The Mark of Zorro (1940 film)
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The Mark of Zorro | |
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20th Century-Fox | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 94 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages | English Spanish |
Budget | $1 million[1] |
Box office | $2 million (rentals)[2] |
The Mark of Zorro is a 1940 American
Plot
Don Diego Vega is urgently called home by his father. To all outward appearances, he is the foppish son of a wealthy ranchero, the former alcalde Don Alejandro Vega, having returned to Alta California after his military education in Spain.
Don Diego is horrified at the way the common people are now mistreated by the corrupt new alcalde, Luis Quintero. Don Diego quickly adopts the guise of El Zorro ("The Fox"), a masked outlaw dressed entirely in black, who becomes the defender of the common people and a champion for justice against the uncaring Quintero and his garrison of brutish soldiers.
In the meantime, he romances the alcalde's beautiful and innocent niece, Lolita, whom he grows to love. As part of his plan, Don Diego simultaneously flirts with the alcalde's wife Inez, filling her head with tales of Madrid fashion and culture while nurturing her desire to move to Spain and finally rid California of her cruel husband.
In both his guises, Don Diego must always contend with the governor's most capable henchman, the malevolent and deadly Captain Esteban Pasquale. When the current situation comes to a head, he eventually dispatches the captain during a fast-moving rapier duel-to-the-death, as the alcalde looks on in astonishment. This action leads to a forced regime change with the help of the people of Los Angeles, the other landowners, and his father, and though Quintero is defeated, Zorro continues to fight for justice and the common people against the greedy and wicked.
Cast
- Tyrone Power as Don Diego Vega/Zorro
- Linda Darnell as Lolita Quintero
- Basil Rathbone as Captain Esteban Pasquale
- Gale Sondergaard as Inez Quintero
- Eugene Pallette as Friar Felipe
- J. Edward Bromberg as Don Luis Quintero
- Montagu Love as Don Alejandro Vega
- Janet Beecher as Senora Isabella Vega
- George Regas as Sergeant Gonzales
- Chris-Pin Martin as Turnkey
- Robert Lowery as Rodrigo
- Belle Mitchell as Maria
- John Bleifer as Pedro
- Frank Puglia as Proprietor
- Eugene Borden as Officer of the Day
- Pedro de Cordobaas Don Miguel
- Guy D'Ennery as Don José
- Stanley Andrews as Commanding Officer (uncredited)
- Fortunio Bonanova as Sentry (uncredited)
- Charles Stevens as José (uncredited)
Remake, music score, and sequel
Portions of Newman's original music score were reused by composer
1920 silent version
“Power was the most agile man with a sword I’ve ever faced before a camera. Tyrone could have fenced
cocked hat.” – Basil Rathbone from his 1962 memoir In and Out of Character.[5]
The Mark of Zorro is a sound
Acknowledging that director Mamoulian's 1940 version is a remake of the Douglas Fairbanks' 1920 swashbuckler, film critic Todd Wiener observes:
“Critics inevitably, and often unfavorably, compare the film to the earlier successful [silent] version, but Mamoulian’s interpretation of the Zorro myth stands on its own merits. Tyrone Power’s performance is especially spirited, displaying a range and wry sardonic charm not always evident in his other forays into this genre.[6]
Batman connection
In the
In the animated series
In Todd Phillips' 2019 film Joker, the marquee above the theater young Bruce and his parents exit shows the 1981 films Blow Out and Zorro, the Gay Blade as playing.
Home media
The Mark of Zorro has been released twice on DVD. The first was on October 7, 2003, and featured the film in its original black-and-white, as part of 20th Century Fox Studio Classics Collection. The second was released on October 18, 2005, as a
References
- ^ Solomon 1989, p. 240
- ^ Solomon 1989, p. 219
- ^ All-Story Weekly vol. 100 #2 (August 9, 1919) – vol. 101 #2 (September 6, 1919)
- ^ "2009 Selections to the National Film Registry Announced". News Releases. The Library of Congress. December 30, 2009. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
- ^ Wiener 2004
- ^ Wiener 2004
- ^ Ching, Albert (November 12, 2014). "'Batman v Superman' Set Pic Sets Stage for Wayne Murders". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
- ^ The Mark of Zorro Blu-ray, retrieved November 17, 2022
Sources
- Solomon, Aubrey (1989). Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1..
- Wiener, Todd (2004). "The Mark of Zorro, 1940" (Festival guest handbook). UCLA Film and Television Archive: 12th Festival of Preservation, July 22 – August 21, 2004.