The Mark of Zorro

When they say they don't make 'em like they used to, they're talking about 20th Century Fox's exhilarating The Mark of Zorro, starring Tyrone Power as the caped one, Linda Darnell as his love interest, and Basil Rathbone at his scurrilous best as Zorro's nemesis. More textured than the 1920 original with Douglas Fairbanks, this 1940 version has Don Diego/Zorro (Powers) returning from Madrid to defend his father and rally the caballeros (noblemen) against Los Angeles's corrupt new governor (J. Edward Bromberg), intent on taxing the peons to death.

If this all sounds like an Old California redo of the classic Adventures of Robin Hood, that's because it is. Powers has a field day as Don Diego, the "fancy clown" betrothed to the governor's niece, Lolita (Darnell). Don Diego the effete snob performs silly parlor tricks, peers through pince-nez, and yawns disdainfully at one and all. Power's cowardly alter ego is so believable, his transformation to masked superhero becomes all the more thrilling. Imagine Captain Pasquale's (Rathbone) shock when, in the film's brilliantly choreographed showdown, this annoying fop turns out to be a world-class swordsman.

Director Rouben Mamoulian, known for great period melodramas, does a skillful job of alternating garrison intrigue with big action scenes, including a nighttime ride that climaxes with Zorro on horseback leaping off a bridge. In the romantic highlight, Lolita confides her innermost desires to a suspiciously worldly friar. The first-rate supporting cast includes Gale Sondergaard as the governor's treacherous wife and the frog-voiced Eugene Pallette (Friar Tuck in The Adventures of Robin Hood) as a padre in cahoots with the masked one. Technically, this retelling rates an unqualified "Wow!" The cinematography, obviously influenced by Goya, makes full use of chiaroscuro shadows, and Alfred Newman's Latin-flavored score is irresistibly rousing and romantic. --Glenn Lovell more

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Linda Darnell, Tyrone Power, Eugene Pallette, Basil Rathbone, Gale Sondergaard, DVD, J&R

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Recent Reviews

5/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Feb-02-2009; Still fun to watch; Tyrone Power is the consummate Zorro, and this movie is still fun to watch. Swashbuckling, humor, and the "double identity" of Diego continue to make enticing entertainment. Decades after its initial release, the acting and story hold...; read full review | report as inappropriate

4/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Dec-22-2008; Classic!; This edition has been wonderfully restored, though I refused to watch the colorized verison. The movie itself sets the tone for so many other Zorro movies and Power does a great job switching between the two personnas. Of course, the...; read full review | report as inappropriate

5/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Dec-01-2008; Top of the Line, Classic Zorro!; If you are a fan of Tyrone Power or Basil Rathbone you will love this movie! It is just fun to watch the classic swordmanship of these two actors.; read full review | report as inappropriate

5/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Nov-12-2008; Well worth buying again; One of the best swashbuckling films ever made, I bought the b&w dvd when it first came out, then when I saw Fox had released a colorized edition, I decided to give it a chance. I was not disappointed. The colorization is excellent and...; read full review | report as inappropriate

Selected Reviews

5/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Feb-02-2009; Still fun to watch; Tyrone Power is the consummate Zorro, and this movie is still fun to watch. Swashbuckling, humor, and the "double identity" of Diego continue to make enticing entertainment. Decades after its initial release, the acting and story hold...; read full review | report as inappropriate

3/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Oct-27-2003; After all this time - disappointed; I'm sorry to say, that Fox classics did little if anything to restore or enhance the print on the DVD. There are still marks, smudges, etc on the print.They have commentary by a film critic, and a biography on Tyrone Power that was on...; read full review | report as inappropriate

1/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Sep-17-2005; Do your part to preserve our cinema heritage!; ...by not buying Fox's idiotic attempt to colorize one of the great screen classics. Yikes, will they NEVER learn?!?!?; read full review | report as inappropriate

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