The Mark of Zorro

Ah, the escapist fare of the 1940s. It didn't matter if the plot was wafer thin or racist by today's standards. All that matter was that the stars looked glamorous and the picture lets you forget your troubles for the next few hours. (Hey, the economy was terrible and later on there was a war going on.)

All of that more or less sums up Rouben Mamoulian's The Mark of Zorro. With Tyrone Power as the titular Zorro, it's the kind of film that doesn't take much to grab the viewer's attention. (Having Power in tight pants certainly helps.)

It doesn't have the lavish detail of Mamoulian's earlier film Queen Christina nor The Adventure of Robin Hood released two years before, but The Mark of Zorro has its moments. (It's more subdued because presumably it didn't have a budget as big as the one on the Errol Flynn picture.) Hey, sometimes less is more.

Now pretty much everything about The Mark of Zorro is typical popcorn fare. A little adventure, a little romance, a good-looking leading man, a British actor as the villain...things like that. All in all, nothing of noted significance.

But again, The Mark of Zorro does provide some quick entertainment. Power is certainly right as the dashing lead as with Basil Rathbone as the villain. Again, all in all, it's a decent watch.

My Rating: ****