The Cisco Kid (TV series)
| The Cisco Kid | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Western |
| Written by |
O. Henry J. Benton Cheney Barry Cohon |
| Directed by | Paul Landres Lambert Hillyer |
| Starring |
Duncan Renaldo Leo Carrillo |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 156 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) |
Frederick Ziv Philip N. Krasne |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Ziv Television Programs |
| Distributor |
MGM Television Peter Rodgers Organization |
| Release | |
| Original network | first-run syndication |
| Picture format | Color |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | September 5, 1950 – March 22, 1956 |
The 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 , 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 central character was created by the American short story author O. Henry in "The Caballero's Way", published in 1907 in the collection Heart of the West. Radio, television, and films have depicted the Cisco Kid as a heroic Mexican , but in the original story, the Kid is non-Hispanic and a real, unusually vicious outlaw. The character was adapted as the radio drama The Cisco Kid in 1942–1955.Jackson Beck played the title role 1942–1945, and Jack Mather from 1946–1955.
The TV series began production in 1949, and was filmed by ZIV Productions at the Ray Corrigan Ranch in Simi Valley in Ventura County, California. Renaldo, a native of Romania, and Carrillo, a native of Los Angeles, were the first regular Hispanic television stars. (Desi Arnaz, Sr, of Cuban descent, went on the air with his wife and co-star, Lucille Ball, in I Love Lucy a year later.) When the series began, Carrillo was already 70 years of age; Renaldo, 46. Part of the humor of the series is reflected in Carrillo's mangling of the English language. Pancho's catch-phrase, when amused by Renaldo, was a drawn-out "Ohhh, Ceesco!" Viewers also became acquainted with the characters' horses, Cisco's Diablo and Pancho's Loco.
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