I have a history with 'Zorro': it was the first live-action "thingy" I ever saw. Those who grew up with the Disney Channel in the 80s know that a Zorro episode was sandwiched between cartoons, and so I had to watch the entire episodes. And so at 5, the intro was graved in my memory and that includes the dramatic neighing of Tornado, the thunder and that unforgettable wish-wish-wish. Zorro, Sergeant Garcia, Senorita and the 'Bernardo' theme became staples of my childhood, soon to be completed by the 1990s live-action series and the "The Legend of Zorro" anime. And if you asked me about the most iconic Zorro? My answer would have been Guy Williams... or the Disney one.
But the American Film Institute objects. It's Tyrone Power's version from Rouben Mamoulian 1940 "The Mark of Zorro" that was picked as the most suitable entry for the Top 50 heroes list. And yet IMDb positioned that film at the fifteenth position when you search for 'Zorro'. Scrolling down the titles, I bumped into the Banderas film, the Disney series and even the one with Alain Delon before getting to our film. There was also the original "Mark of Zorro" starring Douglas Fairbanks and released in 1920, one year after the publication of original novel "The Curse of Capistrano" written by Johnston McCulley. Now, "The Mark of Zorro" is only a remake and basically, Douglas Fairbanks is to swashbuckling movies what Chaplin was to silent comedy, why would that seminal hero be snubbed by the AFI?
I guess it's an elimination game thing. Fairbanks was the first Zorro but although he portrayed a no less memorable Robin Hood, it was Errol Flynn's version from 1938, that made it in AFI Top 50. As memorable as he was, Guy Williams was a TV Zorro and the AFI couldn't have him on the list, no more than Adam West's "Batman" and so it was Michael Keaton's one (for your information, the list was made before "Batman Begins"). Finally, "The Mask of Zorro" was more of a "Robin and Marian" kind of film.
All these considerations mean nothing especially if you're not an AFI buff like me, the point is that the place of Zorro among America's heroes is undeniable and the version one would favor is totally immaterial. Indeed it's not about who plays Zorro but about the idea of Zorro, not only an icon of American-Spanish folk heritage, the first American swashbuckler in a genre mostly represented by the old continent (Robin Hood, Scaramouche, the Musketeers) but the inspiration for many coming ones. Indeed, if not the trope codifier, he was the Ur-example of a superhero, or a man with a special set of skills, dual personalities and a trademark logo-like signature. As many commentators pointed it out: no Zorro, no Batman.
So it's that "idea" of Zorro that we fully experience in the film: sword fights, horse chases, hispanic chants and dances. Tyrone Power makes for a believable chivalrous vigilante, has the wits that match the physicality, he's at least more spectacular with the sword than his double with the horse and like the right Batman, has a nice chin. Some complained the film didn't cast a Latin actor but can anyone tell me how Tyrone Power couldn't pass as a Spaniard?
Some also complained that the film carries a sort of deja-vu impression. It was obviously a way to bank on a popular character and then revitalizes his legacy by making a new "Robin Hood", in a black-and-white format that fitted the character. And so we have a J. Edward Bromberg as a ridiculous greedy Big Bad: Don Luis Quintero, oppressing the poor peasants, Basil Rathbone is another convincing henchman as Captain Esteban Pasquale. Eugene Pallette and might have kept his 'Tuck' robe as Friar Felipe, and as the Lady Marian, Linda Darnell plays the governor's daughter Lolita.
The problem is that Maloulian's directing didn't seem to bring an extra zest of energy and there's a fencing term in French that best defines it, it's literally "covered foil" but it means something that just goes the easy way. Take Don Diego for instance, he's introduced as one of the best caballeros of his promotion in a Spanish Academy. We see him getting ready for a duel but then the next scene shows him paying goodbye to his comrades, he must go back to California. How about having the message interrupting an actual duel and have a badass establishing moment that includes a sword?
At his arrival in California, villagers are complaining about the Alcade; figuring it's still his father, Power's expressions are fueled with anger. But there's a quick shift from that gravitas to the 'sissy' façade he decides to adopt and so his father Don Alejandro Vega (Montagu Love) seems to exist for the sole purpose of looking constantly disappointed. As noble as he's in his motives, there's something indeed irritating in Diego's constant simulation mode, and while that long scene dedicated to his flirting with Lolita's mother (Inez Gale Sondergaard) makes sense plot-wise, it doesn't bring anything in terms of thrills or romance or laughs.
Speaking of laughs, when Zorro covers the goofy governor's eyes and pretend to keep him 'en joue' with a rapier placed right under his chin, this could be the set-up of a funny moment where the governor would realize that he stayed like that for hours but Esteban comes a split second later.
A last example of wasted potential was Friar Felipe's sentence for hanging, a perfect set-up for a last-minute intervention... that never happens. In fact Diego comes, Zorro saves the day and all's well that end well in a plot thinner than his own mustache.
