Rating: 
Summary: Hold out for better if you can
Review: Although I'd just seen "Mark of Zorro" on TCM (for their Silent Sunday), I ordered this DVD to add to my collection of silent gems...and GEMS they ARE!! The print of "Zorro" is somewhat better than TCM...this is DVD, after all...excellent piano score by Jon C. Mirsalis (as is for the second feature). Not too many flaws...VERY few scratches, and such. A mighty fine print. (Approx. 1hr. 45 min.)
As for "Don Q," the wonderful folks at KINO have not only offered what appears to be the finest print available... some scratches, yeah--but wonderfully color-tinted and a superb piano score, but they've cropped the titles and even INTER-titles!!--since the original film-frame falls somehat short of our 1.33:1 TV sets. There are some more noticeable scrathces in the original film element, but it does NOT distract!! "Don Q" offers a storyline that doesn't categorize itself as a "Swashbuckling Tale"--simply because it isn't!!--It's even better, and will keep those who haven't seen it, glued to the television! (Approx. run time: 1 hour, 50 min.)
As an extra, we see Orson Welles introduce "Mark" for PBS's "The Silent Years," complete with earlier glimpses of Doug Sr., and a SOUND clip from a 1931 talkie of his! enjoy nearly 4+ hours of one of the greatest box-office stars of the Silent Era!!
Rating: 
Summary: DON'T EVEN HESITATE!!!
Review: Although I'd just seen "Mark of Zorro" on TCM (for their Silent Sunday), I ordered this DVD to add to my collection of silent gems...and GEMS they ARE!! The print of "Zorro" is somewhat better than TCM...this is DVD, after all...excellent piano score by Jon C. Mirsalis (as is for the second feature). Not too many flaws...VERY few scratches, and such. A mighty fine print. (Approx. 1hr. 45 min.)
As for "Don Q," the wonderful folks at KINO have not only offered what appears to be the finest print available... some scratches, yeah--but wonderfully color-tinted and a superb piano score, but they've cropped the titles and even INTER-titles!!--since the original film-frame falls somehat short of our 1.33:1 TV sets. There are some more noticeable scrathces in the original film element, but it does NOT distract!! "Don Q" offers a storyline that doesn't categorize itself as a "Swashbuckling Tale"--simply because it isn't!!--It's even better, and will keep those who haven't seen it, glued to the television! (Approx. run time: 1 hour, 50 min.)
As an extra, we see Orson Welles introduce "Mark" for PBS's "The Silent Years," complete with earlier glimpses of Doug Sr., and a SOUND clip from a 1931 talkie of his! enjoy nearly 4+ hours of one of the greatest box-office stars of the Silent Era!!
Rating:
Summary: Fairbanks in Fine Form
Review: Although Kino makes no boast about print quality on the box, its print of MARK OF ZORRO seems to be from an excellent 35 mm source. This film is the first, and many say the best, of Doug Fairbanks' swashbucklers that he personally financed and produced during the 1920s. His subsequent films were more elaborate - he seemed to rival DeMille in epic production quality - but ZORRO is the most consistently energetic. Fairbanks remains in a class by himself as a superstar and he became a multi-millionaire by acting out his daydreams in films. That's nice work if you can get it!DON Q, SON OF ZORRO is almost as good but bogs down here and there in story complications. The print quality and contrast is not as good as ZORRO and I suspect that DON Q comes from a 16 mm. print. The five years between the two films show Fairbanks' reputation as a producer having grown: DON Q looks as though it costs four times what MARK OF ZORRO cost. Jon Mirsalis' piano score is very qood and he captures everything that silent film accompaniment should be: melodic and never intrusive. The bonus material is interesting but I wonder why KINO didn't include the five minutes or so of outtakes from DON Q that has been in circulation for years. The unidentified sound film excerpt of Fairbanks included with Orson Welles' introduction is from the 1931 talkie, REACHING FOR THE MOON. Even in the excerpt, Fairbanks seems rather constrained by the dialogue chores. When he enters a room by vaulting through the window, he lands with a "thump," showing why sound films would rob Fairbanks of the illusion of effortless agility so wonderfully masked in his silent films. Three chapters from his 1918 motivational book, Making Life Worthwhile, are included. Some say the book and others published during that time were ghostwritten for Fairbanks. In any event, I've wondered why he had nothing to say to the public during the years of the Great Depression in the 1930s when people really needed a boost. I highly recommend this dvd as a superb example of energetic silent filmmaking and for the joy of experiencing the inimitable Doug Fairbanks personality.
