
Duncan Renaldo
Actor · 1904 – 1980 · Oancea, Galați, Romania
To most audiences, Duncan Renaldo will always be identified as film and TV's "The Cisco Kid." However, this role occurred late in his career, which consisted of much more than just this western character. Not much is known about Renaldo's early life. In fact, his date and place of birth is still questioned. The usual given birth date is April 23, 1904. His birthplace has been generally stated as Spain--he has said that his first memories as a child were in Spain--although Romania and even New Jersey have been mentioned as well. An orphan, he never knew his actual parents and was never able to ascertain the exact date and place of his birth. He was raised and educated in various European countries and arrived in the US in the early 1920s as a stoker on a Brazilian coal ship. Entering the country on a 90-day seaman's permit, he stayed when his ship caught fire at the dock and burned to the waterline. A paltry existence as a portrait painter forced him to seek other work, and he somehow found his way into films as a producer of short features, which in turn led to on-camera work as an actor with MGM in 1928. The studio capitalized on his dashing Hispanic looks and initially typed him as a "Latin lover", but it didn't last long. In the early 1930s his career was interrupted when he was arrested and faced deportation due to his illegal immigrant status. The actor was eventually pardoned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt--his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, had bought one of Renaldo's paintings, looked into his case and persuaded her husband to pardon him. He returned to minor films for both Republic and Monogram, alternating as heroic sidekick and villain. He co-starred as one of the Three Mesquiteers in the revamped film series, and showed up regularly in 1930s and 1940s cliffhangers, including The Painted Stallion (1937), Jungle Menace (1937), Zorro Rides Again (1937), King of the Mounties (1942), Secret Service in Darkest Africa (1943) The Tiger Woman (1944). In 1945 he began the Cisco Kid film series and transferred the character successfully to TV in the early 1950s, with Leo Carrillo as faithful sidekick Pancho. Renaldo made the character clean-shaven and more of a do-gooder than the roguish bandit who actually was in the books. Renaldo retired soon after the series' demise and died years later at Goleta Valley Community Hospital in California of lung cancer in 1980.
Movies24
Movie6.5WarRomanceSpain in the 1930s is the place to be for a man of action like Robert Jordan. There is a civil war going on and Jordan—who has joined up on the side that appeals most to idealists of that era—has been given a high-risk assignment up in the mountains. He awaits the right time to blow up a crucial bridge in order to halt the enemy's progress.
For Whom the Bell Tolls
1943 · 216 votes
Movie7.2DocumentaryHistoryA documentary about the glorious history of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and its decline leading to the sale of its back lot and props. By extension this provides a general history of Hollywood's Golden Age and the legendary studio system.
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
1972 · 4 votes
Movie6.0ActionRomanceTwo Alaskan salmon fisherman find their friendship at risk when one aligns with Russian fish pirates and the other aligns with local vigilantes.
Spawn of the North
1938 · 14 votes
Movie5.4ActionAdventureWhile on safari in an unexplored area of Africa, Trader Horn and Peru find missionary Edith Trent killed by natives. They decide to carry on her quest for her lost daughter Nina. They find her as the queen of a particularly savage tribe, and try to bring her back to civilization.
Trader Horn
1931 · 24 votes
Movie6.2DramaActionConstruction workers in World War II in the Pacific are needed to build military sites, but the work is dangerous and they doubt the ability of the Navy to protect them. After a series of attacks by the Japanese, something new is tried, Construction Battalions (CBs=Seabees). The new CBs have to both build and be ready to fight.
The Fighting Seabees
1944 · 60 votes
Movie7.3WesternHomesteaders are moving into the valley settled many years ago by rancher Craig Dolan. He wants to keep them out by legal means but his nephew Bart brings in outlaws to drive them out. The Lone Ranger is on hand to help the homesteaders battle Bart's men as he overcomes traps, ambushes, burning buildings and other obstacles in his attempt to bring peace to the valley.
The Lone Ranger Rides Again
1939 · 3 votes
Movie6.2DramaWesternA badly injured fugitive explains to a priest how he came to be in his present predicament.
The Capture
1950 · 18 votes
Movie5.7WarDramaAmbassador Joseph Davies is sent by FDR to Russia to learn about the Soviet system and returns to the US as an advocate of socialism.
Mission to Moscow
1943 · 21 votes
Movie7.5ActionAdventureThe California-Yucatan Railroad, being built for the good of Mexico, is under siege by a gang of terrorists hoping to force its sale; no one can prove their connection to profiteer Marsden. Manuel Vega, aged co-owner, calls in the aid of his nephew James, great-grandson of the original Zorro. Alas, James seems more adept at golf than derring-do; but after he arrives, Zorro rides again! Can one black-clad man on horseback defeat a gang supplied with airplanes and machine guns?
