Despite the desert setting and saloons and the presence of a Mexican bandit, cavalry officers and senoritas, this is really an exotic romantic drama (based on a story by the renowned O. Henry) as opposed to a straight Western. Being an early Talkie, it's obviously creaky – with very dated acting – but retains plenty of interest for the non-casual film-buff even after all these years: for one thing, it basically served as a template for the myriad Westerns that followed involving the exploits of some famous bandit or other (beginning with King Vidor's BILLY THE KID [1930]); besides, the flirtatious character of Dorothy Burgess may well have inspired Linda Darnell's Chihuahua in John Ford's classic MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946) nearly twenty years later!

Warner Baxter was a popular star of the era who has been largely neglected over the years; his Oscar-winning performance here isn't bad, but seems hardly outstanding at this juncture – his talent is more readily evident, in fact, in such later films as 42ND STREET (1933) and John Ford's THE PRISONER OF SHARK ISLAND (1936). The same can be said of Edmund Lowe: if he's at all remembered today, it's for his "Quirt & Flagg" series of war films with Victor McLaglen (three of them helmed by this film's original director, Raoul Walsh),the Bela Lugosi vehicle CHANDU THE MAGICIAN (1932; in the title role),and the noir-ish gangster drama DILLINGER (1945). While his character curiously speaks in modern i.e. 1920s slang, he interacts well with both Baxter and Burgess – especially effective is the scene where he comes face to face with Baxter's Cisco Kid at a barber shop and, ignorant of the latter's identity, lets him slip away.

The film features a couple of songs (one of them, by the famed songwriting trio of DeSylva-Brown-Henderson, is heard several times throughout and even serves as an Overture to the feature proper) and archaic comedy relief by a number of minor characters – notably Burgess' long-suffering elderly maid. There's far more talk than action here, but the twist ending (subsequently much copied) is remarkable – if anything, because it's unexpectedly pitiless for a film of its era! Incidentally, the lead role was to have been played by Raoul Walsh himself but he was injured (eventually losing an eye) in a driving accident; Irving Cummings replaced him behind the cameras (and, oddly enough, alone received the Best Director nomination, despite Walsh's name still appearing in the credits)!

P.S. Baxter, Lowe and director Cummings were re-united shortly after for a sequel – THE CISCO KID (1930); one wonders whether copies of the film still exist as, ideally, it should have been paired with the original on the bare-bones Fox DVD...

It was so enjoyable going way back in time to the Year 1928 and view Warner Baxter,(The Cisco Kid) who played his role the way I would want to see an actor portray The Cisco Kid. Dorothy Burgess, (Tonia Maria) is the girl friend of Cisco Kid and gives a great supporting role as a gold digger who wants plenty of gold, romance and any man who desires her charm. Edmund Lowe, (Sergeant Mickey Dunn) plays a soldier who is hunting down the Cisco Kid and gets himself involved with Tonia Maria in order to set up a trap to catch the Cisco Kid. Sgt.Mickey Dunn is from New York and talks and sings about the Bowery and brags about the cost of a beer for only five (5) cents and all the food you can eat. It is nice to know that Warner Baxter won an Oscar for his performance as the Cisco Kid, who was also the star of many "Crime Doctor" films as Dr. Ordway. This is a great classic film that you will not want to miss from 1928 and also has sound for the voices. Enjoy

Wow, does this film creak with age--as did most of the award-winning films of the late 1920s (such as Broadway MELODY OF 1926 and COQUETTE)! While it won the Best Actor Oscar for Warner Baxter, today it seems very antiquated and his performance seems very broad and, at times, silly. Now I can't blame this all on Baxter, as overacting was still rampant in talking films--and the studios demanded it. The subtleties and realism that would be standard in the 1930s just weren't seen in the early talkies. Baxter play the Cisco Kid was painful at times because the character seemed even less realistic than Charlie Chan!! However, I think most of the problem was the direction, as Baxter was able to credibly play Latinos, as his ROBIN HOOD OF EL DORADO (1936) was an exceptional performance--playing a guy much like the Cisco Kid. And, in THE PRISONER OF SHARK ISLAND, Baxter was spectacular--showing he really was a capable actor.

Another problem with this odd award-winning film is that although it is an adventure film and has many outdoor scenes, most of the film is static and set indoors. There are just too many scenes filmed inside a studio and it shows. In particular, his scenes with his lady love dominate almost the entire second half of the film and really slow down the film to a crawl. It also didn't help that Dorothy Burgess (as 'Tonia Maria') was a terrible actress who way overplayed all her scenes--far more than Baxter did in the film.

There are a few things of interest in the film. Being a Pre-Code film, there is some cursing in the film that might surprise viewers. In addition, the way the film ends is really cool---and something they probably wouldn't have allowed in the post-Code world. The Kid just doesn't act as heroic as a post-1934 hero did!! See for yourself to find out what I mean.

So, if you want to see a better Cisco Kid film, see one of the later ones. I cannot find a copy of the 1931 CISCO KID (also starring Baxter) but have seen and enjoyed the Cesar Romero versions of the Cisco Kid and know that the films can be great fun. IN OLD ARIZONA, unfortunately, isn't all that much fun--it's more just a curio for film historians. Interesting but not all that good. It still gets a 7 because for this era, it's a good film--just don't compare it to films made just a year or two later, as the quality and production values improved tremendously in the interim.

By the way, the DVD has absolutely no extras whatsoever! I would have loved a featurette on the series--information on the Romero or Gilbert Roland or Duncan Ronaldo versions of the Cisco Kid.