Based on a true story, this is the tale of a Mexican immigrant turned bandit as a result of his wife's murder at the hands of some bigoted miners. Hunter plays the man in question, with Lezana as his wife. They immigrate to California in 1849 in hopes of cashing in on the Gold Rush.
Their only friend is an army captain, Kennedy. After suffering taunts and racial slurs from a group of miners, Lezana is beaten, raped, and murdered by three men. Hunter swears revenge and rounds up a group to help him. Along the way he finds success as a professional gambler and begins raiding
mining camps in search of the murderers. In the end, Kennedy is forced to kill his friend when the raids get too out of hand. This could have been an interesting film about racial tension and its results, but instead is reduced to violent and surprisingly dull melodrama. The script is too talky,
and there isn't much character development. An earlier version of the story, ROBIN HOOD OF EL DORADO, was much better, while a later made-for-television version featuring Ricardo Montalbon (made in 1970) equals the quality of this film.