Zorro Rides Again
1937 · 2 votes
Movie5.3WesternRoy Rogers is a cowboy who joins the Border Patrol, only to have his buddy Tommy get killed at a local saloon. Determined to get revenge at any cost, Roy and Rusty cross the border in search of Arizona Jack, the man responsible for Tommy's death.
Rough Riders' Round-up
1939 · 4 votes
Movie4.8MysteryComedyAn escaped lunatic, a mysterious swami, and various lovers all have designs on a famous opera singer.
Moonlight Murder
1936 · 6 votes
Movie6.0WesternA federal agent and his partner hang out in Mexico to check a revolution.
South of the Border
1939 · 2 votes
Movie8.0WesternAdventureKing of the Candian riding police is up against Japs and Nazis who are about to invade Canada. They just want to clear the way with a new futuristic plane called "The Falcon" first, but that's not gonna happen if Kig has his way.
King of the Mounties
1942 · 1 votes
Movie6.0WesternHorse breeders Adams and Brock are vying for the Army contract. When Adams is killed trying to ride his horse Trigger, Roy saves the horse from being shot. He trains him and then plans to ride him in the race to win the contract.
Hands Across the Border
1944 · 6 votes
Movie6.2WesternThe Younger brothers return to Missouri after the Civil War with intent to avenge the misdeeds of William Merrick, a crooked banker who has been buying up warrants on back-taxes and dispossessing the farmers.
Bad Men of Missouri
1941 · 6 votes
Movie6.0WesternHoppy, Johnny and California go to Arabia to buy some horses. There they get involved with a sheik and a harem and a kidnapping plot.
Outlaws of the Desert
1941 · 2 votes
Movie6.8ComedyMusicBandleader Kay Kyser takes his troupe of nutty musicians, goofball comics and pretty girl singers on a tour around the world to entertain the troops during World War II.
Around the World
1943 · 4 votes
Movie9.0WesternA fast-paced, enjoyable entry in the long-running Three Mesqueteers Western series, Heroes of the Saddle featured the three cowboy pals promising to look after Peggy Bell, the little daughter of mortally wounded rodeo champ Montana. Legal technicalities, however, halt the adoption proceeding and Stony, Rusty, and Rico can only watch as the little girl is placed in the county orphanage.
Heroes of the Saddle
1940 · 1 votes
Movie7.0RomanceAdventureThe story, based on a novel by Johnston (Zorro) McCulley, concerns a group of aristocratic vigilantes, who go about trying to restore their prominence in Mexico by killing anyone who stands in their way.
Rose of the Rio Grande
1938 · 1 votes
Movie7.0ActionWesternTom King Jr. seeks to discover who murdered his father, a Texas Ranger; the trail leads to a network of Axis spies.
King of the Texas Rangers
1941 · 2 votes
Movie8.0DramaThis first cinematic version of the classic book is a part-talkie, although the only surviving print is silent (housed in the George Eastman House, Rochester, NY). It is a straight-forward telling of the intermingled lives of a group of strangers doomed to die in a collapsing bridge accident. The Art Direction, paltry and unremarkable, surprisingly won an Oscar over the far more remarkable work nominated in THE IRON MASK. The special effect scene of the lovers plummeting with the bridge into the chasm is unforgettable and remarkably done.
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
1929 · 4 votes
Movie7.0ActionAdventureAn American secret agent travels to Africa to infiltrate a Nazi spy ring.
Secret Service In Darkest Africa
1943 · 3 votes
Movie7.0ActionAdventureMystery and adventure, surrounding a stolen rubber harvest.
Jungle Menace
1937 · 2 votes
Movie5.7DramaActionMartin Granville Jr., a star track-and-field athlete, has intentions of going to Claxton College, but changes his mind when he meets Pat Meredith, a co-ed at a rival college, changes his mind team and goes to college there, just as his father Martin Granville Sr., an alum of the school, had wished. But his father has ordered him not to play football. "Dad" Granville, has offered a $100,000 endowment to his old school, not knowing his son has joined the football team, but is going to withdraw it if his son plays in the Big Game against Claxton.
Two Minutes to Play
1936 · 3 votes
Series2
TV6.2WesternThe Cisco Kid is a half-hour American Western television series starring Duncan Renaldo in the title role, The Cisco Kid, and Leo Carrillo as the jovial sidekick, Pancho. Cisco and Pancho were technically desperados, wanted for unspecified crimes, but instead viewed by the poor as Robin Hood figures who assisted the downtrodden when law enforcement officers proved corrupt or unwilling to help. It was also the first television series to be filmed in color, although few viewers saw it in color until the 1960s.
The Cisco Kid
1950 · 11 votes
TV7.7WesternWestern von gestern is a German television series.
Western von gestern
1978 · 3 votes