ZORRO (1975)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *sociological*

The Walt Disney ZORRO teleseries sparked a fair number of copycat Zorro-productions in Europe throughout the decade of the 1960s and for the first half of the seventies. Of those I've seen, the 1975 ZORRO is the best, though oddly it diverges not only from Disney but from the original 1919 Johnston McCulley text.

In the first Zorro story, Diego is a Spanish noble whose father has a governmental position in Nueva Aragon, a colony in Spanish California in the early 1800s. Having heard from his father of the rampant corruption in the region by the military, Diego goes to the States to help-- but with an advance plan to pose as a fop while working against the military in a colorful disguise. Diego's motives, when stated at all, involve "noblesse oblige," the obligation of the ruling class to dispense justice to their subjects. In the course of stamping out evil, Diego meets a comely young lass, Lolita Pulido, who has contempt for Diego's mincing persona but falls in love with his swashbuckling identity. 

Unlike the book, ZORRO starts at the beginning, but gives Diego a rather proletarian makeover not unlike the one seen in THE MASK OF ZORRO. Diego (Alain Delon), who knows swordsmanship but whose familial connections are not mentioned, is first seen visiting in Spain, paying a visit to his close friend Miguel de la Serna. In common to Diego, whose clothes are those of a working man, Miguel is richly dressed, and has a fine house, a wife and a young son. Miguel announces that he plans to succeed his late father as governor of Nueva Aragon, after the latter perished of malaria. Worldly-wise Diego informs Miguel that there's no malaria in Spanish California, and cautions Miguel to be wary. However, that very night assassins strike, taking Miguel's life before Diego can kill them. 

Thus, whatever Diego's life was before, he devotes his existence to vengeance for his idealistic friend. He goes to California, posing as Miguel, and assumes the role of governor, though he plays the part with a foppish air. The head of the corrupt military, Colonel Huerta (Stanley Baker), is disappointed that his assassins failed and can find no way to prevent the newcomer from taking charge. 

Diego doesn't have the idea of a double identity in mind until a young boy tells him about some local legend of a crusading bandit whose name is Spanish for "fox." In the mansion of the late governor (i.e., Miguel's father), Diego meets Joaquin, a deaf-mute who served the governor, and the governor's widow, who never encountered Miguel earlier and has zero interest in her supposed nephew. (The aunt plays a minor comic role but is not important to the story.) Diego even gets help from the late governor's dog, Assassin by name, who shows Diego and pseudo-Bernardo the entrance to a secret chamber. Possibly this discovery helps the two decide to become allies in the Zorro project, though the movie never shows this resolution.

Though Diego spends a little time masquerading as a common laborer to suss things out, soon he dons cape and mask and begins his career of battling the tyrannical soldiers. He also meets his romantic interest, Hortensia Pulido (Ottavio Piccolo). She is also becomes a little more proletarian than her book-model, for evil Huerta caused Hortensia's family to be dispossessed of their riches. Huerta also puts the moves on Hortensia, but Zorro's on hand to thwart him there as well. Oh, and in the only real shout-out to the Disney series, one of Huerta's men is heavyset Sergeant Garcia (comedian Moustache), whom Zorro also humiliates.

Huerta sets a trap for the Fox. using Hortesia as bait, but Zorro easily rescues the lissome lady and eludes capture. However, in a subsequent chase, Zorro appears to perish. Huerta celebrates by setting up a wedding for himself and Hortensia. But Zorro re-appears, sparking the downtrodden people to rebel and overcome the soldiers. (One noblewoman even gets into the act, judo chopping a soldier into unconsciousness.) Then there follows a protracted swordfight between Zorro and Huerta, which by its length may have been seeking to equal the run-time of the eight-minute duel in the 1952 SCARAMOUCHE. (To be sure, Huerta loses his sword for a bit and makes up by using both a spear and an axe in its stead, though the antagonists finish up with the traditional rapiers.) I think ZORRO's battle is two minutes longer, but I suppose it depends what scene you start with.

Delon throws a lot of charisma into the heroic role and has a little fun with the fop persona, though the script doesn't do much with that aspect. Baker, in his last role, makes a good villain, and the stuntwork is generally good. Though Zorro rides a horse, there's no nod toward giving the steed a name, as in the Disney show. In fact, the dog Assassin gets more screen time. The movie's only fault is a really corny theme song, which unfortunately is played both at the beginning and end of the film. From a quick Wiki-check it looks like this and a couple of other flicks were the last European Zorros of the decade-- and a few years later, the big franchises to imitate became STAR WARS and MAD MAX, effectively ending Europe's original love affair with the foxy bandit.