Undoubtedly,
THE MARK OF ZORRO ($20) is one of the greatest swashbuckling dramas
ever committed to celluloid. THE MARK OF ZORRO has everything going
for it, it is a truly rousing adventure filled with action, romance, great
sword fighting and even a bit of humor. On top of that, THE MARK OF
ZORRO features an impressive performance from Tyrone Power, whose
looks were at his matinee idol best, plus the leading lady was Linda
Darnell, who was certainly one of the most beautiful women to ever grace
the silver screen. Structurally, Fox’s THE MARK OF ZORRO is very
similar to Warner’s earlier hit THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD,
although old California is made to substitute for merry old England.
Reinforcing the similarity between the two films, are cast members Basil
Rathbone and Eugene Pallette, who play roles in THE MARK OF ZORRO
that are very reminiscent of those they embodied in THE ADVENTURES OF
ROBIN HOOD.
In
THE MARK OF ZORRO, Tyrone Power portrays Don Diego de Vega, who is
summoned home to California from a military academy in Spain. Upon his
arrival, he discovers the territory under the tyrannical control of
Captain Esteban Pasquale (Basil Rathbone), the military muscle behind the
local government figurehead Don Luis Quintero (J. Edward Bromberg).
Because Pasquale and Quintero are extracting harsh taxes from the local
peasantry at the end of a lash, Don Diego assumes a foppish persona during
the day, and a black mask at night to become the heroic Zorro- a
sword-fighting liberator of the people. Of course, the foppish masquerade
serves to alienate Don Diego from his proud father Don Alejandro Vega (Montagu
Love), but it does place him in a position to be close to the lovely
Lolita Quintero (Linda Darnell). The cast of THE MARK OF ZORRO also
includes Gale Sondergaard, Janet Beecher, George Regas and Chris-Pin
Martin.
20th
Century Home Entertainment has made THE MARK OF ZORRO available on
DVD in a really nice 1.37:1 black and white presentation, which is
representative of the film’s original theatrical aspect ratio. The image
on the DVD appears crisp and rather nicely defined. Blacks have a strong
inky quality, while the whites appear pure and stable. Contrast is
uniformly excellent and the picture produces a rich, varied grayscale. A
grain structure is noticeable in places, but it helps to create a rather
film-like appearance for the presentation. The elements used for the
transfer do display some blemishes and a few scratches, neither of which
is bad for a film that is over six decades old. Digital compression
artifacts are well concealed throughout.
THE
MARK OF ZORRO comes with English Dolby Digital 2.0 monaural and stereo
soundtrack options. The pseudo-stereo version will decode to standard
surround, but not terribly effectively, so one is best off listening to in
the stereo mode. There are some mild channel separations on the stereo
version, which gives a bit more life to the film’s enjoyable musical
score. Fidelity is pretty much the same on the monaural track, both of
which are undeniably from 1940. True high and true lows are nowhere to be
found, but the track still sounds reasonably good with modest
amplification. Dialogue is fairly crisp and always completely
understandable. Fortunately, most of the background hiss and surface noise
have been cleaned up in the mastering process. A Spanish monaural track is
included on the DVD, along with English and Spanish subtitles.
The
basic interactive menus allow one access to the standard scene selection
and set up features, as well as some nice supplements. Film critic Richard
Schickel is on hand to provide an informative running audio commentary,
which provides a great deal of production history for the film, as well as
interesting tidbits on the personalities involved. Also featured on the
DVD is an episode of Biography from A&E, which profiles
the brief life and career of screen legend Tyrone Power. Closing out the
supplements are trailers for other films in Fox’s Studio Classics line
of DVDs.
THE
MARK OF ZORRO is a great deal of fun and a great swashbuckling movie
from Hollywood’s golden era. Fox has done a fine job with the DVD,
producing a good-looking presentation for this sixty-plus year old
classic. If you are a movie buff, or are a fan or Power, Darnell or
Rathbone, then this is a DVD you will want to add to your collection.
Recommended.
