The Mark of Zorro (1940)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Rouben Mamoulian

Writers:

John Taintor Foote (screenplay)
Garrett Fort (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

8 November 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Romance | Western

Tagline:

Ride With Zorro . . . The Dashing Don Of California's Most Adventurous Era !

Plot:

A young aristocrat must masquerade as a fop in order to maintain his secret identity of Zorro as he restores justice to early California.

Plot Keywords:

California | Fop | Justice | Secret Identity | Spain

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Tyrone Power	...	Diego
Linda Darnell	...	Lolita Quintero
Basil Rathbone	...	Captain Esteban Pasquale
Gale Sondergaard	...	Inez Quintero
Eugene Pallette	...	Fray Felipe
J. Edward Bromberg	...	Don Luis Quintero
Montagu Love	...	Don Alejandro Vega
Janet Beecher	...	Senora Isabella Vega
George Regas	...	Sergeant Gonzales
Chris-Pin Martin	...	Turnkey
Robert Lowery	...	Rodrigo
Belle Mitchell	...	Maria
John Bleifer	...	Pedro
Frank Puglia	...	Propietor
Eugene Borden	...	Officer of the Day

Also Known As:

The Californian (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

94 min | Portugal:90 min (censored version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Canada:G (Manitoba/New Brunswick/Nova Scotia/Prince Edward Island/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | USA:Approved (certificate #6597) | Australia:G | Finland:S | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Like most of the actors who portrayed Zorro at around this time, 'Tyrone Power (I)' was not of Hispanic heritage (he was of British descent).

Goofs:

Continuity: When the padre leaves the cell he has a pistol in his right hand. When he starts hitting the soldiers, he has a tree limb in his right hand. When the Alcade resigns, the padre escorts him the pistol is back in his right hand.

Quotes:

Fray Felipe: To think that the boy that I helped to raise, the boy that I taught to hold a firm wrist behind a true point, has turned into a puppy! Bah!
Don Diego Vega: Well,! Tsk, tsk, tsk! How vexatious!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1995) (V)

an exciting swashbuckler--every bit as grand as the films of Errol Flynn

I loved this film. In fact, because I loved this movie so much, I think it spoiled me for later versions of the Zorro story. Guy Madison and Antonio Banderas just CAN'T be Zorro, as I'll forever see him in the form of Tyrone Power. He is just wonderful--playing the role with a lot of gusto but a little less bravura than Errol Flynn would have done in the same role--and it works very well. This, WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION and THE BLACK SWAN are the three absolute best films Power ever made. See them all and then you'll appreciate his work. Apart from Power, the film features a wonderful supporting cast, brisk pacing and a lavish (for Fox) budget.