This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

. . . can only be defeated by really fast young skinny guys with great comic timing and super-human gymnastic skills. Of course, future film legend Douglas Fairbanks turns in his best performance in THE MARK OF ZORRO, since he WAS still relatively young, unknown, and poor in 1920. But as in ANIMAL FARM (or as with today's "upcoming" political "leaders," or as with many of today's Powerball and Mega-Millions big winners, or as in the plot of THE MARK OF ZORRO itself) both those born into wealth and those who have riches thrust upon them (or serve as Big Money's Henchpeople) soon grow into the very sort of piggish Enemies of the People whom they themselves had despised when poor. Only the threat of losing their wealth can sometimes temporarily bring these folks back on the side of angels, as happens here with Zorro (and, in an ancillary sense, with his main squeeze, Lolita Pulido). By the end of the 1920s, Hollywood's Fat Cats--including the aging Fairbanks himself--had banded together to form the elitist guilds, free-thought censorship codes, and pattern of persecuting the young & poor & creative classes (in other words, everything Zorro fought AGAINST!).

A must see for Douglas Fairbanks fans, one of his classics and certainly does make its mark(pun intended). The film looks absolutely beautiful with crisp photography that has aged really well and evocatively rendered costumes and sets. The music in rhythm very Spanish-sounding, the sort that you'd hear dancing to a tango, and also has a tender romance sound without ever feeling syrupy. The Mark of Zorro is written in a witty and infectious way, sometimes like the above quote seductive. The story has action-adventure written all over it, and it is rollicking excitement from start to finish. There is never a dull moment and it is always easy to understand what's going on. If you want action and stunts, as you'd expect from an action-adventure or anything with Fairbanks, you'll not be disappointed whatsoever here, there's a good amount of it and it is choreographed beautifully. Fairbanks is a joy, he is still charismatic, heroic and is clearly enjoying every minute he is on screen. The stunts play to his strengths and he performs them with dazzling precision and athleticism, not just technically but you are put at ease watching him because he doesn't forget to act at the same time. All the cast are fine, Margarite De La Motte being fiery and affecting and sharing great chemistry with Fairbanks. Overall, a classic, from the 20s and of any decade and actually one of the greats of the action-adventure film genre, and one of Fairbanks'(while he is the star because everything else is done so well the film doesn't rely on star power alone, which is a further reason for Mark of Zorro's greatness) best. 10/10 Bethany Cox

I Cannot Decide What To Give This Film As A Rating Do Not Get Me Wrong This Was An Interesting Film. The Plot Is That In old Spanish California, the oppressive colonial government is opposed by Zorro, masked champion of the people, who appears out of nowhere with flashing sword and an athletic sense of humor, scarring the faces of evildoers with his Mark. Meanwhile, beautiful Lolita is courted by villainous Captain Ramon, rich but effete Don Diego... and dashing Zorro, who is never seen at the same time as Don Diego. As Zorro continues to evade pursuit, Ramon puts the damsel in distress... The Acting Is First Class Of The Golden Age Of Silent Films. The Writing Is Great. The Directing Could've Been Better. All In All A Part Of The Age Of Movies That Will Always Be Remembered.Note: The 1940 One Is Better Than This

031: The Mark of Zorro (1920) - released 11/27/1920, viewed 1/20/06.The Wall Street Bombing occurs outside the JP Morgan building in New York, killing 39. The first domestic radio sets hit the shelves in the U.S. Adolph Hitler makes his first public political speech in Austria. Warren G. Harding wins the presidential election. Bloody Sunday goes down in Dublin, killing 31 football spectators.BIRTHS: Frank Herbert, Mario Puzo, Timothy Leary, Ricardo Montalban.KEVIN: Finally, a swashbuckler! I don't know what possessed me to skip this movie before, but I'm glad I caught it this time around. I was a little alarmed in the beginning when Zorro pulled out a gun, but since he doesn't even fire it, I got used to the idea, as Zorro's enemies all have swords and guns so it makes sense for him to keep up. As I was watching, I tried my best to read the inter-titles with a Mexican accent. I thought the pure stunt work in the film was more impressive than any of the sword fights, which were exciting in their own right. And I really liked that when our hero has his final duel with Capt. Ramon, it is not as Zorro but as Diego.DOUG: We would have watched Mark of Zorro in between Way Down East and The Kid, and let me say I really wish we had, because it was extremely good. I noticed a few things different about Douglas Fairbanks' Zorro than other later versions. For one, he smokes a cigar a lot. Second, more noticeably, he carries a gun. He never fires it, but still, he never had one before. As is customary with adventure stories, the action is over-the-top, the heroes are supercool, and the villains are larger-than-life. The swordfights were all very cool, as well. I also like watching Fairbanks move between Zorro and Diego; a running gag had Diego always feigning exhaustion at the slightest bit of work, so he could go to bed and then go out as Zorro. (Looking back, I'd say that of all the Douglas Fairbanks films we've watched, The Mark of Zorro was my favorite. Thief of Baghdad was a close second.)Last film viewed: Daddy Long-Legs (1920). Last film chronologically: Way Down East (1920). Next film viewed: Robin Hood (1922). Next film chronologically: The Kid (1921). The Movie Odyssey is an exhaustive, chronological project where we watch as many milestone films as possible, starting with D.W. Griffith's Intolerance in 1916 and working our way through, year by year, one film at a time. We also write a short review for each and every film. In this project, we hope to gain a deeper understanding of the time period, the films of the era, and each film in context, while at the same time just watching a lot of great movies, most of which we never would have watched otherwise.