Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

A_Different_Drummer OK, I confess. Kids today believe any movie made before 1990 is old-fashioned and not worth their time. When I was a kid, I loved the old B&Ws from the 30s and 40 -- treasures abounded! -- but pretty much drew the line at the silent films. Lawdy, Lawdy, how can you possibly make a film without sound? A funny thing happened on the way to that belief system. I was telling a friend how Disney's Zorro with Guy Williams was the best Zorro of the era -- matched only by the sheer exuberant bravado of Tyronne Power in the 1940 MARK OF ZORRO -- and it was suggested to me, in return, that I should check out the Fairbanks Sr. version, the silent version, the fountainhead of Zorros, as it were. (No comments here on the Hopkins version - abomination!) OK, I said I would and I did. And now the confession -- it is the only silent film I have seen beginning to end, it was mesmerizing, and I loved it. I was told, but could not believe, that the athletic ability of Fairbanks exceeded that of any subsequent Zorro, sound or no sound. I did not believe it. I was wrong. Wrong happens. I watched in awe as this amazing actor, denied the ability to use his voice, conveyed by eye movement, facial expression, and gestures what was happening. And the stunts! I swear, in several scenes he moved like he was weightless. These were not special effects, please note, these were stunts. Fairbanks could almost float, it seemed. The version I saw had all the piano music in the overdub which presumably matched what audiences might have heard in theatres. It was fun. It was entertaining. It was as promised. Great film.

poe426 "This Zorro comes upon you like a graveyard ghost and like a ghost he disappears," vows one man scarred by "The Fox." Douglas Fairbanks makes for one hyper-active hero: in classic hero fashion, he enters a bar where the bad guys are gathered at one point and proceeds to bolt the doors and windows from the INSIDE. He toys with one opponent during a duel, showcasing some impressive agility (at one point, resting cross-legged on a table, effortlessly parrying thrusts). A master of prestidigitation, he also wears a fake moustache (which he sticks on the face of a sleeping manservant). "My soul's in arms and eager to serve you," he tells the lovely senorita, Lolita. And all the while, righting injustices and challenging the caballeros to rise up against their oppressors. Good fun.

Steffi_P In justifying his placement of Douglas Fairbanks among his "five greats" of cinema, the British director Michael Powell said, "His personality is in every foot of film he made. He was our first ballad-maker. Our first conjuror." A worthy assessment, but it was not until Mask of Zorro, five years and thirty-odd pictures into his career that he achieved that status and a reputation that persisted long after his death.Up until this picture, Fairbanks was known purely as a comedy actor, popular and successful in his own right, but far from being a legendary genius like his pal Charlie Chaplin. His speciality, the one thing that really set him apart from his contemporaries, was blending physical comedy with his extreme athleticism. With The Mark of Zorro he revitalised his screen persona simply by reversing the pattern. Now the acrobatics were the main attraction and the comedy was the embellishment. But this is not simply an action flick with a bit of comic relief to spice up the "quiet moments"; the action sequences are simultaneously exciting and funny, and in fact there is very little comedy outside of the fights and the chases.The Zorro fable is now very much in the public consciousness, but it was this version, adapted from an obscure short story, which made the character famous. It's been remarked that he can be seen as the first superhero – a weak and unassuming man who dresses up to become a dashing, confident and indomitable warrior, as do Batman, Spiderman and the like. Almost all Fairbanks' swashbucklers (and even some of his comedies, especially The Mollycoddle) feature some kind of transformation from wimp to wonder, but Zorro is different in that he is a disguise that Fairbanks's character puts on and takes off. There's a key difference here between this and the 1941 Tyrone Power version. Power is given a more developed backstory, and is actually shown inventing the foppish Diego out of necessity, while his Zorro is a disguised version of the real Diego as he was back in Spain. In 1941, the fop Diego is the creation whereas Zorro is the real man. In the Fairbanks version however, it's implied that the fop is Diego's real personality, and Zorro is an act he has to put on to become everything he wishes he was. And I think it may have been this aspect which attracted Fairbanks to the story. He was himself not an exceptionally attractive man, but he achieved charisma through the roles he adopted.The director here is Fred Niblo, one of the exceptional craftsmen of the silent era, although his style does show the extent of Cecil B. DeMille's influence over film form at this point. Like DeMille, Niblo makes use of "Rembrandt" lighting, close-ups of hands, feet and faces to define characters and set scenes, and tight control over pacing and rhythm from scene to scene and shot to shot. The latter comes in very handy in giving the action sequences the right punch, a good example being the first entrances of Diego and Zorro which are played for their element of surprise. Crucially, Niblo is able to direct mass action, making the grand finale effective, striking that all-important balance between comedy and excitement.After the resounding success of Mask of Zorro, Fairbanks would abandon his contemporary comedies to concentrate on a series of period swashbucklers, eventually donning the costume of all the great romantic heroes. The pictures that followed this one would be grander and more polished, and would contain far more depth in terms of story and characterisation. However, the Mark of Zorro, while weaker on many levels, does have a pace and directness that makes it one the most watchable of all Fairbanks features.

mlraymond As beloved as the 1940 Tyrone Power version is, this prototype of all Zorro movies is a must see, even for viewers who don't usually watch silent films.The movie makes up for its lack of aural excitement by staging the sword fights as rousing, comic duels, rather than deadly encounters. Who can forget the image of the black clad Zorro sitting cross legged on a tavern table, eating from a bowl of nuts with one hand, while fending off Sergeant Gonzales with his right? Zorro's dashing escapes and clever tricks are definitely played for comedy in most scenes. Douglas Fairbanks, Senior also plays Zorro's quieter moments with a rascally humor as well. In one memorable scene, he climbs over the garden wall of a beautiful senorita and kisses her, much to her surprise. When she slaps him, he laughs heartily. This seems to me the essence of Fairbanks in one image. The movie doesn't play everything for laughs, however. The villains are dastardly and wicked in an old fashioned melodrama way, and many romantic and adventure scenes are played completely straight. But it is the image of the masked, cigar smoking, laughing Zorro taunting his enemies, though outnumbered twenty to one ,that remains with me. Fairbanks also has a fine comic turn as the insipid, ineffectual fop Don Diego, pretending to admire Sergeant Gonzales' boasts that he'll show that bandit, if he can ever find him. Noah Beery Senior is a marvelous Gonzales, rowdy, boisterous, hard drinking, crude and macho. He makes a great comic villain for Zorro to oppose, while Robert McKim has a more serious bad guy role, as the lecherous soldier who attempts to steal the heroine's virtue, and is soundly defeated in a duel by the enraged Diego. A delightful musical score accompanies the movie, with tango rhythms and tender romantic themes. This is a true classic, that deserves to be seen by all lovers of adventure movies and dashing, romantic heroes coming to the rescue of beautiful ladies.