Douglas Fairbanks truly deserves a lot of the credit for popularizing the Iconic character of "Zorro." Adapted from the 1919 story, "The Curse of Capistrano" by Johnston McCulley, The Mark of Zorro (1920) was the first of many film versions of the tale. Not only did Douglas Fairbanks produce and star in the film, he also co-wrote the screenplay under the pseudonym "Elton Thomas." The now-iconic look of the black-clad masked figure was not in the original story, but rather was conceived by Fairbanks for the film. His daring, agile stunts made The Mark of Zorro become the first defining film in the "Swashbuckler" genre of action movies. Produced by Fairbanks' own Douglas Fairbanks Pictures Corporation, The Mark of Zorro was the first film released by United Artists, the innovative company Fairbanks had co-founded the previous year with friends Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and D.W. Griffith.
Don Diego Vega (Douglas Fairbanks), the wealthy son of a ranchero in early 19th Century Spanish Colonial California, is boring and naive by all outward appearances...
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| Douglas Fairbanks as Zorro: The Mark of Zorro. 1920 |
But Don Diego has a secret. He moonlights as Zorro...
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| Douglas Fairbanks as Zorro: The Mark of Zorro. 1920 |
a masked hero that stands up for the disenfranchised poor...
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| Douglas Fairbanks as Zorro: The Mark of Zorro. 1920 |
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| Douglas Fairbanks as Zorro: The Mark of Zorro. 1920 |
and protects them from the greedy landowners and corrupt politicians...
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| Douglas Fairbanks as Zorro: The Mark of Zorro. 1920 |
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| Douglas Fairbanks as Zorro: The Mark of Zorro. 1920 |
and wins the heart of a lady in the process...
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| Douglas Fairbanks as Zorro: The Mark of Zorro. 1920 |
"The Mark of Zorro" (1920)- full feature film
