"THIS BOLD RENEGADE CARVES A " Z " WITH HIS BLADE." by Dave Goode

This isn't going to come as a surprise. But I'm a huge fan of masked heroes. Comic book heroes. Pulp heroes. Movie serial heroes. And of course Mexiluchaheroes. My first masked hero however was el Zorro. I was introduced to the character through the Walt Disney television series that ran from 1957 to 1959 on ABC. You know. The one with the catchy theme song. It starred Guy Williams in the dual roles of the foppish Don Diego Vega and the masked avenger el Zorro... the Fox.

TV's Zorro, Guy Williams, meets Zorro creator Johnston McCulley

The character first appeared in the swashbuckling  adventure THE CURSE OF CAPISTRANO written by Johnston McCulley , as a five - part serial in the pulp magazine All - Story Weekly in 1919. The story would be adapted to the silver screen as a vehicle for America's first great action hero star Douglas Fairbanks under the title  THE MARK OF ZORRO ( 1920 ). In 1924 when McCulley's story was novelized it would be under that title. It was Fairbank's movie Zorro that served as a partial inspiration for Batman.

 

 

 

 

 

MARK OF ZORRO 1920 with Douglas Fairbanks

 

El Zorro is probably best known for his appearances in movies. The character has appeared in a number of feature films and serials. Interestingly enough Don Alejandro Vega ( Zorro's father ) on the Disney television show was played by actor George J. Lewis who appeared in two Zorro serials. ZORRO'S BLACK WHIP ( 1944 ) starring Linda Stirling as a character called The Black Whip. And THE GHOST OF ZORRO (1949 ) starring Clayton Moore who would later go on to portray the Lone Ranger. In the former he was a hero. In the latter he was a villain. Both of these films from Republic were more western than swashbuckler.

 

 

 

To most fans the best Zorro movie was THE MARK OF ZORRO (1940) starring Tyrone Power as the foppish Diego and dashing Zorro. He's equally good in both roles. Especially memorable is the climatic sword duel between Power and the movie's villain played by Basil Rathbone. As another character says to Diego after he vanquishes the villain, " You handle a sword like a devil from Hell." Fun stuff.

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