Don Diego de la Vega (Zorro)'s son, Cesar (Douglas Fairbanks), is in Spain finishing his education. While Cesar is showing off to friends his remarkable prowess with the whip, he accidentally clips off the feather shako on the hat of Don Sebastian (Donald Crisp) of the Palace Guard. Although Cesar apologizes immediately, Sebastian is unforgiving. Their duel is interrupted by a runaway bull. Trapped on the ground with his sword belt tangled in his boot, certain to be gored by the bull, Sebastian is saved at the last minute by Cesar. This further infuriates him. The action is observed by Queen Isabella (Stella De Lanti) and her guest, Austrian Archduke Paul (Warner Oland); she requests Cesar's company immediately. Another friend of Cesar, Don Fabrique Borusta (Jean Hersholt), offers to bring him to Her Majesty.
Meanwhile, Cesar encounters Dolores (Mary Astor), daughter of his father's old friend, General de Muro (Jack McDonald), as she poses for a sculptor. It is love at first sight. But Sebastian, who comes from a poor family, has set his sights on Dolores and her family's wealth, and is determined to win her. Later, the Archduke invites Cesar to paint the town, with Sebastian as their "duenna." In a local tavern the Archduke offends the patrons, all seeming ruffians, by flirting with the dancer. Sebastian contrives his and the Duke's escape, but locks Cesar in the tavern to defend himself against the cutthroats. In the carriage that takes them away from what he is sure will be Cesar's death, Sebastian declares he has a meeting with Dolores. The Archduke invites himself along. While Sebastian asks the General for his daughter's hand, the Archduke sees Dolores serenaded by Cesar, who escaped (easily) and even acquired a guitar as a souvenir. Seeing the reactions of the young couple, the Archduke knows Cesar has won Dolores's heart.
Although penniless, Don Fabrique has designs on succeeding in society. He glues together a discarded invitation to the Archduke's Grand Ball, and crashes the party. At the ball, Cesar and Sebastian sit on either side of Dolores, both seeming frustrated in their efforts to woo her. The Archduke summons her to him. When Cesar sees the Archduke caress Dolores's cheek, Cesar becomes jealous and goes to confront him. But the Archduke assures him that he is working in Cesar's favor, and proves it by dragging Sebastian to another room to play cards while Cesar and Dolores dance together. Cesar pulls Dolores to a balcony for ardent lovemaking. Fabrique sees them; when the pair are interrupted by Dolores's father, General de Muro, who recognizes Cesar and is ready to give his blessing, Fabrique believes they are about to be betrothed.
In the card room, the Archduke declares that Sebastian is as unlucky at cards as he is in love. Franque tiptoes in, and tells the Archduke that he saw Cesar and Dolores kissing: surely they will be married now. The Archduke summons Cesar to congratulate him, to the horror of Sebastian. When he enters, Cesar is offended at the impropriety of this news, and learns that the source was Fabrique. Such bad manners should not go unpunished. He informs the Archduke that someone here doesn't belong, and asks if he should remove him. Archduke Paul nods, and Cesar pulls Fabrique out of the room by tugging his nose.
The Archduke continues to taunt Sebastian, a foolish move when Sebastian, enraged by jealousy, pulls his sword and stabs the Archduke before he realizes what he has done. He hides when Cesar, hearing something, enters, then strikes Cesar unconscious. He frames him for the Archduke's murder, then casually leaves. With his last dying energy, the Archduke pulls a playing card off the table and writes on it: Sebastian assassinated me. Archduke Paul.
Fabrique enters, finds Cesar unconscious, finds the playing card and, miffed at Cesar's insult, takes it. Shortly thereafter he confronts Sebastian with his demands: to be appointed Civil Governor. Both stand by while the Guard arrests Cesar for the murder and orders his immediate execution to prevent an international incident. But General de Muro offers Cesar a gentleman's way out by giving him a dagger. Cesar pretends to stab himself and falls to the moat below the castle.
Months pass, while Cesar hides in the ruins of the old family castle. He pretends to be Don Q, for "a trick must be answered by a trick!" Fabrique has become Civil Governor, receiving regular pay-offs from Sebastian. Fabrique has even taken over Cesar's servants, and maidservant Lola (Lottie Pickford), seeing how Sebastian behaves around Fabrique, runs to tell Cesar that although gossip says they are close friends, in truth Sebastian is afraid of Fabrique. This will prove the leverage Cesar needs to establish his innocence.
After months of mourning over Cesar, Dolores is pushed to marry Sebastian. Just as she is about to sign the marriage contract with Sebastian, Cesar appears at the window. He is alive! The Queen orders Cesar's arrest. The best man to find him: that one-eyed ferret, Colonel Matsado (Albert MacQuarrie). But when Matsado stops at a country inn on his way into the city, Cesar waylays him, steals his uniform, and impersonates him. Back in the city Cesar as Matsado pretends to beat his (now Fabrique's) old manservant Robledo (Charles Stevens) for information on Cesar's whereabouts, then convinces Fabrique to accompany him to the ruins where Cesar has been living these past months. There he is determined to find what hold Fabrique has on Sebastian.
In a whirlwind finish, Sebastian and the real Matsado track Cesar to his lair, as do his father, Zorro (Fairbanks), who with the mute faithful family servant Bernardo (Tote Du Crow), has sailed from California to Spain to help. On the way to the ruins they pass Dolores and her mother along the same road. Finally, as all gather at the ruins, Zorro and Don Q battle the soldiers, Fabrique confesses, Sebastian is beaten, de Muro recognizes his old friend, the villains are arrested, and Cesar and Dolores reunited.
