Zorro - The Legend Through The Years

   The Mark of Zorro - 1920
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. is Don Diego Vega Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.
is
Don Diego Vega and Zorro		 Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. is Zorro
Marguerite De La Motte is Lolita Pulido Marguerite De La Motte
is
Lolita Pulido		 Charles Hill Mailes
is
Don Carlos Pulido		 Charles Hill Mailes is Don Carlos Pulido
Claire McDowal is Señora Pulido Claire McDowell
is
Señora Pulido		 Sidney De Gray
is
Don Alejandro Vega		 Sidney De Gray is Don Alejandro Vega
Noah Beery, Sr. is Sgt. Pedro Gonzales Noah Beery, Sr.
is
Sergeant Gonzales		 Robert McKim
is
Captain Ramón		 Robert McKim is Captain Ramón
Walt Whitman is Fray Felipe Walt Whitman
is
Fray Felipe		 Tote Du Crow
is
Bernardo		 Tote Du Crow is Bernardo
George Periolat is Governor Alvarado George Periolat
is
Governor Alvarado		 Snitz Edwards
is
the Innkeeper		 Snitz Edwards is the Innkeeper
This movie is based on the 1919 serialized story "The Curse of Capistrano" by Johnston McCulley.
Don Diego Vega enters the tavern. Sergeant Gonzales of the presidio of Los Angeles is obsessed with capturing Zorro and boasts of how he will do it.  The great irony is that he and Don Diego Vega are good friends.

"Don Diego is my friend."

Sergeant Gonzales has no idea that his arch enemy is also his good friend.

Don Diego shows Don Alejandro one of his handkerchief tricks. Don Diego Vega is known for being a fop and dandy and loves to play silly games with his handkerchief.  The handkerchief is the running gag throughout the movie as each time he prepares to begin another silly trick, the viewer sees the line, "Have you seen this one?"

Diego's father, Don Alejandro Vega, has grown weary of his son's lack of activity.  He orders his son to marry and tells him to court the Señorita Lolita Pulido.

Meanwhile, the Pulidos have troubles of their own.  They have lost their fortune and are in considerable disfavor with the government due to Don Carlos making some unwise political decisions.  When Lolita's parents learn that Don Diego is to court Lolita, they are excited as they believe that Lolita marrying into the Vega family will solve their problems.  Unfortunately, Lolita is not at all impressed with Don Diego.  Unexpectedly, Lolita meets Zorro and discovers him quite to her liking. The Pulido family wonders what they are going to do.
Captain Ramón, comandante of the presidio of Los Angeles, decides to court Lolita and makes the mistake of trying to force his affections on her.  Shortly, the Pulidos are imprisoned and then rescued by Zorro as the movie climaxes with a spectacular chase scene in which we see Zorro leaping from roof to roof and performing other incredible acrobatic stunts.  The movie ends with Don Diego confronting Captain Ramón and revealing that he is Zorro. Zorro swings onto a balcony.
Comments:

  • Don Diego's helper, Bernardo, is said to be mute rather than both deaf and mute

  • During the movie's final chase scene, Zorro hides from the soldiers by concealing himself within a priest's robes.  This scene does not appear in the novel.

  • The entertainer Milton Berle as well as Noah Beery's son, Noah Beery, Jr. both appear uncredited in this movie as boys.

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