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Name Occurs Before Title Offscreen Credit Print Viewed By AFI
The Mark of Zorro
Alternate Title: The Curse of Capistrano
Director: Fred Niblo (Dir)
Release Date:   5 Dec 1920
Premiere Information:   New York opening: week of 29 Nov 1920
Duration (in reels):   8
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Cast:   Douglas Fairbanks (Don Diego Vega/Señor Zorro)  
    Noah Beery (Sergeant Pedro)  
    Charles Hill Mailes (Don Carlos Pulido)  
    Claire McDowell (Doña Catalina, his wife)  
    Marguerite De La Motte (Lolita)  
    Robert McKim (Captain Juan Ramon)  
    George Periolat (Governor Alvarado)  
    Walt Whitman (Fra Felipe)  
    Sidney De Grey (Don Alejandro)  
    Tote du Crow (Bernardo)  
    Noah Beery Jr.    
    Charles Belcher    
    Albert McQuarrie    
    Charles Stevens    
    John Winn    
Summary: When Don Diego Vega returns to Old California from school in Spain, he discovers the tyrannical governor Alvarado in power. Assuming the persona of an effeminate fop while secretly masquerading as Zorro, a masked bandit who robs the wealthy and gives to the poor, Diego attempts to restore justice. His true identity known only to his faithful servant Bernardo, Zorro outwits his enemies, wins over the soldiers to his case, forces the governor to abdicate and wins the affections of Lolita, a lovely aristocrat who is delighted to discover that her foppish fiancé Diego, whom she scorns, is actually a dashing hero. 
Production Company: Douglas Fairbanks Pictures Corp.  
Distribution Company: United Artists Corp.  
Director: Fred Niblo (Dir)
  Theodore Reed (Asst dir)
Producer: Douglas Fairbanks (Prod)
Writer: Eugene Miller (Scen)
Photography: William McGann (Cam)
  Harry Thorpe (Cam)
Art Direction: Edward Langley (Art dir)
Country: United States
Language: English
Source Text: Based on the serial story The Curse of Capistrano by Johnston McCulley in All-Story Weekly (9 Aug--6 Sep 1919).
Authors: Johnston McCulley
Copyright Claimant Copyright Date Copyright Number
Douglas Fairbanks Pictures Corp. 22/11/1920 dd/mm/yyyy LP15847
Physical Properties: b&w:
  Si:
 
Genre: Adventure
Sub-Genre: Historical
 
Subjects (Major): Aristocrats
  California--History--To 1846
  Dandies
  Disguise
  Heroism
  Impersonation and imposture
 
Subjects (Minor): Abduction
  Juan Bautista Alvarado
  Governors
  Servants
Note: The working title of this film was The Curse of Capistrano . While one contemporary source credits Eugene Miller with the adaptation, modern sources credit Elton Thomas, which was Douglas Fairbanks' pseudonym. McCulley's story was published in book form under the title The Mark of Zorro in 1924.
       Some scenes in the film were shot in the San Fernando Valley in CA, where a set representing Los Angeles during the period of 1840 was built. M. Harry Uttenhover of Belgium, a thre-time world's champion fencer, was hired to instruct cast members Noah Beery and Robert McKim. The Mark of Zorro marked the first film of Noah Beery, Jr. (1915--1994), son of long-time character actor Noah Beery. Berry, Jr. also had a long career in film and television.
       Among the many other films based on McCulley's story or using the character of Zorro are: the 1925 United Artists release Don Q, Son of Zorro , starring Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Astor and directed by Donald Crisp (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1921-30 ); the 1936 Republic film The Bold Caballero , starring Robert Livingston and directed by Wells Root; a series of Republic serials in the thirties and forties, including 1939's Zorro's Fighting Legion , starring Reed Hadley and directed by William Witney and John English; the 1940 Twentieth Century-Fox film The Mark of Zorro , starring Tyrone Power and directed by Rouben Mamoulian (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40 ); the 1957 ABC-TV series Zorro , starring Guy Williams and produced by Walt Disney; the 1975 Italian film Zorro , starring Alain Delon and directed by Duccio Tessari; the 1981 Twentieth Century-Fox release Zorro the Gay Blade , starring George Hamilton and directed by Peter Medak and the 1998 Columbia release The Mask of Zorro , directed by Martin Campbell and starring Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. 
Bibliographic Sources:   Date   Page
ETR   11 Dec 20   p. 108.
MPN   13 Nov 20   p. 3729, 3779.
MPW   11 Dec 20   p. 719.
New York Times   29 Nov 20   p. 20.
Variety   3 Dec 1920   p. 32.
Wid's   5 Dec 20   p. 3.
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