Das Zeichen des Verräters

It's 1825. California is a territory of the new Republic of Mexico. It is under constant threat from pirates and bandits. Marcos Zappa (Ricardo Montalban) escapes from pirates. He is captured and taken to meet Don Pedro Garcia who wants to be emperor of California. He is given a proposition.

There's swashbuckling. There's banditry. It's a Latino soap melodrama. It's color but of a poorer quality. I can do without the soap which is a lot of boring standing around and talking. I can do with better swashbuckling. It needs better action. This tries to be Zorro at times but it doesn't have the flair. It's a B-movie.

Cyd Charisse was first of all a dancer, she danced with them all, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Roland Petit, and her dancing always endowed her films with class. Here she dances with Ricardo Montalban, and that flamenco pas-de-deux is the treat and highlight of the film. The intrigue is not muddled but terribly multiple which must seem confusing to any less intelligent audience. Besides Montalban, the other dashing figure is Gilbert Roland, the most superior of all in the intrigue, and every scene with him is highly enjoyable, especially when fighting with exquisite elegance. There is also a great scene at the great inn of the garden of pleasure, where one of several additional intrigues takes place, ending as usual with a great fight, one of many in this cramped but very fluent swashbuckling rogue adventure, where there is no action taking place without immediately being interrupted and followed by another. This film will keep you delightfully busy.

Unlike decole's comment I was fascinated by this movie. The highlights of the movie is the dance of Ricardo with Cyd CH. I find this dance to be the MOST SENSUAL dance I have ever seen on the screen, and this is even more impressing and exciting then ANTHONY DEXTER's dance " LA COMPERSITA" in VALENTINO. RICARDO MONTALBAN does use several ( not enough as far as I am concerned) opportunities to showoff his AMAZING awesome sexy body , but when he dances with Cyd the sensual dance, after being " seduced" by her, he is well dressed as a distinguished Spanish Gentelman. THe posters and L.Cs of the movie showed RICARDO fighting, and dancing , shirtless in some very irritating poses but actually these scenes are rare and therefor I was some disappointed, because my expectations were higher. BUt, remembering that it was filmed in the beginning of the 50th, even those shirtless pix were a venture. I highly recommend MARK of the RENEGADE, mainly for the dance and for the magnificent appearance of RICARDO MONTALBAN who is an Excellent Latin LOVER ( and hunk ) mosh

Gilbert Roland wants to break California off from Mexico and rule as emperor, so he blackmails branded renegade Ricardo Montalban to make love to Cyd Charisse, kill her fiance, and take off his shirt a lot in this potboiler from Universal.

Miss Charisse gets one big dance number as the high-born senorita, and it would have gotten a Kansas City burlesque house shut down. It's carefully edited, because she nominally dances it with Montalban, so large sections of it have to be reduced to clips of one second, which is all he can manage; in the words of a better remembered movie, she dances around him, and he bows. In the same way, the big sword fight between Roland and Montalban is shot with Roland facing the camera, the sword master's back to the camera, two clashes, and then switch so Montalban is facing the camera and the sword master.

All of which emphasizes the -- ahem! -- economical manner in which Hugo Fregonese shot this feature. It's pure pulp from a Johnston McCulley story, and amusing enough, and Charles Boyle's Technicolor camerawork is pleasant.

The Universal international Pictures is kind of affiliate of Universal Studios mostly focused in B-pictures in low budges, this swashbuckler project "The Mark of Renegade" driven to Latin audience about the wealthy and coveted territory over an alleged powerful Spanish landowner who intents becomes a Imperator of the newly annexed California under the independent Mexico, then the producers allowed several actors/actress of Mexican and Spanish background as Ricardo Montalban, Cyd Charisse, Gilbert Roland among others.

The story took place on California in 19th century shortly afterwards Mexico got its independence from Spain and all landlords from California agreed to be added the independent Mexico, suddenly appears from pirate galleon landind covertly on shore the renegade Marcos Zappa (Ricardo Montalban) a branded traitor from Mexican's cause, he has to meet with a powerful landowner Don Pedro Garcia (Gilbert Roland) that works on the shadows to put in dire straits the California's farmers leader Don José de Vazquez (Antonio Moreno) in a possible marriage of his daughter Manuella (Cyd Charisse) with the Latin lover renegade the now entitled Don Marcos Zappa aiming for discredit Don José as headship, tarnish and also overthrow, thus a shortcut to settle a chaos perpetrated at his behest lead by the pirate Capt. Bardoso (George Tobias) to later he appears as savior and new ruler hereinafter, however Marcos Zappa got an ace at his sleeve.

Strong humor oriented as the illiterate Captain Bardoso often kick out of all places, also the "Butler" Luis (J. Carrol Naish) always putting Zappa in jeopardy due Don Pedro's orderings, letting the good gourmet Zappa grumpy and without appetite, in the early sequence Montalban eaten around dozen type of foods stacking dishes in contrived but funny scene, the gorgeous Cyd Charisse is a chapter apart due her unbeaten beauty, also in sexy flamenco dancing displaying her beautiful legs, Ricardo Montalban a Latin sex symbol in flamboyant Spanish outifts, usually exposing bare chest for the female audience, a cheap picture with fine screenplay, fine sword duel directed by the Argentinian Hugo Fregonese.

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First watch: 1978 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7.