Rating:
Summary: Fairbanks in Fine Form
Review: Although Kino makes no boast about print quality on the box, its print of MARK OF ZORRO seems to be from an excellent 35 mm source. This film is the first, and many say the best, of Doug Fairbanks' swashbucklers that he personally financed and produced during the 1920s. His subsequent films were more elaborate - he seemed to rival DeMille in epic production quality - but ZORRO is the most consistently energetic. Fairbanks remains in a class by himself as a superstar and he became a multi-millionaire by acting out his daydreams in films. That's nice work if you can get it! DON Q, SON OF ZORRO is almost as good but bogs down here and there in story complications. The print quality and contrast is not as good as ZORRO and I suspect that DON Q comes from a 16 mm. print. The five years between the two films show Fairbanks' reputation as a producer having grown: DON Q looks as though it costs four times what MARK OF ZORRO cost. Jon Mirsalis' piano score is very qood and he captures everything that silent film accompaniment should be: melodic and never intrusive. The bonus material is interesting but I wonder why KINO didn't include the five minutes or so of outtakes from DON Q that has been in circulation for years. The unidentified sound film excerpt of Fairbanks included with Orson Welles' introduction is from the 1931 talkie, REACHING FOR THE MOON. Even in the excerpt, Fairbanks seems rather constrained by the dialogue chores. When he enters a room by vaulting through the window, he lands with a "thump," showing why sound films would rob Fairbanks of the illusion of effortless agility so wonderfully masked in his silent films. Three chapters from his 1918 motivational book, Making Life Worthwhile, are included. Some say the book and others published during that time were ghostwritten for Fairbanks. In any event, I've wondered why he had nothing to say to the public during the years of the Great Depression in the 1930s when people really needed a boost. I highly recommend this dvd as a superb example of energetic silent filmmaking and for the joy of experiencing the inimitable Doug Fairbanks personality.
Rating:
Summary: Have u seen this 1? Buckle all your swaches
Review: amzing. doug can jump like noone else before or since. a few chase sequences to rival buster.
zorro is excellent filmmaking. It starts with a soldier with a z on his face explaining it's not his fault.For 16 minutes zorro remains offscreen. When he does finally appear it's really cool.
don q, son of zorro, is even more amazing. Five years after zorro and doug looks even more athletic.The plot is far more complicated, but better than zorro. I'll never look at Mary Astor in Maltese Falcon the same way agin. She's breathtaking.
Score is excellent. If you like Errol and Ty and later swordsmen get this one.
Rating:
Summary: ANOTHER FAIRBANKS SILENT CLASSIC
Review: Doug was at his Peak in this silent version of "The Mark of Zorro". Fairbanks provides the audience with an electrifying performance as Zorro, and from it, very few people would guess that it was his first venture into the swashbuckling genre, as his swordplay seems as assured as in his later films. Fairbanks is also excellent as Don Diego, drawing upon his experience in comedy to bring us a vivid portrait of a not so vivid man. Noah Beery gives a delightfully over-the-top performance as the bombastic yet bumbling Sergeant Gonzales. Robert McKim is splendid as the real villain of the film, Captain Ramon, and the final fight with Don Diego/Zorro is a pleasure to look at. Marguerite de la Motte is well cast as the frail and gentle Lolita Pulido. In general, "The Mark of Zorro" is an entertaining, if dated film, which provided Fairbanks with an opportunity to bring a change to his career, as he would focus on big-budget swashbucklers following the success on this film. Fairbanks refined the character which McCulley created, providing audiences with the first visual representation of this pulp fiction masked outlaw. Every Zorro film made afterwards would be influenced by Fairbanks's portrayal. Because of this, "The Mark of Zorro" has acquired a historical significance in the creation of what has become since then a Latin-American cultural icon. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: ANOTHER FAIRBANKS SILENT CLASSIC
Review: Doug was at his Peak in this silent version of "The Mark of Zorro". Fairbanks provides the audience with an electrifying performance as Zorro, and from it, very few people would guess that it was his first venture into the swashbuckling genre, as his swordplay seems as assured as in his later films. Fairbanks is also excellent as Don Diego, drawing upon his experience in comedy to bring us a vivid portrait of a not so vivid man. Noah Beery gives a delightfully over-the-top performance as the bombastic yet bumbling Sergeant Gonzales. Robert McKim is splendid as the real villain of the film, Captain Ramon, and the final fight with Don Diego/Zorro is a pleasure to look at. Marguerite de la Motte is well cast as the frail and gentle Lolita Pulido. In general, "The Mark of Zorro" is an entertaining, if dated film, which provided Fairbanks with an opportunity to bring a change to his career, as he would focus on big-budget swashbucklers following the success on this film. Fairbanks refined the character which McCulley created, providing audiences with the first visual representation of this pulp fiction masked outlaw. Every Zorro film made afterwards would be influenced by Fairbanks's portrayal. Because of this, "The Mark of Zorro" has acquired a historical significance in the creation of what has become since then a Latin-American cultural icon. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: ANOTHER FAIRBANKS SILENT CLASSIC
