The Mark of Zorro

In early nineteenth-century California, Don Diego Vega returns from Spain to his family home and finds that his father, the former mayor of Los Angeles, has been pushed aside. A new local ruler, Luis Quintero, backed by Captain Esteban Pasquale's soldiers, has taken power, raised taxes and made life hard for the region's farmers, punishing anyone who resists. Diego decides to fight back, hiding behind the identity of the masked swordsman Zorro while publicly playing the part of a frivolous, pampered idler. A romance develops between Diego and Quintero's niece, Lolita, who does not at first know who her suitor really is.

The film is an adaptation of the Zorro stories, and the fourth feature directed by Rouben Mamoulian, following Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Love Me Tonight and Becky Sharp. Tyrone Power leads as both the idle nobleman and his masked counterpart, with Linda Darnell, Basil Rathbone, Gale Sondergaard, Eugene Pallette and J. Edward Bromberg in the main supporting roles. John Taintor Foote wrote the screenplay, and 52 cast members are credited.

Made by 20th Century Fox for about 1 million dollars, the film took around 4 million dollars worldwide, a strong return on its cost. Critical response was considerably warmer than the general audience ratings: it scores 8.4/10 from 13 reviews, against 7.5/10 on IMDb from some 12,000 votes and 7.2/10 on TMDB from 239 votes.