This double-DVD set containing six films marks the first appearance of Monogram's Cisco Kid movies in any high-end video format. Another volume, devoted to the earlier movies in the series -- starring Duncan Renaldo -- has also appeared. The Gilbert Roland Cisco Kid movies have never had much of a reputation among western afficianados, mostly owing to Roland's penchant for overacting and also the period in which they were done -- by the mid-1940's, it was clear that the days for this kind of B-picture production were drawing to a close, and the arrival of television in the second half of the decade sealed their doom; in the meantime, producers were hedging their bets by cutting budgets ever lower, and it began to really show in these pictures. But they were still fun and entertaining in their time, especially outside the big cities. The transfers are good full-screen (1.33-to-1) jobs, from original 35mm sources (which are also a major improvement on the television prints seen in the 1950's) -- the cinematography is nothing great, as these were B-pictures from a decided B-studio, and one gets the feeling that, ideally (if this were, say, 50 years ago or so), the producers would have gone back about one generation deeper into source material on some of the titles here; but at least one can make out everything necessary in the night shots (indeed, maybe too much), and the day shots are no strain on the eyes; and each movie has been given a generous dozen chapters, all well-chosen and labeled. The sound is good and loud, and the only special features included are on disc two, which contains trailers for other westerns from VCI. Each disc opens automatically to an easy-to-use dual-layer menu.
