Amazon.com Essential Video
Douglas Fairbanks, the most famous of the Zorros, made this mix of comedy and derring-do reluctantly, as a change-of-pace from his modern-dress playboy roles. The Old California adventure fared so well at the box office it caused the athletic superstar to rethink his image and don period finery for his best later vehicles, including
The Thief of Baghdad.
Here, Doug has a ball playing dual roles, as hopeless fop Don Diego and as masked caballero Zorro, sworn enemy of all oppressors. When he isn't dueling with the evil Capt. Ramon (Robert McKim) or rescuing peasants, Don Diego/Zorro courts the lovely Lolita (Marguerite de la Motte) with bad magic tricks and worse manners. In the end, when Lolita's family is jailed, our hero throws off his masquerade, whips out his rapier, and wins the leading lady's hand.
Full of fun plot twists, secret passageways, and Fairbanks's signature arms-akimbo bravado, this silent classic (with restored sepia interiors) became the model for all the Errol Flynn-Tyrone Power swashbucklers to come. --Glenn Lovell
Video Details
The Mark of Zorro is the swashbuckling story of a nineteenth century Robin Hood intent on freeing his beloved San Juan Capistrano from an evil Governor and his lecherous Captain. Don Diego Vega (Douglas Fairbanks) must assume the masked identity of Zorro to convince the Caballeros to join him in his quest to save the city from certain ruin.
