It's Sam Katzman as producer, and that's all you need to know, the leading producer of B movies both at Monogram and Columbia, focusing on action adventures like this later on at Columbia, looking higher budgeted with color photography and fast moving yet simple. He has an A pair of leads with handsomely rugged Cornel Wilde and Oscar winning Teresa Wright, playing a well to do Spanish settler in the Mexican territory of old California and the rough and tough gunslinging daughter of a lawman. After her father is killed by the bandit gang of Alfonso Bedoya, Wright vows revenge, teams with Wilde and infiltrates Bedoya's gang, only to find out that he's involved with imperialistic Russia in an effort to grab California territory before film makers from New York can claim it as the movie capital of the world.

I enjoyed this for the fun elements, recognizing that it was just a colorful adventure programmer, one of dozens made during this time to take advantage of the good weather and show off the beautiful greenery of the open spaces not yet built up. Wilde is charming and Wright feisty, definitely based on other rough and tough female legends of the old west like Calamity Jane, Annie Oakley and Belle Starr. John Dehner and Eugene Iglesias costar as Bedoya's co-conspirators, fooling themselves into believing that by betraying their own people, they could rise in power without worry of being betrayed by the Czar's leaders in the new world. There are situations here that I found hard to believe, but those are minor complaints. It serves its purpose in giving a slight historically true story and entertain, with the colorful camera work a standout.

Cornel Wilde follows in the footsteps of Zorro in this quickie from the team of producer Sam Katzman and director Lew Landers set long ago when Los Angeles was just a collection of shacks but the Russkies were already the menace.

Villainy is supplied by those usual suspects Alfonso Bedoya and John Dehner, while the biggest (and most pleasant) surprise is a unique appearance in Technicolor by the usually demure Theresa Wright as a feisty young filly who strides about in boots and britches and is handy with a gun. She should given Wilde a swift clip about the ear for calling them "those horrible pants" and the film subscribes to the usual nonsense that she's only capable of turning heads when she changes into a nice frilly dress.

California Conquest was a film of its times at the height of the Cold War and the McCarthy period when some in Hollywood felt it was their duty to show the Russians for the grasping imperialists they were even before Karl Marx drew breath. Cornel Wilde plays a California Don already looking forward to statehood with USA and Teresa Wright is the daughter of an American settler in California who has a dry goods business.

I'm of the opinion that a lot of Hollywood players to make themselves blacklist proof did films like California Conquest. Wilde himself was a person of no political leanings that I've discovered took a film like this so that no one would question his patriotism in those times.

As history records the last Russian settlement in California closed up shop in 1841 that being Fort Ross which was mentioned here. It is here though that Ivan Lebedeff and Lisa Ferraday are the Czar's agents weaving a plot to bring all of California into the Russian fold. As their agents they have Alfonso Bedoya bandit leader in the Gold Hat tradition and the ambitious John Dehner who is setting himself as a Quisling.

No mention here of the Mexican War to come or of that phrase that had a lot of currency back in those days about American 'Manifest Destiny' to spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific and if you don't agree too bad.

Don't get me wrong there were some good anti-Communist films of the time. California Conquest just isn't one of them.