Short of canvassing opinions from other lifelong movie buffs I have to assume that like myself there are several gaps in their viewing history. I have still, for example, never seen Topper or The Glass Key and many are the titles I only saw years after their initial release - Gone With The Wind, The Wizard Of Oz, Meet Me In St Louis, Double Indemnity, Detective Story and so on. One of these was the Ty Power version of The Mask Of Zorro, I wasn't around on its initial release and any subsequent TV transmission has eluded me. Now I have it on DVD and can judge what the fuss is about. There are some tasty names involved, Mamoulian, Power, Rathbone, Darnell and they all deliver more or less. Perhaps Darnell is most impressive simply because I didn't expect much from her; I'd only seen her as a sultry vamp/good-time girl and it's great to see she can do ingenue convincingly. Rathbone was by far the finest fencer in Hollywood and Power is able to give him a good workout. The story is rubbish and Diego seems to tip his glove far too soon but it's still a great diversion.
Review of The Mark of Zorro
