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In The Mark Of Zorro, his first full-blown effort at the costume thriller,
Fairbanks portrays Don Diego Vega, a comically effete young nobleman with a
taste for tasseled sombreros and juvenile silk-hanky magic tricks. But when
danger calls, Diego swathes himself in black, straps on a well-honed sword
and storms the countryside as the mysterious Zorro, slicing his initial into
the faces of the "sentinels of oppression," pausing only to boldly romance
the woman (Marguerite De La Motte) to whom his shy alter-ego can hardly
summon the courage to speak. (100 minutes)
Returning to the legend that inspired his first swashbuckling adventure,
Fairbanks appeared in Don Q, Son Of Zorro. Don Cesar De Vega (Fairbanks)
crosses swords with a vicious member of the Queen's Guard (Donald Crisp, who
also directed), and steals the affection of a young heiress (Mary Astor).
When the officer frames the young upstart for murder, Don Cesar fakes his
own death and retreats to the crumbling ruins of the family castle where he
plots his vengeance. (110 minutes)
Supplemental Features:
- Two complete films on one dual-layer DVD
- Rare home movies of Fairbanks at work and play
- Fairbanks vs. Jack Dempsey, excerpt from a Pathé newsreel
- Introduction to The Mark Of Zorro by Orson Welles, featuring clips from other Fairbanks pictures
- Excerpt from Fairbanks's 1918 book Making Life Worth While
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