Il segno di Zorro

Besides being entertaining in itself, "The Mark of Zorro" also provides Douglas Fairbanks with a nice showcase, in a dual role that gives him plenty of good material to work with. While other versions of the Zorro legends are now more familiar to present-day audiences, this one is probably still better than any of the others except for the 1940 version with Tyrone Power.

The 1998 update had big names and a big budget, but it was of much lower quality, glossy and over-played at a number of points, and with too much material of comic-book quality at other times.

Fairbanks works nicely both as Don Diego and as Zorro, and he gets opportunities to display many different talents. He gets to display his swash-buckling yet easy-going persona, and then at other times is able to show a more refined, sometimes vulnerable side. Not only does he make both personalities work, but he melds them together into a believable whole, not so much by means of artifice as by the vigor and sincerity of his screen presence.

The story, likewise, presents an interesting situation that works Fairbanks in well with the other characters. Though they are less interesting in themselves, the secondary characters each play a useful role in the story and in the ideas that it suggests. This old version of the Zorro tale holds up well - at least for those who enjoy silent movies - and it presents a nicely paced and entertaining story.

... there is just something mesmerizing about Douglas Fairbanks at work, the way he moves about. He's just a joy to watch.

Fairbanks plays Zorro, the masked dispenser of justice to Spaniards who abuse the natives in old California. Since the powers that be don't care much for being lectured, shown up in swordplay, or having Z carved into their foreheads, he wears a mask that - realistically - wouldn't fool anybody who knew him anymore than Batman's mask would fool anybody who knew him. Zorro is actually Don Diego Vega, who pretends being the listless fool in order to deflect suspicion that he might be Zorro. His father, though disappointed in Don, insists that he get married to continue the family line. His father thus arranges him to court Christina Pulido, another nobleman's daughter. Since Don doesn't want to marry a woman who loves his money, he talks up his money when he visits her, but also plays the fool. When she is genuinely repulsed, he figures this is a sign she is a quality woman, and he returns as Zorro to woo her.

The romance in this film drags on just a little too long, and it's the only place where the production really shows its age. When it is Zorro and his athletic exploits onstage, laughing in the face of danger, the time flies by. I'd recommend this 100 plus year old film.

This film is apparently Douglas Fairbanks' first swashbuckler and for a first, it is very good--though I still think his later film, THE BLACK PIRATE, is easily the better of the two films. And, because it is a first for Fairbanks AND one of the earliest swashbucklers period, I cut it a little more slack and don't score this film quite as stringently as later ones in the genre.

Douglas plays the somewhat wimpy and effeminate son of a well-respected member of the California gentry during the final days of Spanish rule. I say "somewhat" because in later Zorro films, these aspects are much more apparent--making his persona seem gay and a coward--much like the Scarlet Pimpernel character (who poses as a fop yet fights for justice). As Don Diego Vega, Fairbanks did a decent job. As Zorro, he was wonderful and athletic--and very magnetic.

The direction, writing and acting was just fine. The only problem I found with the film is that the final resolution seemed to happen a little too quickly and easily. I wish it had been drawn out longer and the sword fighting sequences had been a little longer and more complex. Regardless, it STILL is an amazing and watchable film--even in the sound and special effects saturated world of today.

I consider Douglas Fairbanks Sr to be kind of the "Patron Saint" of the modern-day blockbuster spectaculars and I can picture him looking down and smiling every summer when the latest crop of these action epics are released. THE MARK OF ZORRO, THE THREE MUSKETEERS, ROBIN HOOD, THE THIEF OF BAGDAD, THE BLACK PIRATE and THE GAUCHO always strike me as the cinematic forerunners of the feel-good, two-fisted, special-effects-laden works that today's studios unleash for summer and Christmas. With DON Q,SON OF ZORRO and THE IRON MASK he could even be considered the "Patron Saint" of blockbuster sequels. To be sure those who have followed in his footsteps lack his mastery of the medium and debatably only RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK has the true "Fairbanks Aura" around it.

THE MARK OF ZORRO is a masterpiece for any filmmaking era and is a perfect film to use to introduce people to silent films. Always a shrewd showman Fairbanks pounced on the rights to Johnston McCulley's story THE CURSE OF CAPISTRANO, the tale that introduced "The Robin Hood of Old California" to the world. No matter what heights he'd go on to scale in his later films this one may represent Fairbanks' artistry in it's purest form. So much praise is heaped on the action scenes in this classic that viewers often overlook Doug's terrific job portraying both the foppish Don Diego and his athletic alter ego El Zorro. (When I first saw RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK the contrast between Harrison Ford's bookish, awkward mannerisms for Dr. Jones in the classroom and his agile, confident body language as the whip-wielding Indy reminded me of Fairbanks in THE MARK OF ZORRO.)

Younger viewers who might otherwise sneer at silent movies like this might be persuaded to give it a chance by pointing out to them that no less an action star than Jackie Chan often praises Douglas Fairbanks in the same breath with Buster Keaton as one of his influences.

THE MARK OF ZORRO all by itself earned Douglas Fairbanks his title as cinema's Swashbuckler-In-Chief.

Enjoyable silent film provided with a musical soundtrack by TCM.

DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS is the famous masked bandit, balancing a nice sense of humor and heroics, demonstrating the athletic side of Don Diego which has to be hidden by the more effete man who tires so easily. He's a Spanish version of the Scarlet Pimpernel. MARGUERITE DE LA MOTTE is a lovely heroine and ROBERT McKIM does everything but twirl his mustache as the villain from whose clutches Fairbanks must rescue the damsel in distress.

Obviously a high-budget production with rich settings, nicely photographed in Sepia or blue tints for the night scenes. What's really astonishing is Fairbanks doing all those climbing stunts in the last reel, with so much ease. Full of youthful vigor and high spirits, he found a role that suited him to perfection, able to show two sides of his personality with charm and/or vigor while not ignoring the stunts that made him famous.

It's an enjoyable and swaggering adventure, remade many times in the future, most notably with the 1940 sound version starring Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell and Basil Rathbone.

Summing up: Familiar yarn, well done and standing the test of time better than many other silent films thanks to good production values.