November 27, 1920: "The Mark of Zorro" Premieres

November 27, 1920: The film The Mark of Zorro premieres, introducing a legend. Douglas Fairbanks, the leading film star of the time, starred, and wrote the script with Eugene Miller. Fred Niblo directed.

Zorro had first appeared the year before, in the novel The Curse of Capistrano by Johnston McCulley. He wasn't the 1st costumed superhero with a secret identity: Baroness Emma Orczy had created Sir Percy Blakeney, the Scarlet Pimpernel, in 1903. But many of the tropes of later superhero stories began with Zorro, the word being Spanish for "fox":

* The civilian identity being that of a rich man, motivated by the unfairness of his peers toward the poor: Don Diego de la Vega is a ranchero in California, in the early 19th Century, while it was still part of Mexico, and Mexico part of the Spanish Empire. (The Scarlet Pimpernel was trying to save his fellow aristocrats in the French Revolution. It was the Revolutionaries who were fighting for the poor, and got grossly carried away.)

* The masked, costumed identity being that of a dashing crusader in dark clothing, the better to pull off his activities at night; but, in his civilian life, appearing to be a mild-mannered playboy, inspiring Batman, the Green Hornet, the Green Arrow, Iron Man, and a few others. While Clark Kent was not similarly rich (although paid well enough as a reporter to afford an apartment in Metropolis without a roommate), he, too, took on "mild-mannered" status, often seeming to run from danger, so he could hide and change into his Superman costume.

* The older butler, Bernardo, aiding him in his activities, inspiring Batman's Alfred Pennyworth. (The Green Hornet's Kato doesn't quite fit, as he was about the same age as his boss, and an action hero in his own right.) Bernardo was played by Native American actor Tote Du Crow.

* The base of operations being underneath the mansion, inspiring Batman's Batcave and a few others.

* The sweet ride, a black horse named Tornado, inspiring the Batmobile, the Green Hornet's Black Beauty, and the Pontiac Trans Ams that featured in Smokey and the Bandit and Knight Rider.

* The "love triangle" between the female lead and the two personalities, the superhero and the secret identity, inspiring many examples, most notably Lois Lane, Clark Kent and Superman. Here, the female lead is Lolita Pulido, played by Marguerite De La Motte.

* The man in power who should be on the side of justice, but uses his position for his own evil ends, in this case Governor Alvarado, played by George Periolat.

* The rotten henchman to the man in power, in this case, Captain Juan Ramon -- who has designs on both his boss' job and the hero's intended -- played by Robert McKim. Here, the rotten henchman has his own rotten henchman, Sergeant Pedro Gonzales, played by Noah Beery Sr. His son, Noah Beery Jr., made his film debut, as a boy watching Zorro fight.

* And although his main weapon is a sword, Zorro also uses a whip, inspiring Western film star Lash LaRue and Indiana Jones.

But what Zorro became best known for was his swordfighting skill, which would end in victory, and then, he would use the tip of his sword to carve the letter Z on the shirt -- and, in one case, the seat of the pants -- of his cornered foe. In the original novel, it was done on the face, but this was deemed too gruesome for the film-viewing public. Doing it on the rear end was considered funny.

Fairbanks became known for his "swashbuckling" roles, such as Zorro, d'Artagnan (in The Three Musketeers in 1921 and The Iron Mask in 1928), Robin Hood (on whom Zorro was partly based, in the film of that title in 1922), The Thief of Baghdad (in the film of that title in 1924), The Black Pirate (in the film of that title in 1926, note that his costume was black, not that he was playing an African or an African-American), and Don Juan (in The Private Life of Don Juan, 1934).

He married 3 times, the 2nd time to actress Mary Pickford, the leading female film star of the 1910s. Together, along with actor Charlie Chaplin and director D.W. Griffith, they founded the film studio United Artists. He died of a heart attack in 1939, only 56 years old. His last words were, "I've never felt better." His son from his 1st marriage, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., also became a legendary actor.

Robert McKim died in 1927, of a stroke, only 40 years old. Tote Du Crow also died in 1927, albeit considerably older, 69. George Periolat died in 1940. Noah Beery Sr. died in 1946. Marguerite De La Motte died in 1950, also too young and from a stroke, at 47.

In 1919, Fairbanks and Pickford built one of the most famous houses in America, at 1143 Summit Drive in Beverly Hills, naming it Pickfair. A magazine of the era called it "a gathering place only slightly less important than the White House... and much more fun."

After their 1936 divorce, she married actor Buddy Rogers (they adopted 2 children, the only ones she would have), and they lived there until her death in 1979. Rogers moved out of Pickfair and sold it to Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss. In 1988, Buss sold it to actress Pia Zadora. She demolished it in 1990, claiming termites had rendered it uninhabitable, but in 2012, she claimed the real reason was that she was spooked by a ghost living there, and that she now regrets it.

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In 1940, The Mark of Zorro was remade as a talkie, with Tyrone Power. Zorro creator Johnston McCulley lived until 1958, and had been able to consult with the Walt Disney Company on their 1957-59 ABC TV series starring Guy Williams. The film was remade again in 1974, in color, with Frank Langella.

Guy Williams

In 1981, Zorro, the Gay Blade featured George Hamilton as twin sons of the original Zorro, one of them, as the title suggests, gay, and he has to fill in for his brother after an injury. This was followed in 1983, by the CBS series Zorro and Son, with Henry Darrow as an aging Zorro who trains his son, played by Paul Regina, to take his place. It was a sitcom, and lasted only 5 episodes. Duncan Regehr starred in a syndicated TV series from 1990 to 1993.

