Rotten Tomatoes

Movies / TV

    Celebrity

      No Results Found

       View All       Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

      Raiders of Old California

      Released Nov 1, 1957 1h 12m Western List
      Reviews After a long battle with Gen. Miguel Sebastian of Mexico, Capt. McKane (Jim Davis) and his troops successfully take over a small town in Southern California. Despite the Mexican settlers' claim that the land is rightfully theirs, McKane, Sgt. Pardee (Lee Van Cleef) and a gang of mercenaries drive them from their homes. When U.S. Judge Ward Young (Louis Jean Heydt) and his lawman son, Faron (Faron Young), come to town, they're shocked by McKane's ruthless leadership and vow to set things right. Read More Read Less Watch on Prime Video Stream Now

      Where to Watch

      Raiders of Old California

      Prime Video

      Watch Raiders of Old California with a subscription on Prime Video.

      Audience Reviews

      View All (0) audience reviews
      Audience Member Set in California in the mid-1850s, a Mexican homesteader Captain Miguel Sebastian decides to stop suffering in silence after an American military man takes his land and claims it as his own. This fight between good and evil is as exciting as B-westerns get, with impressive gunfights and horseback chases as well as the interesting perspective of the good guys being the Mexicans and the bad guys being American. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member I downloaded it from Internet Archive just to see Country stars in movies with young Lee Van Cleef. I didn't expect much from a low budget western, but I was surprised. Story was good and I wasn't bored. The weapons, though, were a major anachronism error, and it would've been good if Young or Robbins held the guitar a little. If you look for a good B-western and want to spend an hour, I recommend this film. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member This is a bad, historically inaccurate Western. It begins with the name, "Raiders of Old California". It begins with a U.S. Cavalry attack on a Mexican outpost. The Mexican uniforms were right and the Mexicans were using the muskets from the Mexican War era, but the Americans were dressed in uniforms from the Indian Wars of the 1870's and were using Sharps rifles from the Civil War era. They also had Colt revolvers from the 1870's. The only ones using revolvers in the Mexican War were the Texas Rangers and they had Colt Walker cap and ball pistols. During the Mexican War the American horse soldiers were the U.S. Dragoons and they used a primitive breach loading carbine with a percussion cap lock. During the Mexican War the Mexican towns were on the Pacific coast in California and were captured by the U.S Marines and Sailors with the help of the American settlers of California. Later in the movie we find out this outpost is between the Pecos and Rio Grande rivers. That's not in California; it's in West Texas and New Mexico. The plot of the movie is that the evil American soldiers were trying to Mexican's land that had been granted 150 years before by the King of Spain. The fictional Spanish land grant covered half the state of New Mexico. In the real war all the Mexican in that area lived in Santa Fe or El Paso. The Mexican governor of New Mexico surrendered Santa Fe without a fight after being bribed by an American agent. The rest of area was inhabited by Indians. In the movie the U.S. Marshal has to cross Comanche territory to get to Mexico. The Comanche's territory was in West Texas and the Texas Panhandle, not California. The Comanche Indians in the movie weren't even dressed right. Lee Van Cleef and Jim Davis played the evil ex-solders in the movie trying to lay claim to Mexican's land. Somehow they had Winchester rifles that weren't even invented until after the Civil War. This is almost a liberal propaganda film that twisted history to show that the evil American Army stole northern Mexico and that a U.S. Judge and U.S. Marshal gave the land back to the Mexican inhabitants. The truth was that this land was claimed by the Republic of Texas before Texas became a state. The Spanish settlers in New Mexico weren't that loyal to Spain or Mexico and had rebelled several times. At one point the Pueblo Indians who had been enslaved by the Spaniards forced the Spanish out and had to be re-conquered. Most of the inhabitants were Navajo and Apache Indians who hated the Mexicans. Before the war the U.S. was a third rate power and most Europeans thought that the Mexicans would win the war. California was on the verge of declaring independence from Mexico and could have allied with England or Russia. The national security of the United States required that the U.S. take control of New Mexico and California. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

      Cast & Crew

      Show Less Cast & Crew Show More Cast & Crew

      Photos

      View All Raiders of Old California photos

      Raiders of Old California

      Raiders of Old California (1957) View more photos

      Movie Info

      Synopsis After a long battle with Gen. Miguel Sebastian of Mexico, Capt. McKane (Jim Davis) and his troops successfully take over a small town in Southern California. Despite the Mexican settlers' claim that the land is rightfully theirs, McKane, Sgt. Pardee (Lee Van Cleef) and a gang of mercenaries drive them from their homes. When U.S. Judge Ward Young (Louis Jean Heydt) and his lawman son, Faron (Faron Young), come to town, they're shocked by McKane's ruthless leadership and vow to set things right.
      Director
      Albert C. Gannaway
      Screenwriter
      Samuel Roeca, Tom Hubbard
      Distributor
      Republic Pictures
      Production Co
      Albert C. Gannaway Productions
      Genre
      Western
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Nov 1, 1957, Original
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Sep 1, 2016
      Runtime
      1h 12m
      Most Popular at Home Now