The Mark of Zorro (1940)

I finally saw the classic black-and-white 1940 film, The Mark of Zorro, with Tyrone Power as our hero and Basil Rathbone as his main enemy, Capitán Esteban Pascal.

The movie opens with Don Diego Vega (no "de la" in this version) in Spain training in the military. We quickly learn he's known as an outstanding horseman and sword fighter. He's summoned back to la Ciudad de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles by his father, Alejandro Vega.

Diego's return home is reminiscent of the opening scenes in the Beli Lugosi Dracula movie. When Deigo mentions at an inn along the way that he is the son of the alcalde (mayor), the men in the bar react much like the Transylvanian peasants in Dracula when they learn their English visitor is on his way to meet the Count. We learn that the alcalde has become a cruel tyrant. This greatly surprises Diego that Alejandro has taken such a Dick Cheney-ish turn.

When he reaches town, Diego learns for the first time that his father is no longer the alcalde, but has been replaced by Don Luis Quintero. Quintero is obviously little more than a front for the evil Capitán, who apparently everyone calls, "Esteban". Diego immediately starts playing the fop (sissy), much to the disgust of Alejandro.

Soon Zorro is riding around defending the poor from ruinous taxes and general oppression. One night, hiding out in a chapel dressed in a cowl as a friar, he starts flirting with Quintero's niece Lolita, played by the lovely Linda Darnell.

Lolita was the name of Zorro's love interest in Johnston McCulley's original novel, The Curse of Capistrano, aka, The Mark of Zorro. But they make a point of having Lolita mention that she's "almost eighteen", giving a gentle nod to the more famous Lolita. This is immediately followed by her aunt, the scheming Doña Inez Quintero (Don Luis' wife), telling us that marriages at an even younger age were common then.

Much intrigue ensues. El Capitán comes up with the idea of creating a family alliance between the Qunteros and the (not "de la") Vegas by having Lolita marry Diego. Part of his calculation is that he's carrying on an affair with Doña Inez, who quickly develops an interest in Diego. Diego uses her attraction to bring pressure or Don Luis to leave Los Ángeles and make Alejandro alcalde again. El Capitán wants to remove Diego as a rival.

Lolita is not thrilled with the idea of marrying Diego because she thinks he's a sissy and already has a crush on Zorro. So Zorro pulls a Dracula visit to her bedroom and reveals his double identity, just as Christian Meier's Zorro (in the telenovela Zorro: la espada y la rosa) would do for Marlene Favela 67 years later.

In the end, he dispatches el Capitán to the next world, forces Quintero to resign and appoint Alejandro in his place and is set to marry Lolita.

I was a bit surprised to see that his final battle with el Capitán takes place as Diego, and he thereby exposes himself as Zorro. Nirvana is achieved, though, when Alejandro becomes alcade and Zorro gives up his sword to marry Lolita, planning to have fat children (that's what he said) and watch his vineyards grow.

Tags: basil rathbone, linda darnell, mask of zorro, tyrone power, zorro