In 1998, The Mask of Zorro was released. Welsh actor Anthony Hopkins plays an already-aging original Zorro, whose dream of Mexico's independence from Spain is achieved in 1821, but at a painful price: The outgoing Spanish governor burns his villa to the ground, killing his wife, arrests him, imprisons him for 20 years, and raises his infant daughter as his own.

When Don Diego is released in 1841, he meets a bandit, Alejandro Murrieta -- a character named for a real-life California bandit of that period, who partly inspired the character of Zorro. This is less a Batman and Robin situation than a "Batman Beyond" situation, as Hopkins trains Alejandro, played by Spanish actor Antonio Banderas, to be the new Zorro.

Eventually, the two men lead Don Diego's daughter Elena, played by Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones -- the Spanish-accented role leading many to pronounce her name "ZAY-tah" instead of the correct "ZEE-tah" -- see who her real father is, and what her adoptive father is. Fortunately, her swordfighting skills are also excellent -- taught to her by her adoptive father. Don Diego dies in the final battle, but, with Alejandro and Elena fighting together, good triumphs over evil.

A sequel was made in 2005, The Legend of Zorro, set at the dawn of California's Statehood in 1850, with Alejandro and Elena married with a young son, and Alejandro finding it harder to keep his secret as Zorro. The franchise ended there, after only 2 films. NBC, CBS, ABC and Amazon Prime have all announced attempts at a new TV series -- the character is now in the public domain -- with such names as Robert Rodriguez, Sofia Vergara and Wilmer Valderrama as executive producers. But, as of November 27, 2022, none have made it to filming.

The homages to Zorro have been many. Cartoon character Quick Draw McGraw, a horse who usually dressed as a cowboy, sometimes assumed the identity of El Kabong, his weapon being a guitar which, when used to club someone over the head, made the sound that led to his identity.

V in the 1982 graphic novel V for Vendetta wore black, including a cape like Zorro's, the Guy Fawkes mask gave him a mustache similar to Zorro's, and while he used daggers instead of swords, he did tend to carve the letter V when he had the chance. The 2005 film version shows him wearing a lower, flatter hat than the Puritan-era hat supposedly worn by Fawkes, making it look similar to Zorro's.

There have even been female versions. Linda Stirling starred in the 1944 serial The Black Whip. And in 2000, the syndicated series Queen of Swords starred Tessie Santiago as Maria Teresa Alvarado, whose father, a California Don, was murdered by the evil Spanish governor's American henchman, and comes back from Spain to avenge him.

While the villains remained male in Queen of Swords, everything else was a gender-bend: Bernardo became Marta (a gypsy with fortune-telling powers, hence the tarot-themed titles of the series and the character), and the would-be romantic lead a man, Robert Helm, a British doctor. I say, "would-be," because the series proved too expensive to renew for a 2nd season, and so nothing happened between Tessa and Robert.

Comic book writer Bob Kane made no bones about the fact that his most famous creation, Batman, was based on Zorro. He even had it included in the character's origin story: The movie that Bruce Wayne's parents took him to see before they were killed was a Zorro film.

Which one depends on who's telling the story. Usually, it's the 1940 Tyrone Power Mark of Zorro, as part of a nostalgia film festival. The 2016 film Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and the 2019 film Joker both set the Waynes' murder in 1981, so it's Zorro: The Gay Blade. I suppose that, if the Robert Pattinson Batman films ever show a flashback to the murder, it'll have to be the 1998 Mask of Zorro.

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November 27, 1920 was a Saturday. Baseball season was over. The NHL season didn't begin for another 25 days. And professional basketball was in its early stages. But there were 5 college football games played that day:

* The Army-Navy Game was played at the Polo Grounds in New York, and Navy won, 7-0.

* The University of Alabama beat Case School of Applied Science, 40-0 at Van Horn Field in Cleveland. This might have been the first time a school from a former Confederate State beat a school from a Union State on "Yankee soil." (If you know of an earlier one, let me know. That event, whenever it actually happened, is worthy of its own entry.) In 1947, CSAS became the Case Institute of Technology. In 1967, it merged with Western Reserve University, becoming Case Western Reserve. It now competes in NCAA Division III.

* Baylor University and Southern Methodist University (SMU) played to a tie, 0-0 at Armstrong Field in Dallas.

* Dartmouth went all the way across the country, and beat the University of Washington, 28-7. This was the 1st game ever played at the original version of Husky Stadium in Seattle. All but the north stand was demolished in 2012 and replaced with a new structure for the 2013 season.

* And Oregon Agricultural College beat the Multnomah Athletic Club, 10-7 at Multnomah Field in Portland, Oregon. In 1926, Multnomah Field was replaced with Multnomah Stadium, now named Providence Park, home of soccer's Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns. OAC became Oregon State Agricultural College in 1927, Oregon State College in 1937, and Oregon State University in 1961. The Multnomah Athletic Club is still in operation, but no longer sponsors a football team.

Actually, this was Thanksgiving weekend, and so the bulk of the collegiate gridiron action happened 2 days earlier. This included intra-State rivalries like Penn State and Pittsburgh playing to a 0-0 tie, Texas beating Texas A&M, Colorado Agricultural (now Colorado State) beating the University of Denver, Maryland beating Johns Hopkins, South Carolina beating The Citadel, Utah State beating Utah, and Virginia Military Institute (VMI) beating Virginia Tech. It also included Missouri beating arch-rival Kansas, Tennessee beating Kentucky, Notre Dame beating Michigan State, and Rutgers losing away to the University of Detroit, 27-0.