Average adventure Chorizo western with thrills , action, riding pursuits and crossfire . A Spanish pulp adventure series from the 1940s and 1950s, unabashedly inspired by "Zorro by Johnson MacCulley" , it is the basis for this campy film with a black-masked hero called "El Coyote." The year is 1848 and the United States has just annexed the region of California . This moving Coyote Western contains emotion , gun-play , shimmer locations and being proceeded in American style more than Spaghetti Western . The leading man here is Abel Salazar/El Coyote ; in order to end the abuse of the Yankee authorities on the local population, don César de Echagüe Sr (Rafael Bardem) calls his son, the somewhat ridiculous , and embarrassing César de Echagüe junior (Abel Salazar) , to go back from Spain, where he was studying . Cesar Echague Sr . criticizes his son for being a wimp without knowing that he is secretly the dashing , daring , hot-blooded "El Coyote" . As El Coyote takes up arms a bit later in the century, against ruthless Americans and the nasty Capitán Poch (Santiago Rivero) . Along the way El Coyote falls in love for the beautiful damsel in distress (Gloria Marin) . California joined the United States in 1850 , and the plot's main villain is an American general who plans to steal haciendas from their rightful Hispanic owners , which include El Coyote's family. The film's charm is its attempt to re-create the style of the popular El Coyote pulp series, with grand pronouncements about pure good and pure evil .
This is an adventure western postboiler with intrigue , double-identity , noisy action, go riding , chases and shootouts . This Iberian western contains a story full of vengeance , adequate but slow dramatic pace and slick direction . This is an early Tortilla western , before Leone's style , it is an ordinary example of Californian western style , though it is partly Spanish and partly Mexican . The first Spanish westerns of this era were far more likely to try and emulate their American source material than cultivate a distinctive style of their own the way the Italians as well as Spaniards were doing but their product, if you like traditional westerns remains watchable . Interesting screenplay and story by Jose Mallorqui , a notorious writer who wrote the successful ¨El Coyote¨ series . It results to be a trilling as well as action/vengeance Western with lots of shots , fights and duels . The film does not have flashy sword fights like the current "Zorro" movie , but it shows that there is more than one way to tell a good adventure yarn. Being first cinematic appearance of this fictitious , sucessful character written by Jose Mallorqui , whose novels were a big hit in Spain and Latinoamerica . But this mediocre tale particularly fails to ignite enough entertainment and excitement in the part of the spectator . As it is utterly predictable in every aspect as well as the action , and the story nothing special . Abel Salazar as El Coyote gives a passable acting as a an affected and gay dandy , he will immediately provoke the laughter of the rude locals , although appearances are deceiving , and while being well accompanied by a frankly fine support cast . The endearing Spanish/Mexican cast includes the following ones : Rafael Bardem as the big hacienda owner Don César de Echagüe sénior , Manuel Monroy , Santiago Rivero , Carlos Otero , Xan das Bolas , José María Prada , Jose Riesgo , José Calvo , José Marco Davo , Angel Alvarez , Rufino Ingles , Antonio Molino Rojo , Fernando Delgado and many others . It packs an atmospheric and shading cinematography in black and white , plenty of light and dark by Ricardo Torres . And a stirring as well as evocative musical score Odón Alonso . The motion picture written by prolific Jesús Franco , alias Jess Frank , was professional but regularly director by veteran and prestigious filmmaker Joaquin Romero Marchent , getting a limited at the Spanish boxoffice and moderate in Lationoamerica , however it had a second part : La justicia del Coyote (1956) with similar artistic and technician team.
Based on a novel by popular writer Jose Mallorqui, whose novels have been cinematically adapted several times, such as : El Coyote 1954 by Joaquin Romero Marchent with Abel Salazar, Gloria Marin, Manuel Monroy, followed by a sequel La Justicia del Coyote 1954 by Marchent himself and same actors . And The sign of the Coyote 1963 also titled El Vengador de California by Mario Caiano with Fernando Casanova, Mario Feliciani, Maria Luz Galicia and Fernando Sancho. And La vuelta del Coyote (1998) by Mario Camus with José Coronado , Nigel Davenport, Alberto Mendoza, Manuel Alexandre, Ramon Langa, Ray Lovelock, Chiara Caselli , Isabel Serrano, Manuel Zarzo, Txema Blasco . Jose Mallorqui also wrote scripts for Spaghetti or Chorizo Westerns , such as : Brandy by Jose Luis Borau , 3 hombres buenos by Joaquin Marchent , 4 balazos by Agustin Navarro , El sheriff terrible by Antonio Momplet , Winchester uno entre mil by Primo Zeglio and Heroes del oeste by Steno. And in similar style the Spanish heartthrob with international renown : Antonio Banderas, currently starring in "The Mask of Zorro¨, both films are set in 19th-century California, but while Zorro fights Spanish oppression, Coyote faces off the Americans .
