Tyrone Power makes a fine Zorro and he gets to face off against Basil Rathbone as the villain Captain Esteban Pasquale. Their fast paced and graceful duel with blades is definitely the high point for me of this Zorro film, the first significant version after the silent era brought us two excellent versions produced by star Douglas Fairbanks. Although Power doesn't have the raw athleticism of Fairbanks (who does?), he's an excellent fencer and his screen personality is well suited to the role. Just as with Fairbanks in his version of "Mark of Zorro," we get to see Power play both a foppish nobleman and the secret identity of Zorro. This provides an interesting set of layers to the film in the sense that Don Diego Vega only shows his "true" self when he wears the mask and presents his "disguise" when he shows his true face. It also provides room for situational comedy, since his beloved, Lolita Quintero (Linda Darnell), must not know this secret too soon. This film doesn't mine it quite as fully as Fairbanks' in which the secret is not revealed until very close to the conclusion
probably the producers felt that the conceit was a bit too thin to hold up over the length of the entire picture and that the romance would suffer because of it. Regardless it's an interesting sign of the changes in audience tastes after the silent era and the perception that pure melodrama could not sustain a picture in the "modern" 1940s film atmosphere.
Arthur Miller's photography is good and Alfred Newman's music is suitable but not overwhelming in quality like so many of his scores. A lot of the look and feel of the film's pseudo-Spanish atmosphere was improved and enhanced with many of the same cast members in color for "Blood and Sand." Director Mamoulian's sense of rhythm and pace is impeccable.
Power's performance of course is the only one that really gets the focus of the film; even Darnell's maiden in distress is merely a functionary of his experiences and adventure. Rathbone does some good work in a pretty easy role for him. The most surprising work in this film comes from Gale Sondergaard, who provides a very believable turn as the wife of the corrupt regional governor (J. Edward Bromberg) who imagines herself as a kind of demimonde or woman of the world. The dinner scene with the wife, the governor, Don Vega and Capt. Pasquale is probably the most interesting in the film from a character standpoint, because we have these two very macho men seemingly battling for the attention of Sondergaard's vain wife while the fat corrupt husband watches. Even given his stupidity, it's impossible to think that the governor isn't aware of what's happening and that lends the film a slight edge of moral iniquity. The conflict also adds to the negative chemistry between Vega and Pasquale. And it's interesting to watch from the perspective that even though Vega/Zorro is only pretending to be interested in Dona Quintero (Sondergaard), he's still able to win her from his rival how ironic! The film builds steadily to an exciting climax with Zorro and Capt. Pasquale in a fatal duel and the people of Los Angeles rising up against the oppressive governor. I'm sure this was supremely exciting for audiences in the early 40s and it still holds up as an action/adventure film today.
Arthur Miller's photography is good and Alfred Newman's music is suitable but not overwhelming in quality like so many of his scores. A lot of the look and feel of the film's pseudo-Spanish atmosphere was improved and enhanced with many of the same cast members in color for "Blood and Sand." Director Mamoulian's sense of rhythm and pace is impeccable.
Power's performance of course is the only one that really gets the focus of the film; even Darnell's maiden in distress is merely a functionary of his experiences and adventure. Rathbone does some good work in a pretty easy role for him. The most surprising work in this film comes from Gale Sondergaard, who provides a very believable turn as the wife of the corrupt regional governor (J. Edward Bromberg) who imagines herself as a kind of demimonde or woman of the world. The dinner scene with the wife, the governor, Don Vega and Capt. Pasquale is probably the most interesting in the film from a character standpoint, because we have these two very macho men seemingly battling for the attention of Sondergaard's vain wife while the fat corrupt husband watches. Even given his stupidity, it's impossible to think that the governor isn't aware of what's happening and that lends the film a slight edge of moral iniquity. The conflict also adds to the negative chemistry between Vega and Pasquale. And it's interesting to watch from the perspective that even though Vega/Zorro is only pretending to be interested in Dona Quintero (Sondergaard), he's still able to win her from his rival how ironic! The film builds steadily to an exciting climax with Zorro and Capt. Pasquale in a fatal duel and the people of Los Angeles rising up against the oppressive governor. I'm sure this was supremely exciting for audiences in the early 40s and it still holds up as an action/adventure film today.