Customer Reviews

The Many Faces of Zorro

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I ordered this film, I expected a much more detailed, better documentary than the final project, going into each Zorro production in detail....This one is much shorter, and many things are just skimmed over, as if they were unimportant. Most of the footage here in the introduction, cut-in scenes, and ending comes from the Alain Delon French film. ... Only three actors from the new Mask of Zorro film wre shown, and the actual movie plot was skimmed over in a breath. But still, this is an impressive look at the evolution of the fox, ....
Zorro began as a pulp fiction-story by Johnston McCulley. He would become famous through the Douglas Fairbanks films. Zorro-imitators began to appear, such as Batman. The Republic serials, Tyrone Power, and Disney all contributed to Zorro's fame. Later, forigen films would come in, as would the new television series and The Mask of Zorro. THis is a good documentary, but needs some work.

"The Many Faces of Zorro" is one of those rare documentaries that functions well both as an introduction to the Zorro character, and to explore new information for veteran fans. Tracing Zorro's evolution from pulps to screen, "Faces" also goes into fascinating tangents on such subjects as the Spanish style of fencing and use of the bullwhip. It also explores many little-known Zorro films, foreign and domestic, along with the classic and most-recent Zorro cinema. Thoroughly entertaining, both for the diehard Zorro fan and the Zorro newcomer!

I have recently rewatched this and found it to be a good overview of the different film and television versions of Zorro. Unfortunately, I found it a bit disappointing that they barely mentioned the Family Channel tv series. The series ran for several years but only got a brief mention in this documentary.

Also, the movie clips seemed to be pulled mostly from the Alain Delon movie and the Douglas Fairbanks version, with only a few others tossed in. It would have been nice if there had been a greater variety of clips, including from the Family Channel version.

However, in terms of providing a good overview of the different versions, this documentary does do the job.

Johnston McCulley's valourous creation, Zorro, is the subject of this engrossing documentary that depicts the double-lived gallant throughout his various media appearances. McCulley was fascinated by legends of early California that, in combination with his fondness for Baroness Orczy's Scarlet Pimpernel, formed a basis of Zorro's clash against injustice initially set within Spanish ruled California in the 1820s. McCulley's first Zorro piece, "Zorro Rides Again", appeared in the October 1918 issue of Argosy All-Story Magazine and, soon after, Douglas Fairbanks, who also wrote the script (as Elton Thomas), produced, and starred in THE MARK OF ZORRO, playing as foppish Don Diego Vega during daylight hours, then becoming the masked Zorro (Sp., "fox") in the evening, a superior swordsman graced with a social conscience, who trounces all of his physical competitors, utilizing the familiar Fairbanks brio as seen here in numerous clips. This 1920 film became a substantial commercial success and the documentary presents a large selection of its successors' footage, culled through by the able production corps. Among these are the Fairbanks vehicle DON Q, SON OF ZORRO, released in 1925, during which the acrobatic star performs as both father and son, with the setting in Spain and in California; the first sound era Zorro picture, BOLD CABALLERO, featuring Robert Livingston; the outstanding 1940 THE MARK OF ZORRO, with Tyrone Power as lead, although Twentieth Century Fox wanted unavailable Errol Flynn (contracted to Warner Brothers) for the part; the Alain Delon 1975 ZORRO, a continual European favourite; the appalling spoof, ZORRO THE GAY BLADE, with George Hamilton; and a bevy of Republic serials, some with uncommon themes, beginning with the 1936 release of THE VIGILANTES ARE COMING, with Livingston cast as Zorro. Many other samples of the Zorro motif in serial form are here, for the greatest part taken from trailers, and we view such as John Carroll, Reed Hadley, George Turner, Clayton Moore, and Ken Curtis in the role of Zorro or an imitation. Although many of these serial efforts are largely uninspired, they could be relied upon for solid box office revenue. The best-known of recent Zorro affairs, THE MASK OF ZORRO (1998) is puffed here by brief interviews with that film's stars, Anthony Hopkins, Antonio Banderas, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The work's narrator points out that soon after Walt Disney licensed the rights to the Zorro character in 1952, his studio made a star of Guy Williams in Disney's highly popular television series, "The Sign of Zorro", that generated a renascence of cinematic adventures relating tales of the legendary hero, made during the 1960s and 1970s in Europe and Latin America. An intriguing postulate of the documentary provides for evolution by the Zorro icon, that includes his double identity, into radio's "The Shadow", in addition to such as Batman, Superman, Captain Marvel, and a wide range of like heroic figures of fantasy. The documentary occupies the greatest portion of an ably produced two hour DVD package from Passport Video, and its narrative that relates of the moralistic stories of Zorro is informative and never less than interesting. Amid the other segments included upon the disc are a pair of items dealing with a particularly worthy theme, one that will be of especial interest to many viewers, incorporating interviews with, and lengthy demonstrations from, "Sword Master" Tim Weske and "Whip Master" Anthony De Longis, each of whom adeptly illustrates in some detail his specialty weapon. Some viewers may be startled to learn that the tip of a cracking whip travels at over 700 miles per hour!