THE CISCO KID is a first for television shows in
many ways. Back in the 1950’s, black & white TV shows were the
norm. THE CISCO KID was the first television show to be broadcast in
color! Remember now, this is when color TVs were not even largely
available! THE CISCO KID was also the first television program to be
syndicated to individual TV stations, as opposed to be created and
distributed by the major networks! The show starred Duncan Reynaldo as
the Cisco Kid—Renaldo was a major player in the B Movie Western scene,
and he’s known for his turns in films like ZORRO RIDES AGAIN (1937),
SWORD OF THE AVENGER (1948), and SATAN’S CRADLE (1949). Before his
tenure in the television show, Reynaldo played the character of Cisco
Kid in films such as THE CISCO KID RETURNS (1945), SOUTH OF THE RIO
GRANDE (1946), and VALIANT HOMBRE (1948). Of course in those days a
Western hero was only as good as his trusty sidekick, and the Cisco Kid
had a great one—Pancho, played in very entertaining manner by Leo
Carrillo. Genre fans will remember Carillo for his appearances in THE
PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1944), RIDERS OF DEATH VALLEY (1944), and GHOST
CATCHERS (1944). Together, Cisco and Pancho faced a variety of evil
characters and perilous adventures that would last 159 episodes over six
seasons. MPI Home Video has put out a series of DVD box sets of this
historic show, and we take a look at THE CISCO KID COLLECTION 3.
THE CISCO KID COLLECTION 3 consists of four discs.
The keepcase is the kind that has two swinging arms that holds two discs
in a figure 8 pattern. Man I hate this case. You have to make certain
the arms are closed in the proper manner or the case will not close; and
when it does close correctly, the discs are always coming loose. One
other annoying thing is that MPI did not include was chapter stops. The
Cisco Kid Collection Three features 20 half-hour episodes of the popular
Western series:
Disc A
Vigilante Story
Hidden Valley
Carrier Pigeon
Hypnotist Murder
Romany Caravan
Disc B
Robber Crow
Sleeping Gas
The Ventriloquist
A Six-Gun For No Pain
Gold Strike
Disc C
The Lowest Bidder
Mining Madness
Pot of Gold
Caution of Curley Thompson
Three Suspects
Disc D
Pancho’s Suspects
Extradition Papers
New Evidence
Doorway to Nowhere
Cisco and the Giant
THE CISCO KID COLLECTION 3 contains full frame
transfers of this classic television property. The show was filmed in
color, and it looks like MPI did some digital clean-up and color
correction, because everything looks pretty good. Yeah, there are some
scratches on the prints here and there and dirt and blemishes can be
seen, but overall not a bad job. Just don’t expect the same
full-fledged re-mastering treatment that MPI performed on their SHERLOCK
HOLMES classics. The colors here occasionally are soft, but mostly
robust and full. Black levels are perfectly tweaked. The cinematography
and set designs are convincing executed, bringing the viewer back to New
Mexico circa 1890, where the show takes place. The soundtrack is Dolby
Digital Mono 2.0, and again MPI must’ve spent some time cleaning this
one up because there is no distortion or background noise. The action
and gunfights take a back seat to the character interaction, and the
vocals are very clear with the cast delivering their Western patter and
accents. There are no extras in THE CISCO KID COLLECTION 3.
THE CISCO KID COLLECTION 3 is a classic slice of
American nostalgia which is good for the entire family. MPI’s Home
Video’s presentation is commendable, and the box set contains over 20
episodes of the Western escapades of Cisco Kid and Pancho. The only
negative things I can say about this collection is the awful keepcase
and the complete lack of extras. Barring these two problems, fans of the
show will be delighted with MPI’s efforts.
CISCO
KID COLLECTION 3 is available at DVDEmpire
CISCO
KID COLLECTION 3 is available at DVDEmpire
CISCO
KID COLLECTION 1 is available at DVDEmpire
