Satan's Cradle

Well, unless to be a hard boiled western fan, especially a gem digger for gems made before the fifties, this western is a waste of time. Who remembers the Cisco Kid and Duncan Renaldo? You have to go to old westerns convention in the deep Arkansas or New Mexico ; but I guess there are less and less, because the old actors are nearly - if not all - gone by now. This is a grade Z movie directed by a chain director of this period, a good professional though: Ford Beebe, and it remains agreeable, full of western charm and atmosphere, with the unavoidable and especially endless rides in the middle of the valleys, canyons, mesas, to fill up the fifty minutes of the film. Or a character opening a door also an edless times, precisely for the same reason. B movie industry tricks destined to lure naive audiences.

Cisco and Pancho -- Duncan Renaldo and Leo Carillo -- are headed to Silver City when they run into preacher Byron Foulger. He's just been run out of town. After the founder and mine owner had died, Ann Savage had shown up with a marriage license. She opened a gambling hall and left the running of the other assets to crooked lawyer Douglas Fowley. The license was forged. Miss Savage is more than content with her profits, but Fowley arranges accidents for anyone who gets in his way.

Renaldo had been played the Cisco Kid occasionally since 1945, with Carillo on board since 1948. Within a year, they would be on board for the early, long-running TV series, released in syndication through Ziv -- the TV equivalent of state's right.

Ford Beebe directs this standard, randomly-named B Western, and there's a lot of charm in evidence, from Renaldo's easy smile to Miss Savage's tight-fitting dresses. Jack Greenhaigh's camerawork also adds a lot to the movie, from his short-panning shots of riders in motion to his beautifully composed shots. For once, his skilled camerawork was easily visible, thanks to a clean print. Greenhaigh was another of the many skilled cameramen who worked in the Bs. He is largely forgotten because of that; the best-remembered films he worked on were stinkers like ROBOT MONSTER, but his credits are undeniable: more than 200 features and short, and for years the youngest member of the American Society of Cinematographers. His skills helped make this a pleasurable example of the now-vanished genre.

On the way to Silver City, Cisco and Pancho find Byron Foulger unconscious in the desert without food or water. Seems as though he was run out of town by the powers that be for speaking out against them. As it is he was not allowed to set up a church.

In 1949 America this was considered sacrilegious so this warranted investigation. Silver City was founded by a kind and benevolent sort who died in a mine cave in. After that Ann Savage arrived with her friend Claire Carleton and a bottom feeding shyster lawyer played by Douglas Fowley. They turn the place into a sin driven cesspool.

As you can imagine Duncan Renaldo and Leo Carrillo being the caballeros they are wrongs are righted and justice triumphs in the end. And Savage turns out not to be as evil as originally thought.

Renaldo and Carrillo would soon be taking the Cisco Kid to television. As it is Satan's Cradle plays like an extended version of one of their half hour episodes.

"Satan's Cradle" is a routine entry in the Cisco Kid series starring Duncan Renaldo as Cisco and Leo Carillo as Pancho.

The story has Cisco and Pancho finding Reverand Lane (Byron Foulger) dazed and wandering in the desert. They find out that the Reverand was trying to turn the townsfolk against the gang that has moved in and taken over the town. Saloon girl Lil (Ann Savage) is posing as the widow of a murdered respected townsman. Steve Gentry (Douglas Fowley) is her ally. When Lil begins to fall for Cisco, Gentry makes a move to take over. Needless to say, Cisco and Pancho straighten matters out before they ride off into the sunset.

The best part of the Cisco Kid series is listening to Carillo twist murder the English language. Apparently he also ad-libbed many of these lines.

The feature is teamed up on DVD with "The Daring Cabellero" (1949) and a circa 1975 press conference featuring Renaldo and Col. Tim McCoy discussing their careers.

Cisco and Pancho come to the rescue of a preacher, who was run out of Silver City for protesting the bad influence that has come over the town. According to Preacher Lane, the town was run and owned by an honest man, but after he was killed in a mine cave in, a woman by the name of Lil came into town claiming to be his widow, and acquired all the holdings of Silver City. Lil however is only pretending to be the widow in order to help her accomplice, Gentry, make this a haven for gambling and other forms of ill-repute. Cisco and Pancho take it upon themselves to help clean up Silver City and uncover the wrong doings of Lil and Gentry. Okay Cisco entry, with enjoyable performances from the two leads, with nice fight scenes and stunt work. Savage gives a good performance as Lil, and Carleton as her "conscience" friend. Foulger is good as the preacher, but his character is written out of the movie in the second half. Gentry is decent as the main villain, but like many of the other Renaldo Cisco films, is that he is basically non-descript in his portrayal. The chase in the swampy marsh (where did this come from?) at the end slows down the film considerably, but its an enjoyable hour. Rating, based on B-westerns, 6.