ...

. It is based on the character

Zorro Zorro (Spanish language, Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed a ...

, created by

Johnston McCulley John William Johnston McCulley (February 2, 1883 – November 23, 1958) was an American writer of hundreds of stories, fifty novels, numerous screenplays for film and television, and the creator of the character Zorro. Biography Born in O ...

. The characters Don Alejandro Vega (Don Diego's father) and Bernardo are notably absent. Native American stars include

Chief Thundercloud Victor Daniels (April 12, 1899 – December 1, 1955), known professionally as Chief Thundercloud, was an American character actor in Westerns. He is noted for being the first actor to play the role of Tonto, the Lone Ranger's Native-American c ...

as Don Diego Vega/Zorro's aide and Charles Stevens as Captain Vargas. John Merton appears uncredited in this film as a First Sergeant. Merton also appears in ''

Zorro's Fighting Legion ''Zorro's Fighting Legion'' is a 1939 Republic Pictures film serial consisting of twelve chapters starring Reed Hadley as Zorro and directed by William Witney and John English. The plot revolves around his alter-ego Don Diego's fight against t ...

'' as Manuel and ''

Zorro's Black Whip ''Zorro's Black Whip'' is a 1944 12-chapter film serial by Republic Pictures starring Linda Stirling. The film was made after the 1940 20th Century-Fox remake of '' The Mark of Zorro'' in order to capitalize on it. Republic was not able to us ...

'' as Harris. The film is notable for being the first talking Zorro film, as the first two Zorro films were

silent films A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, whe ...

, and the first Zorro film in color (

Magnacolor Magnacolor was a color motion picture process owned by Consolidated Film Industries. Magnacolor was an offshoot of William Van Doren Kelley's 1918 subtractive color process Prizma and utilized the same bi-pack color process. Magnacolor was succ ...

). It was shot in

Chatsworth, Los Angeles Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. The area was home to Native Americans, some of whom left caves containing rock art. Chatsworth was explored and colonized by the Spanish be ...

. The film was released on December 1, 1936, by

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City an ...

Plot

( Robert Livingston) has been captured and set for execution, charged with the murder of the new Governor (

Robert Warwick Robert Warwick (born Robert Taylor Bien, October 9, 1878 – June 6, 1964) was an American stage, film and television actor with over 200 film appearances. A matinee idol during the silent film era, he also prospered after the introduction ...

) in Spanish

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, as the governor was marked with a "Z". Zorro escapes, and reveals his identity to the governor's daughter, Isabella ( Heather Angel). However, Isabella then has Don Diego arrested. He convinces Isabella that the Commandante (

Sig Ruman Siegfried Carl Alban Rumann (October 11, 1884 – February 14, 1967), billed as Sig Ruman and Sig Rumann, was a German-American character actor known for his portrayals of pompous and often stereotypically Teutonic officials or villains in ...

) was the real killer, as the "Z" on the Governor was backwards. Eventually, Isabella helps free Don Diego, the Commandante is killed, and Diego and Isabella are reunited.

Cast

* Robert Livingston as Don Diego Vega/Zorro * Heather Angel as Lady Isabella Palma *

as Commandante Sebastian Golle *

Ian Wolfe Ian Marcus Wolfe (November 4, 1896 – January 23, 1992) was an American character actor with around 400 film and television credits. Until 1934, he worked in the theatre. That year, he appeared in his first film role and later television, as ...

as The Priest *

as Governor Palma *

Emily Fitzroy Emily Fitzroy (24 May 1860 – 3 March 1954) was an English theatre and film actress who eventually became an American citizen. She was at one time a leading lady in London for Sir Charles Wyndham. She made her film debut in 1915. Her debut i ...

as Lady Isabella's chaperone * Charles Stevens as Captain Vargas * Walter Long as Guard *Ferdinand Munier as Landlord *

Chris-Pin Martin Chris-Pin Martin (born Ysabel Ponciana Chris-Pin Martin Paiz, November 19, 1893 – June 27, 1953) was an American character actor whose specialty lay in portraying comical Mexicans, particularly sidekicks in ''The Cisco Kid'' film series. He ...

as Hangman *

Carlos De Valdez Carlos De Valdez (19 March 1894 – 30 October 1939) was a Peruvian-American film actor who appeared in around forty American films.Pitts p. 169 De Valdez died in the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles at the age of 45. Partial filmography * '' ...

as The Alcalde *Soledad Jiménez as Indian woman

References

External links

* * 1936 films 1936 Western (genre) films 1930s color films American Western (genre) films Films produced by Nat Levine Films shot in Los Angeles Republic Pictures films Zorro films 1936 directorial debut films Films scored by Karl Hajos Films based on works by Johnston McCulley 1930s American films {{adventure-film-stub