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Stars:
Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Basil Rathbone, and Gale Sondergaard
Writer:
John Taintor Foote
Adaptation
By: Garrett Fort
Based
On The Story “The Curse Of Capistrano” By: Johnston McCulley
Director:
Rouben Mamoulian
Feature
length: 94 minutes
Extras:
Commentary By Film Critic Richard Schickel, “Tyrone Power: The Last Idol”
A&E Network Biography Special, Bonus Trailers
Languages:
English Stereo and Monaural Sound and Spanish Language Monaural Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 24
Sound:
Stereo and Monaural Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1940/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
Home
Video Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Essentially
a retelling of the “Robin Hood” tale, “The Mark Of Zorro” starring
Tyrone Power is arguably the best cinematic adaptation of the “Zorro” story.
Twentieth Century Fox released the film after the Warner Brothers’ release of
“The Adventures Of Robin Hood” and in addition to Basil Rathbone taking on a
role somewhat comparable to “Sir
Guy” in the Errol Flynn
classic, the character actor
Eugene
Pallette,
who played “Friar Tuck” in “Robin Hood”
plays a priest with an equally important role to play in the story of “The
Mark Of Zorro.”
19th
century nobleman Don Diego de Vega (Tyrone Power) returns home from Spain where
he has been training with the sword. Upon arriving in Los Angeles he discovers
that his father is no longer the “Alcalde” or Mayor and a new corrupt
government has taken over. The new Mayor (J. Edward Bromberg) is having the poor
settlers fleeced with high taxes under the pain of torture, maiming and or
execution so he can buy his way into the Royal Court back in Spain. His right
arm henchman Captain Pasquale (Basil Rathbone) enforces the laws and wishes to
insinuate himself into the corrupt Alcalde’s family so that he can amass more
wealth, power and status.
To
combat the corruption and restore order and justice to Los Angeles, Don Diego
adapts the persona of a spoiled if not disinterested brat to the outrage of his
own father so no one will suspect that at night he dons a back mask and steals
back the wealth from the Alcalde’s tax collectors and in the process develops
the nickname Zorro, which apparently is Spanish for “fox.” As time goes on
Don Diego develops affection for the Alcalde’s niece (Linda Darnell), which
puts him into direct conflict with Pasquale since it was through a marriage with
the niece that Pasquale had hoped to gain entrance into the ruling family. This
conflict soon leads to mortal combat as the Alcalde, who may not be as much of a
buffoon as he portrays himself to be and Pasquale close in on identifying,
capturing, and executing the man who is Zorro.
As
a part of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment’s “Studio Classics”
collection of films on DVD, “The Mark Of Zorro” is presented in a (1.33:1)
aspect ratio to preserve the manner in which the film was exhibited theatrically
as close as possible for home video users. The black and white picture is quite
sharp with some nice contrast between the shadow and light and good grayscale.
However the source print used for the transfer is a bit frayed with scratches
and grain appearing in the frame during certain points of the film. The picture
is a definite improvement in sharpness and richness of texture over the NTSC VHS
version, but it is not quite as clear as I had hoped. The English Stereo
Soundtrack is a bit fuller in quality than the two-channel English Monaural
Soundtrack that is also provided. Both are free of any analogue background
noise, hissing, and pops. A Spanish Language two-Channel Monaural Soundtrack is
also encoded onto the dual layered DVD along with English Captions and Closed
Captions for the hearing impaired and Spanish Language Subtitles as options.
Film
Critic Richard Schickel provides a feature length audio commentary that is quite
informative and screen specific. He discusses the careers of the actors involved
as well as the Director, even noting some of the sad turns that came to pass for
the careers of certain people involved after appearing in “The Mark Of
Zorro,” which I found depressing. His commentary is also academic in nature as
he points out the subtleties and suggestions in the character performances,
which I personally am not sure I agree with or not regardless of whatever the
real life background of Tyrone Power’s private life may have included.
Schickel makes a mistake in the commentary true referring to “The Adventures
Of Robin Hood” as having been released after “The Mark Of Zorro” even
though “Robin hood” was released years before in 1938. I may have
misunderstood what he meant by that statement though since Douglas Fairbanks did
appear in a filmed version of “The Mark Of Zorro” in 1920 so perhaps that is
what Schickel meant.
Also
included is the A&E Network Biography episode “Tyrone Power: The Last
Idol” (44:59), which is quite interesting because Power had great aspirations
to prove himself beyond being a matinee idol and he seemed to resent being under
contract to perform for Darryl E. Zanuck. There is even an outtake from “The
Mark Of Zorro” shown in the “Biography” special where as “Zorro” Power
slashed the trademark “Z” into the stagecoach seat and then jokes about it
possibly referring to Zanuck. There are some ironies to Powers life story
explored in the documentary too. He wanted a son and he wanted to die on stage.
He died in his mid 40s while filming “Solomon And Sheba” and months after
his death the son he hoped for to carry on his family name was born.
Within
the DVD keep case there is an insert with notes on the film and the DVD also
includes trailers for other Fox Studio Classics, which are “All About Eve”
(3:07), “An Affair To Remember” (2:53), “Anastasia” (2:19), “The Day
The Earth Stood Still” (2:09), Gentleman’s Agreement” (3:00), “The Ghost
And Mrs. Muir” (2:39), “How Green Was My Valley” (1:44), “The Inn Of The
Sixth Happiness” (3:08), and “Love Is A Many Splendor Thing” (2:20).
The
DVD menus are standard interactive still frames that are easy to navigate.
“The Mark Of Zorro: Studio Classics” will debut on DVD-Video on Tuesday,
October 7, 2003 at retailers on and offline from Twentieth Century Fox Home
Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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