| Robin Hood of El Dorado | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | William A. Wellman |
| Written by | Walter Noble Burns |
| Screenplay by | William A. Wellman Joseph Calleia Melvin Levy |
| Based on | The Robin Hood of El Dorado: The Saga of Joaquin Murrieta, Famous Outlaw of California's Age of Gold (1932), byWalter Noble Burns |
| Produced by | John W. Considine Jr. |
| Starring | Warner Baxter Ann Loring Bruce Cabot |
| Cinematography | Chester A. Lyons |
| Edited by | Robert Kern |
| Music by | Herbert Stothart |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
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Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Robin Hood of El Dorado is a 1936 AmericanWestern film directed byWilliam A. Wellman forMGM. It starsWarner Baxter as real-life Mexican folk hero,Joaquin Murrieta, and Ann Loring as his love interest, withBruce Cabot as Bill Warren andJ. Carrol Naish as Murrietta's notorious partner, Three-Fingered Jack. The film is based on the life of Murrietta as theRobin Hood of Old California in 1850, a kind, gentle man who is driven to violence.
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In 1848 in California, Mexican farmer Joaquin Murietta has become a criminal to avenge the rape and murder of his wife, Rosita, and lynching of his brother, Jose, at the hands of the Americans.
The screenplay was written by the actorJoseph Calleia, Melvin Levy andWilliam A. Wellman, with assistance byRobert Carson. In 1937, Wellman and Carson won anAcademy Award for Best Screenplay forA Star Is Born.The Robin Hood of El Dorado was based on the biography ofJoaquin Murrieta byWalter Noble Burns and was MGM's attempt to followViva Villa!.[citation needed]
Film historianFrank T. Thompson writes that "Wellman made a stronger statement on the subject of racism than a whole spate of later films (likeGentleman's Agreement)."[1]
The Robin Hood of El Dorado also anticipates the revisionist westerns of the 1960s, especiallyThe Wild Bunch (1969), directed bySam Peckinpah. Both films mix violence and sentimentality with an undercurrent of regret for a vanishing way of life. The Mexican folk song "La golondrina" is used to similar effect.[citation needed]
Art directorDavid Townsend was killed in a car accident while scouting locations for the film.[2]
