The Mark of Zorro (1920)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Fred Niblo

Writer:

Johnston McCulley (story)

Release Date:

5 December 1920 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Romance | Western

Plot:

In old Spanish California, the oppressive colonial government is opposed by Zorro, masked champion of the people...

Plot Keywords:

California | Male Female Relationship | Gun | Governor | Military

Cast

Douglas Fairbanks	...	Don Diego Vega / Señor Zorro
Noah Beery	...	Sgt. Pedro Gonzales
Charles Hill Mailes	...	Don Carlos Pulido
Claire McDowell	...	Dona Catalina Pulido
Marguerite De La Motte	...	Lolita Pulido
Robert McKim	...	Capt. Juan Ramon
George Periolat	...	Gov. Alvarado
Walt Whitman	...	Fray Felipe
Sidney De Gray	...	Don Alejandro (as Sydney De Gray)
Tote Du Crow	...	Bernardo

Runtime:

90 min (1970 alternate version) | 107 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Canada:G (Ontario) | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Douglas Fairbanks Pictures

Trivia:

Film debut of Noah Beery Jr..

Quotes:

[Diego is apathetically wooing the woman his father commanded him to marry]
Zorro: I have a servant -- a wonder at the guitar. Tonight I shall order him to come out and play beneath your window.
Lolita Pulido: I have a maid -- passionately fond of music!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993)

Good Entertainment, & A Nice Showcase For Fairbanks

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.