Undoubtedly,
THE MARK OF ZORRO ($20) is one of the greatest swashbuckling dramas
ever committed to celluloid. THE MARK OF ZORRO has everything going
for it, it is a truly rousing adventure filled with action, romance, great
sword fighting and even a bit of humor. On top of that, THE MARK OF
ZORRO features an impressive performance from Tyrone Power, whose
looks were at his matinee idol best, plus the leading lady was Linda
Darnell, who was certainly one of the most beautiful women to ever grace
the silver screen. Structurally, Fox’s THE MARK OF ZORRO is very
similar to Warner’s earlier hit THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD,
although old California is made to substitute for merry old England.
Reinforcing the similarity between the two films, are cast members Basil
Rathbone and Eugene Pallette, who play roles in THE MARK OF ZORRO
that are very reminiscent of those they embodied in THE ADVENTURES OF
ROBIN HOOD.
In
THE MARK OF ZORRO, Tyrone Power portrays Don Diego de Vega, who is
summoned home to California from a military academy in Spain. Upon his
arrival, he discovers the territory under the tyrannical control of
Captain Esteban Pasquale (Basil Rathbone), the military muscle behind the
local government figurehead Don Luis Quintero (J. Edward Bromberg).
Because Pasquale and Quintero are extracting harsh taxes from the local
peasantry at the end of a lash, Don Diego assumes a foppish persona during
the day, and a black mask at night to become the heroic Zorro- a
sword-fighting liberator of the people. Of course, the foppish masquerade
serves to alienate Don Diego from his proud father Don Alejandro Vega (Montagu
Love), but it does place him in a position to be close to the lovely
Lolita Quintero (Linda Darnell). The cast of THE MARK OF ZORRO also
includes Gale Sondergaard, Janet Beecher, George Regas and Chris-Pin
Martin.
20th
Century Home Entertainment has made THE MARK OF ZORRO available on
DVD in a really nice 1.37:1 black and white presentation, which is
representative of the film’s original theatrical aspect ratio. The image
on the DVD appears crisp and rather nicely defined. Blacks have a strong
inky quality, while the whites appear pure and stable. Contrast is
uniformly excellent and the picture produces a rich, varied grayscale. A
grain structure is noticeable in places, but it helps to create a rather
film-like appearance for the presentation. The elements used for the
transfer do display some blemishes and a few scratches, neither of which
is bad for a film that is over six decades old. Digital compression
artifacts are well concealed throughout.
THE
MARK OF ZORRO comes with English Dolby Digital 2.0 monaural and stereo
soundtrack options. The pseudo-stereo version will decode to standard
surround, but not terribly effectively, so one is best off listening to in
the stereo mode. There are some mild channel separations on the stereo
version, which gives a bit more life to the film’s enjoyable musical
score. Fidelity is pretty much the same on the monaural track, both of
which are undeniably from 1940. True high and true lows are nowhere to be
found, but the track still sounds reasonably good with modest
amplification. Dialogue is fairly crisp and always completely
understandable. Fortunately, most of the background hiss and surface noise
have been cleaned up in the mastering process. A Spanish monaural track is
included on the DVD, along with English and Spanish subtitles.
The
basic interactive menus allow one access to the standard scene selection
and set up features, as well as some nice supplements. Film critic Richard
Schickel is on hand to provide an informative running audio commentary,
which provides a great deal of production history for the film, as well as
interesting tidbits on the personalities involved. Also featured on the
DVD is an episode of Biography from A&E, which profiles
the brief life and career of screen legend Tyrone Power. Closing out the
supplements are trailers for other films in Fox’s Studio Classics line
of DVDs.
THE
MARK OF ZORRO is a great deal of fun and a great swashbuckling movie
from Hollywood’s golden era. Fox has done a fine job with the DVD,
producing a good-looking presentation for this sixty-plus year old
classic. If you are a movie buff, or are a fan or Power, Darnell or
Rathbone, then this is a DVD you will want to add to your collection.
Recommended.