The Mark Of Zorro

Zorro is a character which probably needs no introduction, but I still consulted Wikipedia and found out that Zorro was a creation of an American author by the name of Johnston McCulley and was likely based on several historical characters, and whose direct literary predecessor was Sir Percy Blakeney from the Scarlet Pimpernel. There have been numerous adaptations of the story, both in Europe and the USA. I think that all of us have watched the one with Antonio Banderas from 1998.

Since I'm a retro fan, the film I 'd like to talk about is the 1940s version called The Mark Of Zorro. There were both black-and-white and colour versions, the black-and-white one can be watched on YouTube:

The Mark Of Zorro

It is a nice film, and also a very funny one, and even my husband who normally dislikes old movies, enjoyed it. Zorro is played by Tyrone Power, who in my opinion, did a great job. Linda Darnell plays the wicked governor's niece who Zorro falls in love with, and Basil Rathbone co-stars as the governor's chief henchman, Captain Esteban (not sure how to spell his name properly). There is an epic swordfight in the movie between the two of them, but unfortunately I couldn't find a separate video of it on YouTube. If you are a fan of the swashbuckling genre and old-fashioned romance, then it is a film for you.