The Mark of Zorro
The Mark of Zorro
NR | 08 November 1940 (USA)
The Mark of Zorro Trailers

Around 1820 the son of a California nobleman comes home from Spain to find his native land under a villainous dictatorship. On the one hand he plays the useless fop, while on the other he is the masked avenger Zorro.

Reviews
Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!
Greenes Please don't spend money on this.
Btexxamar I like Black Panther, but I didn't like this movie.
Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
gavin6942 A young aristocrat must masquerade as a fop in order to maintain his secret identity of Zorro as he restores justice to early California.I did not really know much about Zorro. I was not aware his secret identity had his as sort of a buffoon and ladies man. But I like that about him. And I like that, just like Superman or other heroes, it creates the scenario where someone can be attracted to one personality and not the other... or sometimes both, without even knowing! Some people have compared this to the "Adventures of Robin Hood". Is that fair? I do not know. But the consensus is that this is the better of the two. With that, I would have to agree. It is a fun story with all sorts of political intrigue that Robin Hood just cannot match.
bsmith5552 "The Mark of Zorro" is yet another re-telling of the legend of that masked avenger of the oppressed...Zorro. Douglas Fairbanks had set the standard in his 1920 silent version of the tale. For this one, we have the youthful Tyrone Power in the title role and the sinister Basil Rathbone as the chief villain.Don Diego Vega (Power) returns from Spain to find his father Don Alejandro (Montegu Love) deposed as Alcalde in early 19th century Los Angelis and replaced by the evil Don Luis Quintero (J. Edward Bromberg). Don Luis is himself influenced by the ambitious Captain Esteban Pasquale (Rathbone) and his scheming wife Inez (Gale Sondergaard).Seeing the people's anguish, Don Diego adopts a foppish persona to mask his attempts to overthrow the regime as the bold caballero Zorro. Don Diego becomes acquainted with Don Luis' comely young niece Lolita (an interesting choice of names) as played by the very young and very beautiful Linda Darnell. Zorro allies himself with the local padre (Eugene Pallete) in recovering the evil Alcalde's taxes taken from the starving peasants. After Zorro frightens Don Luis to the point of having him resign, Don Diego is challenged by Captain Pasquale to a duel to the finish thereby revealing his secret identity.The duel between Power and Rathbone is the highlight of the film and one of the greatest of such sword fights ever filmed. Rathbone, who was 20 years Power's senior was nonetheless an expert swordsman and probably could have bested any of his on screen opponents (including Errol Flynn) in combat. Power had taken fencing lessons along the way and doesn't look out of place here.Gale Sondergaard was one of evilest of female villains of the 1940s, although she is not given much to do here. She would appear as "The Spider Women" with Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes in 1944's "The Spider Woman". Montegu Love had been on the business end of John Barrymore's sword in "Don Juan" (1925). Eugene Palette had played a sword wielding friar previously in "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938), which by the way contains another classic duel between Rathbone and Errol Flynn."The Mark of Zorro" appears to have been modestly produced, in Black and White and on the Fox back lot. It has way too many interior scenes and even the climatic duel is confined to one room. But it does have the handsome Power just emerging as a super star and the gorgeous Miss Darnell as the love interest.Avoid the computer colorized version of this film. The color looks like those old lobby posters and the lighting is just not right for color. Why can't they just leave the old classic B & W films alone?
babykaren I have loved this movie since I was a little girl. This was one of the movies my Father sat us kids down to watch during Sunday Family Classics. The fencing scene here is as thrilling to watch as the ones in Captian Blood, SeaHawk and Robin Hood - those three starring Errol Flynn. Watching Basil Rathbone in roles other than Sherlock Holmes shows the range of roles and the skills they needed to learn to be a star. While Tyronne Power was the lead - all the top say 10 roles shared the storyline - almost equally in screen time and lines of dialogue. It remains a balanced and strong storyline. The black and white photography in this movie helps the mood and the scene with the large shadow of Zorro would definitely not work in color.
Ben Larson I am a Zorro freak! I have watched all the old serial editions and one of my very favorite books is Isabelle Allende's Zorro, which takes place in Spain before he comes to California.Forget the Antonio Banderas versions. There is nothing that can match Tyrone Power's Mark of Zorro. He is Zorro. He plays the perfect fop - almost a gay caricature - discussing fabrics and dancing with the wife of the evil Alcante. But, in his double life, he is the Saviour of the people and fights to restore his father to the position.The duel at the end with Capitan Estaban (Basil Rathbone) is some of the best swordplay you will ever see. (In another life, I was a great fencing master). The musical score by Alfred Newman, well, it's Alfred Newman, and he is one of the very best.If you want to see how Zorro should be really played, you have to see Tyrone Power. That's just the way it is.