Gladys Louise Smith, known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian actress resident in the U.S., and also producer, screenwriter, and film studio founder. She was a pioneer in the American film industry, with a Hollywood career that spanned five decades.
The Black Pirate is a 1926 American silent action adventure film shot entirely in two-color Technicolor about an adventurer and a "company" of pirates. Directed by Albert Parker, it stars Douglas Fairbanks, Donald Crisp, Sam De Grasse, and Billie Dove. In 1993, The Black Pirate was included in the annual selection of 25 motion pictures to be added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
Zorro is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante that defends the commoners and Indigenous peoples of California against corrupt and tyrannical officials and other villains. His signature all-black costume includes a cape, a hat known as a sombrero cordobés, and a mask covering the upper half of his face.
This is an overview of 1925 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
Donald William Crisp was an English film actor as well as an early producer, director and screenwriter. His career lasted from the early silent film era into the 1960s. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1942 for his performance in How Green Was My Valley.
The Mark of Zorro is a 1940 American black-and-white swashbuckling film released by 20th Century-Fox, directed by Rouben Mamoulian, produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, and starring Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, and Basil Rathbone. The supporting cast features Eugene Pallette, Gale Sondergaard, and Robert Lowery. The film is based on the novel The Curse of Capistrano by Johnston McCulley, originally published in 1919 in five serialized installments in All-Story Weekly, which introduced the masked hero Zorro; the story is set in Southern California during the early 19th century. After the enormous success of the silent 1920 film adaptation, the novel was republished under that name by Grosset & Dunlap. The Mark of Zorro was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score. The film was named to the National Film Registry in 2009 by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant", and to be preserved for all time.
The Mark of Zorro is a 1920 American silent Western romance film starring Douglas Fairbanks and Noah Beery. This genre-defining swashbuckler adventure was the first movie version of The Mark of Zorro. Based on the 1919 story The Curse of Capistrano by Johnston McCulley, which introduced the masked hero, Zorro, the screenplay was adapted by Fairbanks and Eugene Miller.
Zorro is an American action-adventure Western television series produced by Walt Disney Productions and starring Guy Williams. Based on the Zorro character created by Johnston McCulley in his 1919 novella, the series premiered on October 10, 1957, on ABC. The final network broadcast was July 2, 1959. Seventy-eight episodes were produced, and four hour-long specials were aired on the Walt Disney anthology series between October 30, 1960, and April 2, 1961.
Mortimer Wilson was an American composer of classical music. He also scored several musical and dramatic films in the 1920s.
Charlotte Smith, known professionally as Lottie Pickford, was a Canadian-American silent film actress and socialite. She was the younger sister of fellow actress Mary Pickford and elder sister of actor Jack Pickford.
Swashbuckler films are a subgenre of the action film genre, characterised by swordfighting and adventurous heroic characters, known as swashbucklers. While morality is typically clear-cut, heroes and villains alike often follow a code of honour. Some swashbuckler films have romantic elements, most frequently a damsel in distress. Both real and fictional historical events often feature prominently in the plot.
Stella Dallas is a 1925 American silent drama film that was produced by Samuel Goldwyn, adapted by Frances Marion, and directed by Henry King. The film stars Ronald Colman, Belle Bennett, Lois Moran, Alice Joyce, Jean Hersholt, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Prints of the film survive in several film archives.
Rosita is a 1923 silent American historical comedy drama film directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Mary Pickford. The film is based upon an 1872 opera Don César de Bazan by Adolphe d'Ennery and Philippe Dumanoir.
Hesketh Vernon Prichard, later Hesketh-Prichard was an English cricketer, explorer, adventurer, writer, big-game hunter, and marksman who contributed to sniping practice within the British Army during the First World War. Concerned not only with improving the quality of marksmanship, the measures he introduced to counter the threat of German snipers were credited by a contemporary with saving the lives of over 3,500 Allied soldiers.
The Dream of Zorro is a 1952 Italian comedy adventure film directed by Mario Soldati and starring Walter Chiari, Delia Scala and Vittorio Gassman. The future star Sophia Loren had a minor role in the film.
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. was an American actor and filmmaker, best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films. One of the biggest stars of the silent era, Fairbanks was referred to as "The King of Hollywood",. He was also a founding member of United Artists as well as the Motion Picture Academy and hosted the 1st Academy Awards in 1929.
The Adventurer is a 1928 American silent adventure film directed by Viktor Tourjansky and an uncredited W.S. Van Dyke with a screenplay written by Ruth Cummings and Jack Cunningham. The film stars Tim McCoy, Dorothy Sebastian, Charles Delaney, George Cowl and Michael Visaroff. The film was released on July 14, 1928, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Enrique Juan Vallejo was a Mexican cinematographer and film director.
Enrique Acosta was a Mexican American movie actor. He appeared in multiple films from 1925 to 1947, such as "Don Q, Son of Zorro" (1925) and "A Message to Garcia" (1936).
References
↑ Krämer, Peter (2019). The General. ISBN978-1-8387-1889-3. In addition, the strongly comedy-inflected, spectacular adventure films starring Fairbanks, who was known for his onscreen acrobatics (as well as his infectious smile), ranked highly in the annual charts – The Thief of Bagdad at no. 3 in 1924, Don Q, Son of Zorro at no. 4 in 1925 and The Black Pirate at no. 4 in 1926 – with domestic rentals of between $1.5 million and $1.7 million.
1 2 Bowser, Eileen (1969). Film Notes. NY Museum of Modern Art. p.56.
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