The Mark of Zorro / Don Q: Son of Zorro

As always, Kino has put out a marvelous DVD, this time featuring not just one but two classics. First up is 'The Mark of Zorro' (1920), the very first screen version of this famous oft-told tale of the masked bandit who fights injustice and the oppressors of the people in 19th century Spanish California. This film is special to me because it was the first Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., film I ever saw, though while it did make me want to see more of him, it didn't instantly make him into one of my favorite actors. However, he is very good in his dual role as both the athletic brash romantic brave Zorro and the shy Don Diego, who is a disgrace to his father because ever since he got back from school in Spain he spends more time doing tricks with handkerchiefs and idling around than trying to find a wife or solidify his place in society. As Zorro, he is capable of fighting the bad guys and romancing Lolita Pulido, the young lady his father wants him to marry, as though putting on the mask e... Read more

If anyone doubts the temporal quality of fame, just think of Douglas Fairbanks to bring the point home. In his day, Douglas Fairbanks' fame was unprecedented. He and his wife, Mary Pickford, were thought of as America's royal family. Today, his marvelous action films are not watched save by film enthusiasts, and his face and name are lost to the youngest generation (if Jay Leno's "man on the street" interviews are any indication, our youngest Americans seem proud not to know the name of the Vice President, much less a silent screen actor like Fairbanks). That Douglas Fairbanks should fade from memory is tremendously sad. "The Mark of Zorro" is a good example of the kind of film Fairbanks specialized in toward the end of the silent era, and were hugely popular because of the dynamic presence of its star. There really has been nothing to compare with Fairbanks since his departure from films. No action star since can come close to his grace and power in an action film. If you doubt... Read more

While not as good as, say, Buster Keaton's The General, this is the best of the silent Zorro films. Buy the DVD that has both The Mark of Zorro and Don Q, Son of Zorro from King Video. "Mark" is entertaining, "Don Q" is even better. The original music by Jon C. Mirsalis for the two films is excellent.

amzing. doug can jump like noone else before or since. a few chase sequences to rival buster. zorro is excellent filmmaking. It starts with a soldier with a z on his face explaining it's not his fault.For 16 minutes zorro remains offscreen. When he does finally appear it's really cool. don q, son of zorro, is even more amazing. Five years after zorro and doug looks even more athletic.The plot is far more complicated, but better than zorro. I'll never look at Mary Astor in Maltese Falcon the same way agin. She's breathtaking. Score is excellent. If you like Errol and Ty and later swordsmen get this one.

Although Kino makes no boast about print quality on the box, its print of MARK OF ZORRO seems to be from an excellent 35 mm source. This film is the first, and many say the best, of Doug Fairbanks' swashbucklers that he personally financed and produced during the 1920s. His subsequent films were more elaborate - he seemed to rival DeMille in epic production quality - but ZORRO is the most consistently energetic. Fairbanks remains in a class by himself as a superstar and he became a multi-millionaire by acting out his daydreams in films. That's nice work if you can get it!DON Q, SON OF ZORRO is almost as good but bogs down here and there in story complications. The print quality and contrast is not as good as ZORRO and I suspect that DON Q comes from a 16 mm. print. The five years between the two films show Fairbanks' reputation as a producer having grown: DON Q looks as though it costs four times what MARK OF ZORRO cost. Jon Mirsalis' piano score is very qood and he captures eve... Read more