Review: Doug was at his Peak in this silent version of "The Mark of Zorro". Fairbanks provides the audience with an electrifying performance as Zorro, and from it, very few people would guess that it was his first venture into the swashbuckling genre, as his swordplay seems as assured as in his later films. Fairbanks is also excellent as Don Diego, drawing upon his experience in comedy to bring us a vivid portrait of a not so vivid man. Noah Beery gives a delightfully over-the-top performance as the bombastic yet bumbling Sergeant Gonzales. Robert McKim is splendid as the real villain of the film, Captain Ramon, and the final fight with Don Diego/Zorro is a pleasure to look at. Marguerite de la Motte is well cast as the frail and gentle Lolita Pulido. In general, "The Mark of Zorro" is an entertaining, if dated film, which provided Fairbanks with an opportunity to bring a change to his career, as he would focus on big-budget swashbucklers following the success on this film. Fairbanks refined the character which McCulley created, providing audiences with the first visual representation of this pulp fiction masked outlaw. Every Zorro film made afterwards would be influenced by Fairbanks's portrayal. Because of this, "The Mark of Zorro" has acquired a historical significance in the creation of what has become since then a Latin-American cultural icon. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Fairbanks - King of the Action Stars
Review: If anyone doubts the temporal quality of fame, just think of Douglas Fairbanks to bring the point home. In his day, Douglas Fairbanks' fame was unprecedented. He and his wife, Mary Pickford, were thought of as America's royal family. Today, his marvelous action films are not watched save by film enthusiasts, and his face and name are lost to the youngest generation (if Jay Leno's "man on the street" interviews are any indication, our youngest Americans seem proud not to know the name of the Vice President, much less a silent screen actor like Fairbanks).
That Douglas Fairbanks should fade from memory is tremendously sad. "The Mark of Zorro" is a good example of the kind of film Fairbanks specialized in toward the end of the silent era, and were hugely popular because of the dynamic presence of its star.
There really has been nothing to compare with Fairbanks since his departure from films. No action star since can come close to his grace and power in an action film. If you doubt me, buy this DVD and see for yourself. Watch Fairbanks leap over tables, vault over chest-high walls to mount a horse, leap from a table top to a cornice near a ceiling, etc. And it was not just that he was able to do these feats, it is that he did them effortlessly. The sheer grace of the man was truly thrilling. He never seemed to strain for anything. I realized this while watching the Mark of Zorro during one scene when Fairbanks swings a leg up and dismounts a running horse, in full gallop, to land on his feet as easily as though he were stepping off the ladder. He made it look so easy, I went back and watched the scene again to make sure I had seen what I thought I saw. Yep, he had done it - smooth as silk.
Then there is his acting. In this film, Fairbanks plays a duel role: Don Diego, a foppish young noble, and his masked counterpart, Zorro. His portrayal of Don Diego is subtle and effective. His body seems shapeless and soft. His manner is distracted and indecisive and vaguely lost. He detests swordplay and is constantly wiping his face due to his great "fatigue." When his love interest declares "He is not a man - he is a fish!" she hits the nail on the head. Yet when he dons the mask, his body and manner are reborn. His body looks lithe and full of movement, and his smile, that tremendous, beaming smile that radiated pure happiness, is almost as devastating as his blade.
Finally, there is the art design and sets of this film. Fairbanks loved these period pieces, and he spared no expense on research and detail. His care, financial investment, and dedication to craft really show. Everything has a beautiful, "deep" feel.
As a side note, this review is based on the Kino DVD release of this film, and as with all the Kino releases, this edition looks simply great. God Bless Kino for being one of the best companies preserving and marketing silent films.
If you have bothered to read this review, please buy this film. If you do, Douglas Fairbanks will be popular and famous again, at least in your heart.
-Mykal Banta
Rating:
Summary: Great Fairbanks
Review: The test of a great film has to be how a new generation views the film. A few months ago I heard my ten-year-old daughter laughing at something she was watching. I found she had slipped one of my laser discs on the player and was watching Charlie Chaplain's antics in The Gold Rush. I can't tell you how much pleasure it gave me to find my little girl enjoying one of my silent films, and without knowing the historical significance of Chaplain. I watched the rest of it with her. I discovered she most enjoyed Chaplain, Keaton, and Douglas Fairbank's The Mark Of Zorro. Fairbanks made several great films after he stepped away from the comdedy roles he was doing, but The Mark Of Zorro remains the best one to introduce people to his silent films. The transfer is very good as is the second film: Don Q Son Of Zorro. In Don Q Fairbanks plays Zorro and his son in a return to the legend five years after the release of The Mark Of Zorro and introduced the use of the whip. Watch how Doug flips that cigarette into his mouth. I don't believe I have to say much about the stories as most people know Zorro from the many incarnations over the years. Suffice to say these both have their share of Fairbank's famous acrobatics and both films are worth your time. If you are interested in silent films this is a good place to start; if you are an aficionato of silent films you will not be disappointed. There is a bunch of other stuff on this DVD that make it well worth having. Enjoy!
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