The Bold Caballero

NOTE: YOU WILL PROBABLY PREFER TO DOWNLOAD THE COLOR PRINT OF THIS FILM, AT: http://www.archive.org/details/The_Bold_Caballero The first Zorro picture shot with sound, the first shot in color (the two-strip MagnaColor process, although this print of the film is only in black and white, alas), one of the only ones not to feature "Zorro" in the title, and the first to be produced by Republic Pictures. Written and directed by Wells Root, author of one of the first "how to" screenwriting books, Republic spent more money on this production than they typically did, seeing it as a showcase for MagnaColor. As any student of film history will tell you, TechniColor won out with its superior three-strip process. Color negatives of The Bold Caballero have been lost to time and neglect and, for a time, it was thought to be a lost film all together. Unfortunately, despite some fairly clever writing (as it opens, Zorro has already been captured, e.g.), the movie turns out to be not terribly exciting. It has moments, and the rest of it is just okay. IMDb entry