When you discuss the actor Tyrone Power, you really have to specify which one. There are five generations of actors named Tyrone Power, including the grandfather, father, son and grandson of the most famous among them.
He is, of course, the dashing, swashbuckling hero of 1940s adventure films from 20th Century Fox. He never lived to see his namesake son, who was born a few months after Tyrone suffered a fatal heart attack in 1958 while filming a fencing scene with George Sanders.
His untimely death came during a career renaissance, following his role as the defendant in Billy Wilder's Witness for the Prosecution. But the real prime of his career came some years earlier, when he wielded a sword in entertaining action vehicles such as The Black Swan (1942) and Captain From Castile (1947).
Perhaps his best role was in The Mark of Zorro (1940). Well directed and having a script full of memorable lines, the remake was actually an improvement over the 1920 silent classic. Douglas Fairbanks Sr., a notoriously hammy actor, may have been more fun when playing the perpetually fatigued, handkerchief-clad Don Diego. But Tyrone Power had no equal as Zorro, who was Spanish Southern California's answer to Robin Hood.
But as only the audience knows, the effeminate dandy Don Diego is also the masked avenger Zorro. Diego has been enjoying the privileged life of a cavalryman in early nineteenth century Spain. But he is recalled to Los Angeles by his father Don Alejandro (Montagu Love), who has been deposed as alcalde (or mayor) by greedy, buffoonish Don Luis Quintero (J. Edward Bromberg).
The power behind Quintero is Captain Pasquale (Basil Rathbone), a former fencing instructor whose cruelty has led to a repressive regime. Pasquale is not only extorting from Quintero, but also apparently dallying with his wife, shallow socialite Inez (Gale Sondergaard). For some reason, Pasquale prefers Inez to her lovely, virginal daughter Lolita (Linda Darnell, in one of her first films). Of course, this leads inevitably to a romance between Diego and Lolita, who prefers to see him as Zorro.
Diego acts like a fop to allay the suspicions of Pasquale and Quintero. He dresses up as Zorro not only for dramatic effect, but to coerce Quintero into retirement in favor of his predecessor Don Alejandro. Of course, this leads inevitably to a stirring sword duel between Diego and Pasquale. But the direction and script are more than strong enough to overcome the familiar formula of the story.
Early Los Angeles society appears to be rigid in its class hierarchy. Aside from the occasional tavern owner, soldier or priest, there are really only two classes. Peons are impoverished Indian farmers, beaten cruelly and taxed to starvation by the alcalde. Much better off are the caballeros, who are aristocratic land owners whose ancestors come from Spain.
The character Zorro (which is Spanish for 'fox') was introduced in the novel "The Curse of Capistrano", by Johnston McCulley. While the story remains largely faithful to the Fairbanks adaptation of the novel, the casting has been inspired by a different film, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). In that film as well, Rathbone played the villainous right hand man, and Eugene Pallette played a warrior friar. (Pallette's curious deep voice cast him as a sympathetic comic relief character in many a film from the 1930s and 1940s.)
Errol Flynn as Robin Hood had set the standard for a romantic, swashbuckling film hero. Power, fortunately, was up to the challenge. He also makes for a better Zorro than the many successors who have donned the black cape. Antonio Banderas had a summer box office hit in The Mask of Zorro a few years back, but he was upstaged by the presence of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Anthony Hopkins. We won't discuss George Hamilton's 'gay' Zorro, or the Disney and Family Channel series that were targeted to pre-teenagers. (74/100)
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