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Rating:  -
The test of a great film has to be how a new generation views the film. A few months ago I heard my ten-year-old daughter laughing at something she was watching. I found she had slipped one of my laser discs on the player and was watching Charlie Chaplain's antics in The Gold Rush. I can't tell you how much pleasure it gave me to find my little girl enjoying one of my silent films, and without knowing the historical significance of Chaplain. I watched the rest of it with her. I discovered she most enjoyed Chaplain, Keaton, and Douglas Fairbank's The Mark Of Zorro.
Fairbanks made several great films after he stepped away from the comdedy roles he was doing, but The Mark Of Zorro remains the best one to introduce people to his silent films.
The transfer is very good as is the second film: Don Q Son Of Zorro. In Don Q Fairbanks plays Zorro and his son in a return to the legend five years after the release of The Mark Of Zorro and introduced the use of the whip. Watch how Doug flips that cigarette into his mouth. I don't believe I have to say much about the stories as most people know Zorro from the many incarnations over the years. Suffice to say these both have their share of Fairbank's famous acrobatics and both films are worth your time.
If you are interested in silent films this is a good place to start; if you are an aficionato of silent films you will not be disappointed. There is a bunch of other stuff on this DVD that make it well worth having. Enjoy!
Rating:  -
These are really rough copies with no attempt being made to restore tinting. Add to that some truly annoying piano scores that don't seem to go with the pictures at all. If you want The Mark of Zorro, Image Entertainment has a MUCH better DVD available with a Gaylord Carter score. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of Don Q being on DVD elsewhere. If you're a movie junkie and have to have this, be prepared to turn it down and humm along.
Rating: -
Although I'd just seen "Mark of Zorro" on TCM (for their Silent Sunday), I ordered this DVD to add to my collection of silent gems...and GEMS they ARE!! The print of "Zorro" is somewhat better than TCM...this is DVD, after all...excellent piano score by Jon C. Mirsalis (as is for the second feature). Not too many flaws...VERY few scratches, and such. A mighty fine print. (Approx. 1hr. 45 min.)
As for "Don Q," the wonderful folks at KINO have not only offered what appears to be the finest print available... some scratches, yeah--but wonderfully color-tinted and a superb piano score, but they've cropped the titles and even INTER-titles!!--since the original film-frame falls somehat short of our 1.33:1 TV sets. There are some more noticeable scrathces in the original film element, but it does NOT distract!! "Don Q" offers a storyline that doesn't categorize itself as a "Swashbuckling Tale"--simply because it isn't!!--It's even better, and will keep those who haven't seen it, glued to the television! (Approx. run time: 1 hour, 50 min.)
As an extra, we see Orson Welles introduce "Mark" for PBS's "The Silent Years," complete with earlier glimpses of Doug Sr., and a SOUND clip from a 1931 talkie of his! enjoy nearly 4+ hours of one of the greatest box-office stars of the Silent Era!!
Rating:  -
While not as feverishly fun as The Mark of Zorro (1920), Don Q still showcases Douglas Fairbanks's talent for swashbuckling silliness. He plays Don Cesar son of Don Diego aka Zorro. (the Don Q reference in the title is rather obscure, I can't imagine why they just didn't leave it at Son of Zorro) Don Cesar is in Spain for his education and having a whale of a time showing off his skill with the whip, partying with a foreign prince and romancing the lovely Dolores played by a young Mary Astor who is probably best known for her fatal woman role opposite Bogart in the Maltese Falcon some fifteen years later.
Donald Crisp (who also directed) plays the chief bad guy Don Sebastian and rival for Dolores's hand in marriage. As it becomes more and more clear that Don Cesar will win her, Don Sebastian murders the foreign prince and frames Don Cesar.
The movie is a bit overlong and drags in spots but it is still quite good and makes a good double feature with the original Mark of Zorro. The grand finale featuring father and son (both played by Fairbnanks) is entertaining and Mary Astor makes a nice understated heroine who doesn't faint too much.
In the supporting cast is Lottie Pickford, sister of Mary Pickford, as Don Cesar's maid and spy. Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks were married at this time. Also, Charles Stevens plays Cesar's manservant. He was grandson of Geronimo whom Fairbanks put in almost all of his movies since he considered him lucky.
A final note, this movie, like The Mark of Zorro, is silent and the old fashioned methods of acting take a while to get used to but it is worth the effort.
Rating:  -
Douglas Fairbanks' 1925 sequel to "The Mark of Zorro" lacks the overall sense of fun and adventure that made the original a classic. There are some terrific setpieces, particularly the action-filled climax, yet Fairbanks tends to get bogged down in needless plot exposition. Running nearly two hours, the film is overlong and occasionally drags. "Don Q" remains an enjoyable Fairbanks vehicle, but some judicious editing would have helped.
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