Romance of the Rio Grande (1941)

Director: Herbert I. Leeds

Cast: Cesar Romero, Patricia Morison, Lynne Roberts

Synopsis: When an old rancher’s grandson is murdered, the Cisco Kid takes his place to find who’s trying to take over the ranch.

In Romance of the Rio Grande, Cesar Romero (The Thin Man, Vera Cruz) plays the Cisco Kid, a swarthy outlaw with a comical wonky-eyed sidekick who just happens to be the spitting image of young Carlos Hernandez (Joseph McDonald). What are the chances, you might ask yourself, of them both possessing the same type of moustache? Astronomical, I reckon – but they do, which is good news for Cisco when he comes across a wounded Hernandez who has been ambushed by the henchmen of the evil Ricardo (Ricardo Cortez – The Maltese Falcon, Flesh), a ne’er-do-well who means to prevent Hernandez from claiming the ranch and daughter of the ailing Don Fernando (Pedro de Cordoba – Saboteur). Suspecting he might be able to make a killing for himself, Cisco assumes Hernandez’ identity only to find himself caught up in all manner of intrigue. The story’s a bit daft, which is fairly surprising as it’s adapted from a novel rather than dreamed up by some hack writer at Fox. The characters are one-dimensional, and while a young Romero brings a certain panache to his role, he can’t do anything to save Romance of the Rio Grande from being just another routine B-movie.