{"id":24019,"date":"2012-02-15T10:57:10","date_gmt":"2012-02-15T17:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24019"},"modified":"2020-12-27T11:03:45","modified_gmt":"2020-12-27T18:03:45","slug":"mark-of-zorro-the-1920","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24019","title":{"rendered":"Mark of Zorro, The (1920)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;This Zorro comes upon you like a graveyard ghost and like a ghost he disappears.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Mark-of-Zorro-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Mark-of-Zorro-Poster-202x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"202\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-24022\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Mark-of-Zorro-Poster-202x300.jpg 202w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Mark-of-Zorro-Poster-86x128.jpg 86w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Mark-of-Zorro-Poster.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nIn colonial California, a masked avenger (Douglas Fairbanks) &#8212; who in real life poses as a foppish milquetoast &#8212; battles for the rights of the oppressed while romancing a beautiful young noblewoman (Marguerite De La Motte).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/p>\n<p><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. Films<\/li>\n<li>Silent Films<\/li>\n<li>Superheroes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nDouglas Fairbanks, Sr. is widely acknowledged as the godfather of cinematic action heroes, given his portrayal as &#8220;Zorro&#8221; the masked avenger (<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Zorro\">a fictional hero created by pulp writer Johnston McCulley<\/a>). In this earliest of <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Zorro#Films\">many screen adaptations<\/a>, Fairbanks &#8212; much like Leslie Howard in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=16647\"><em>The Scarlet Pimpernel<\/em> (1934)<\/a> &#8212; has great fun in dual roles, playing both a frustratingly effete nobleman and a swashbuckling defender of the downtrodden. He&#8217;s remarkably agile, and gets to perform some fine stunts (all his own, apparently), most notably in the climactic finale. The storyline is slight, but perfectly suited to the material, and possesses quite a bit of enjoyable humor; indeed, I was surprised to find that George Hamilton&#8217;s satirical turn in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=3672\"><em>Zorro, the Gay Blade<\/em> (1981)<\/a> isn&#8217;t all that far removed from the sensibility of this earlier presentation, which has great fun treating evil colonial powers with appropriate disdain. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> Director Fred Niblo also helmed the silent adventure classics <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24609\"><em>Blood and Sand<\/em> (1922)<\/a> and <em>Ben-Hur<\/em> (1925), both Peary-listed titles. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Douglas Fairbanks as Don Diego\/Zorro<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Mark-of-Zorro-Fairbanks.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Mark-of-Zorro-Fairbanks.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"384\" height=\"288\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-59929\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Mark-of-Zorro-Fairbanks.png 384w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Mark-of-Zorro-Fairbanks-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Mark-of-Zorro-Fairbanks-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Mark-of-Zorro-Fairbanks-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Fairbanks&#8217; impressive athletic stunts<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Mark-of-Zorro-Athleticism.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Mark-of-Zorro-Athleticism.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"384\" height=\"288\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-24021\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Mark-of-Zorro-Athleticism.png 384w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Mark-of-Zorro-Athleticism-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Mark-of-Zorro-Athleticism-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>A surprisingly humorous screenplay<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, for its historical relevance as the first of Fairbanks&#8217; swashbuckling adventure films, and the movie that started a trend of cinematic caped heroes. Available for free viewing on www.archive.org (as a Public Domain title). <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<li>Noteworthy Performance(s)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0011439\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rinkworks.com\/movies\/m\/the.mark.of.zorro.1920.shtml\">At-a-Glance Film Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.digitallyobsessed.com\/displaylegacy.php?ID=10139\">Digitally Obsessed Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/326473\/the-mark-of-zorro#articles-reviews?articleId=59974\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;This Zorro comes upon you like a graveyard ghost and like a ghost he disappears.&#8221; Synopsis: In colonial California, a masked avenger (Douglas Fairbanks) &#8212; who in real life poses as a foppish milquetoast &#8212; battles for the rights of the oppressed while romancing a beautiful young noblewoman (Marguerite De La Motte). Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. Films Silent Films Superheroes Review: Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. is widely acknowledged as the godfather of cinematic action heroes, given his&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24019\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24019"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59930,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24019\/revisions\/59930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}