Bandit Queen (1950)

Barbara Britton is Zara Montalvo, who returns home to California just in time to see her parents murdered by a group of five ruthless white men.

She flees to a nearby mission where Father Antonio shares the sad truth: Native Californians are being forced off their land by high taxes passed by whites who want that land for their own.

Zara vows vengeance against those who killed her parents and promises to seek justice for other native Californians like herself.

But when she visits the sheriff’s office, she recognizes lawman Jim Harden as one of the men who killed her parents.

So she adopts a new name — Lola Belmont — to protect herself, learns to use the whip that was left beside her parents’ dead bodies and rides by night with other wronged Mexicans as the avenger Zara.

She even leaves a piece of paper with her name on it so everyone will know who was responsible for her attacks.

Zara considers romancing rich and powerful Dan Hinsdale (Willard Parker), hoping he’ll use his influence to help her people find justice.

Then she realizes he’s the man who wound up with her parents’ property and is the mastermind behind all the thievery.

She does get help from an handsome man named Carlos Del Rio (Phillip Reed) who stops by the mission. He isn’t who he pretends to be either.

Review:

Yep. it’s the familiar Zorro story with a female donning the black mask and hat this time and using a whip (sparingly) instead of a sword.

The premise is the same: She robs from the thieving whites and returns stolen gold back to its rightful owners.

And in the process, she becomes loved by the native Californians, to whom she becomes The Angel of the Sierras.

Highlights include a cleverly orchestrated jailbreak; a padre who can’t quite condone, but isn’t too unhappy about Zara’s deeds; and, for comic relief, a dwarf who keeps stealing food prepared for the priest.

Directed by:
William Berke

Cast:
Barbara Britton … Zara Montalvo, aka Lola Belmont
Willard Parker … Dan Hinsdale
Philip Reed … Joaquin Murietta aka Carlos Del Rio
Barton MacLane … Jim Harden
Martin Garralaga … Father Antonio
Victor Kilian … Jose Montalvo
Thurston Hall … Governor
Angelo Rossitto … Nino
Anna Demetrio … Maria
Paul Marion … Manuel
Mikel Conrad … Capt. Gray
Margia Dean … Carol Grayson
John Merton … Hank

Runtime: 70 min.

Memorable lines:

Zara Montalvo, after seeing her parents killed: “But isn’t there any law or justice?”
Father Antonio: “Only the law of greed and guns.”

Dan Hinsdale, upon learning where Lola is staying: “An American girl at a Spanish mission? That hardly seems appopriate.”
Lola Belmont (aka Zara Montalvo): “Well, I’d hardly find a room over the saloon appropriate.”

Father Antonio to Lola: “Vengeance is a bitter thing, my child. It can destroy the avenger as well.”

Joaquin Murietta: “The natives call her Angel of the Sierras. It’s too bad she is so ugly.”
Lola Belmont: “I hadn’t heard.”
Joaquin: “Oh, yes. They say that is why she became a bandit. So she could wear a mask.”

Zara Montalvo, as Lola Belmont, getting her wish and meeting an outlaw: “Well, if he is a bandit, he’s very disappointing. He looks no more like a thief than you do, Mr. Harden.”