California Conquest is a 1952 American Western film directed by Lew Landers and starring Cornel Wilde and Teresa Wright.[1] The film is set in the early 1840s, and deals with a conspiracy by native Hidalgo Californios to deliver the then-Mexican territory of California to the Russian Empire.
| California Conquest | |
|---|---|
 Original film poster | |
| Directed by | Lew Landers |
| Written by | Robert E. Kent |
| Produced by | Sam Katzman |
| Starring | Cornel Wilde Teresa Wright |
| Cinematography | Ellis W. Carter |
| Edited by | Richard Fantl |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | Sam Katzman Productions |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 79 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Plot
editDon Arturo Bordega (Cornel Wilde) is part of the old Spanish nobility, and a vocal advocate for California'a annexation by the United States. On his way to a secret meeting in support of that goal, he is attacked by bandits led by José Martínez (Alfonso Bedoya), but narrowly escapes. The planned "guest of honor" at the secret meeting to which Bordega is en route is none other than then-U.S. Army Captain John Charles Fremont. Martinez's bandits attempt to assassinate Fremont while he is traveling to the same meeting, but succeed only in lightly wounding him. At the meeting, he reveals that the US has no plans to annex California.
It is subsequently revealed that the Brios brothers, Ernesto (Eugene Iglesias) and Fredo (John Dehner), have paid Martinez to violently oppose the movement advocating American annexation of California, as part of their plot to deliver California to the imperial domain of the Russian Czar (in exchange for a promise to appoint first Ernesto, and later Fredo, as the Russian colonial governor).
Martinez's men violently seize a quantity of rifles from gunsmith Sam Lawrence (Hank Patterson), in order to arm a force in support of the Russian conquest of California. This invokes the wrath of his beautiful daughter, Julia (Teresa Wright), who winds up joining Arturo Bordega in his mission to infiltrate Martinez's bandit group, in order to foil their part in the scheme. During a period in which they learn the nature of the Brios' plot, Martinez is killed by Julia Lawrence and Ernesto Brios is slain by Bordega in a duel. Arturo Bordega and Julia Lawrence then travel to Fort Ross, where they are able to capture Fredo Brios and also a (fictional) Russian princess, Helena de Gagarine, and a high-ranking Russian army officer, and succeed in thwarting the conspiracy. During the course of their travels together, Bordega and Lawrence fall in love, and the film concludes with their stated intent to marry and "have 14 children".
Cast
edit- Cornel Wilde as Don Arturo Bordega
- Teresa Wright as Julie Lawrence
- Alfonso Bedoya as José Martínez
- Lisa Ferraday as Helena de Gagarine
- Eugene Iglesias as Ernesto Brios
- John Dehner as Fredo Brios
- Ivan Lebedeff as Alexander Rotcheff
- Tito Renaldo as Don Bernardo Mirana
- Renzo Cesana as Fr. Lindos
- Baynes Barron as Igna'cio
- Rico Alaniz as Pedro
- William Wilkerson as Fernando (as William P. Wilkerson)
- Edward Colmans as Juan Junipero
- Alex Montoya as Juan
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ The New York Times, "California Conquest at Palace" (June 7th, 1952 - retrieved on October 31st, 2011).