The Mark of Zorro (1940)

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:

During filming, 'Tyrone Power (I)' was in the habit of taking an early morning swim in a pool that he insisted on being carefully pre-heated. Darryl F. Zanuck played a prank on him by arranging for the heating to be turned off. Power dived in and got such a shock that he later claimed he nearly had a heart attack. He got his revenge. Zanuck watched the dailies every day with a critical eye and one evening saw something unexpected; the cast and crew collaborated to film a spoof version of the hold-up scene where Zorro robs a coach carrying the Governor and his wife. When Zorro is supposed to slash his Z into the vehicle's upholstery, the camera reveals he has slashed "DZ". "Oh my God, it's Zanuck" his victims gasp. Power responds: "That's right, you bastards..." and describes the producer in very unflattering language.

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:

Don Diego Vega: [speaking to his father] I went directly from the ship to our old home. I met Senor Quintero and his charming wife. I found them very pleasant and agreeable.
Fray Felipe: Pleasant scorpions! Agreeable rattlesnakes!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Pink Panther 2 (2009)

The California Cockerel Saves the Day.

Young Don Diego De La Vega has been sent to Spain from the family estancia in Spanish California to learn fencing and get a little polish, bring some culture and couth to the frontier.

When he returns Diego finds all is not right. His father is out as alcalde of the village of Los Angeles and a new post captain and his willing accomplice, the new alcalde, are conducting wholesale robbery of the people quite legally. What to do?

When Diego De La Vega is played by Tyrone Power quickly give the impression you're a fatuous fop and don't let them see you're the best swordsman around. And by night take the guise of an 18th century bandit hero and call yourself Zorro.

I love this film very much because great romantic heroes like Tyrone Power just aren't found these days. Eventually Power proved he could do more than just look good in a period costume, but the movie going public loved him best in these kind of roles, me included.

He gets great support from lovely Linda Darnell whom he has to simultaneously repel as Don Diego and woo as Zorro to keep the fiction going. Basil Rathbone is a wonderful commandant who keeps the people in line and taxes to himself.

But I particularly liked J. Edward Bromberg and Gale Sondergaard as Senor and Senora Quintero the crooked alcalde and his scheming wife. Oddly enough as fate would have it, both of these people later on had blacklist problems with Bromberg meeting a tragic early death.

Dueling and romance from Tyrone Power, the California Cockerel so dubbed by his fellow students at the fencing academy who saves the day and wins the girl. And when the girl is Linda Darnell, does anyone have to ask what he's fighting for?