Let's conclude with the film's three redeeming qualities: it launched Power's career (one that'd end too soon), it features one hell of a climactic sword fight, and it's an indelible part of Batman's canon. Maybe that was enough to get it on that AFI list after all?
But the American Film Institute objects. It's Tyrone Power's version from Rouben Mamoulian 1940 "The Mark of Zorro" that was picked as the most suitable entry for the Top 50 heroes list. And yet IMDb positioned that film at the fifteenth position when you search for 'Zorro'. Scrolling down the titles, I bumped into the Banderas film, the Disney series and even the one with Alain Delon before getting to our film. There was also the original "Mark of Zorro" starring Douglas Fairbanks and released in 1920, one year after the publication of original novel "The Curse of Capistrano" written by Johnston McCulley. Now, "The Mark of Zorro" is only a remake and basically, Douglas Fairbanks is to swashbuckling movies what Chaplin was to silent comedy, why would that seminal hero be snubbed by the AFI?
I guess it's an elimination game thing. Fairbanks was the first Zorro but although he portrayed a no less memorable Robin Hood, it was Errol Flynn's version from 1938, that made it in AFI Top 50. As memorable as he was, Guy Williams was a TV Zorro and the AFI couldn't have him on the list, no more than Adam West's "Batman" and so it was Michael Keaton's one (for your information, the list was made before "Batman Begins"). Finally, "The Mask of Zorro" was more of a "Robin and Marian" kind of film.
All these considerations mean nothing especially if you're not an AFI buff like me, the point is that the place of Zorro among America's heroes is undeniable and the version one would favor is totally immaterial. Indeed it's not about who plays Zorro but about the idea of Zorro, not only an icon of American-Spanish folk heritage, the first American swashbuckler in a genre mostly represented by the old continent (Robin Hood, Scaramouche, the Musketeers) but the inspiration for many coming ones. Indeed, if not the trope codifier, he was the Ur-example of a superhero, or a man with a special set of skills, dual personalities and a trademark logo-like signature. As many commentators pointed it out: no Zorro, no Batman.
So it's that "idea" of Zorro that we fully experience in the film: sword fights, horse chases, hispanic chants and dances. Tyrone Power makes for a believable chivalrous vigilante, has the wits that match the physicality, he's at least more spectacular with the sword than his double with the horse and like the right Batman, has a nice chin. Some complained the film didn't cast a Latin actor but can anyone tell me how Tyrone Power couldn't pass as a Spaniard?
Some also complained that the film carries a sort of deja-vu impression. It was obviously a way to bank on a popular character and then revitalizes his legacy by making a new "Robin Hood", in a black-and-white format that fitted the character. And so we have a J. Edward Bromberg as a ridiculous greedy Big Bad: Don Luis Quintero, oppressing the poor peasants, Basil Rathbone is another convincing henchman as Captain Esteban Pasquale. Eugene Pallette and might have kept his 'Tuck' robe as Friar Felipe, and as the Lady Marian, Linda Darnell plays the governor's daughter Lolita.
The problem is that Maloulian's directing didn't seem to bring an extra zest of energy and there's a fencing term in French that best defines it, it's literally "covered foil" but it means something that just goes the easy way. Take Don Diego for instance, he's introduced as one of the best caballeros of his promotion in a Spanish Academy. We see him getting ready for a duel but then the next scene shows him paying goodbye to his comrades, he must go back to California. How about having the message interrupting an actual duel and have a badass establishing moment that includes a sword?
At his arrival in California, villagers are complaining about the Alcade; figuring it's still his father, Power's expressions are fueled with anger. But there's a quick shift from that gravitas to the 'sissy' façade he decides to adopt and so his father Don Alejandro Vega (Montagu Love) seems to exist for the sole purpose of looking constantly disappointed. As noble as he's in his motives, there's something indeed irritating in Diego's constant simulation mode, and while that long scene dedicated to his flirting with Lolita's mother (Inez Gale Sondergaard) makes sense plot-wise, it doesn't bring anything in terms of thrills or romance or laughs.
Speaking of laughs, when Zorro covers the goofy governor's eyes and pretend to keep him 'en joue' with a rapier placed right under his chin, this could be the set-up of a funny moment where the governor would realize that he stayed like that for hours but Esteban comes a split second later.
A last example of wasted potential was Friar Felipe's sentence for hanging, a perfect set-up for a last-minute intervention... that never happens. In fact Diego comes, Zorro saves the day and all's well that end well in a plot thinner than his own mustache.
Let's conclude with the film's three redeeming qualities: it launched Power's career (one that'd end too soon), it features one hell of a climactic sword fight, and it's an indelible part of Batman's canon. Maybe that was enough to get it on that AFI list after all?