The Mark of Zorro/Don Q, Son of Zorro

Best known for comedies, Douglas Fairbanks became the silent screen's first superstar action hero in the rousing 1920 swashbuckling adventure The Mask of Zorro, based on Johnston McCulley's immortal pulp fiction The Curse of Capistrano. Fairbanks stars as Don Diego de la Vega, the dandy son of a wealthy rancher, who transforms himself into the masked avenger Zorro. Marguerite De La Motte costars as Lolita, who disdains Don Diego, but loves the mysterious Zorro. Also starring are Robert McKim as tyrannical Captain Juan Ramon, and Noah Beery as Ramon's bumbling minion Sgt. Garcia. It's grand fun, with Fairbanks performing his own stunts. This DVD double feature also contains the lesser, but still entertaining 1925 sequel, Don Q, Son of Zorro, starring Fairbanks as upstart Don Cesar de Vega, who is framed for murder by a jealous member of the Queen's Guard (Donald Crisp, who also directed). The disc also contains home movies of Fairbanks, Orson Welles's introduction to The Mark of Zorro for a silent films anthology TV series, and newsreel footage of Fairbanks with boxer Jack Dempsey. A nostalgic treat for silent film buffs, this is recommended. Also available at the same price, Fairbanks in The Iron Mask. (K. Lee Benson)