The Mark of Zorro (1940)

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Associate producer: Raymond Griffith. Producer: Darryl F. Zanuck. Copyright 8 November 1940 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation. New York opening at the Roxy: 2 November 1940. U.S. release: November 1940. Australian release: 23 January 1941. 8,590 feet. 95 minutes. SYNOPSIS: The film opens at the graduation ceremony of the Royal Spanish Military Academy in Madrid where handsome Don Diego Vega (Power) announces his intention of returning to his home in California. On his arrival in Los Angeles, he learns that his father (Montagu Love) has been deposed as Alcalde, and that the people are under the corrupt rule of Don Luis Quintero (J. Edward Bromberg), whose tyranny is enforced by cruel Captain Esteban Pasquale (Rathbone). Aware that his father disdains violence, Diego decides to take up the people's cause in disguise, and cloaks his outlaw activities as an effete dandy.Alfred Newman was nominated for an award from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his Original Score, losing to Pinocchio. (He had to content himself with his prize for Best Score for Tin Pan Alley).COMMENT: Such a masterpiece that one can only express surprise that critics didn't recognize it as such at the time of its original release. Mind you, the public liked it, though it didn't climb anywhere near the top of the year's revenue-raisers.The Mark of Zorro is a perfect film from its stylish direction, its elegant camerawork, its witty script, its rousing score to its most ingratiating cast. Expansively produced, it's a film whose appeal is still undimmed. I've never found an audience that failed to be excited, thrilled, amused and vastly entertained by this Zorro.Giving the performances of their lives: Tyrone Power, Basil Rathbone, J. Edward Bromberg. These are the roles for which Bromberg and Power will always be remembered, whilst Rathbone's Captain Esteban Pasquale shares equal eminence with his Sherlock Holmes. Gale Sondergaard, Eugene Pallette, Montagu Love and Linda Darnell also excel in tailor-made parts.Technical credits, to which must be added the film's sumptuous sets and costumes, its incredibly smooth film editing and that marvellous 20th Century-Fox sound, are as stated, radiant in their perfection.

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.

one of most impressive duel scenes. the mixture of humor and tension. and the lead role as the best cloth for Tyron Power. it is a film who shatters the nostalgic references and who gives a total entertainment , does an inspired example of adventure and has the rare gift to create a splendid portrait of joy. nothing, in this case, is not a sketch. the characters, the plot, the acting. all has deep roots and the final impression is to discover a precise work in which each part has mark of thoroughly care. maybe, the best Zorro, it remains memorable. a movie who must see it. not as link of cinema history but for its special beauty. and, maybe, for the flavor of a manner to do a real good film.

The only ingredient missing here is a Fox budget that would have provided Technicolor photography as a part of the film's lush production values. However, even without three-strip Technicolor, this B&W version of the famous legendary outlaw is acted to perfection by the entire cast.Tyrone Power goes with great ease from the fop to the swashbuckler Zorro, all the while displaying a great deal of charm and good looks. The romantic role of "the girl" goes to Linda Darnell who is more than adequate in the looks department herself.In the chapel scene and "The White Sombrero" dance routine they have a chance to show the kind of sparks that made them popular movie stars of the '40s. Linda was just about to break out of her virginal roles and about to play more tempestuous heroines, but she does an excellent job as Power's love interest.Basil Rathbone is at his finest for the final dueling scene, surely even more robustly performed than the one he shared with Errol Flynn in THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD--and that's really saying something. Power seems to be evenly matched with Rathbone in his skilled swordsmanship.Alfred Newman's fitting pseudo-Spanish background music provides just the right amount of excitement to make this a most entertaining show. And the supporting cast--including Gale Sondergaard, J. Edgar Bromberg, Eugene Palette, Montagu Love, Janet Beecher and others is excellent.By all means worth watching anytime for sheer entertainment.