There are No Small Parts

Any of us who have spent time around the theater have at some point been warned that there are no small parts. What each performer does with the material they are given determines how that part fits with the rest of the play or movie. So often the title character is a pivotal but small role. It's a rare performer who can take the small part and make it so important that the other actors have a way to build around it so the whole is believable.

El Diablo is one of those situations where the title character had to be strong and believable so the rest of the story would hold together. Robert Beltran is El Diablo. Without question from the moment we see him on screen he is the embodiment of the wicked, marauding thief and murderer.

Bank robbing in the tradition of the "Old West" had to have been a pursuit for only the most crazed of outlaws. El Diablo struts into the bank, arrogance in every stride. He stares down the manager, forces the man to take up his pistol and waits for the man to attempt to pull the trigger. Impatient to get on with the robbery El Diablo shoots the man, all the while grinning. We see his irritation through his facial expressions but also in the tension of his body and a restrained sigh just before he fires.

Kidnapping the heroine is so vital to the movement of the movie that it could have easily been the downfall of the production. Here is where we see the aspect of the villain that tells us of his moral depravity. The evil glint in his eye as he takes her right off the street in broad daylight in front of the townsfolk and especially the teacher speaks volumes of his conceit. The wicked grin as he lifts her onto the horse and kicks loose the teacher also communicate El Diablo's vile expectations. Just the glee in his face and voice convince the audience that he is unredeemable.

Five weeks later the hero encounters El Diablo in his fortress. Bantering with the hero and tormenting him with his mastery over the heroine by flaunting her as his lover is acted with brilliance. Gross mishandling of her is replaced with finesse and a gentle touch that informs us of this subtle and persuasive skill but warns of his demands and the consequences can be imagined.

In the excitement of the battle we see him taking the girl with him as he rushes out of the fortress. That she is not attempting to fight him off to get to the teacher shows us that his influence over her is total. She has lost her adoration of the school teacher and been persuaded that El Diablo is her life now. This is especially believable in what we know now as captor identification.

Perhaps the most remarkable sequence in this film is the death scene where El Diablo is shot. From just the expression on his face I can imagine what must have gone through the mind of the character. It might have gone something like this:

"What? That's my blood! I've been shot. From behind. Who's back there? I'm going to kill that...You measly little twit! I'll shoot your eyes out. Two shots? I'm hit again. I'm dead..."

It would have been easy to leave the character as a flat excuse for the function of motivator but with all the subtle nuances of the performance it lent an undeniable motivation for the rest of the cast to react believably.

Although this title character has so few scenes his on screen time is very limited we have a solid sense of what the core of El Diablo is. The mental processes of a wicked, selfish outlaw has taken on a perceivable and comprehensible physical manifestation through the acting skills of Robert Beltran. Well done, sir.