The Curse of Capistrano

Tyrone Power as the title character in the 1940 film The Mark of Zorro.

The Curse of Capistrano is a historical adventure novel by the American author Johnston McCulley. It is the first work of fiction in which the character of the masked swordsman Zorro appears. It was originally serialized in five parts in issues of the American pulp magazine All-Story Weekly that are dated between August 9 and September 5, 1919. It was first published in book form in 1924 as The Mark of Zorro, the same title under which the story had been adapted as a silent movie four years earlier.

The action takes place in California in an unspecified period in the past, apparently in the early 19th century, at a time when the future American state is either a part of Mexico or still a province of New Spain. A bandit is operating in the area. He is sometimes called the Curse of Capistrano but he calls himself Señor Zorro, zorro being the Spanish word for "fox". Although many of the inhabitants of California are terrified of him, Señor Zorro says that good people have nothing to fear from him. He claims to be a friend of the oppressed who only attacks and robs those who have already done wrong to others. He is rumored to rob from the rich and give to the poor. A large reward is offered for the capture of Señor Zorro dead or alive. The boastful soldier Sergeant Pedro Gonzales is eager to claim the reward. Sergeant Gonzales has an unlikely friend in the young man Don Diego Vega. Don Diego is 25-years-old, he is extremely wealthy and comes from a very powerful and influential family. He appears to be very weak, timid, easily tired, easily bored and generally not interested in the things that usually interest young men. Claiming that he is only doing so because his father insists on him marrying someone, Don Diego courts Señorita Lolita Pulido, the 18-year-old only daughter and only child of Don Carlos Pulido. The Pulido family had once been rich and powerful. They have, however, lost almost all of their wealth and influence as a result of Don Carlos' opposition to the policies of the governor. Don Carlos is keen for his daughter to marry Don Diego because he is certain that his family's fortunes would be restored if she married into the influential Vega family. The young officer Captain Ramón also takes a liking to Señorita Lolita Pulido and tries to take advantage of her family's situation by putting himself forward as a potential husband for Señorita Lolita too. Señorita Lolita is not interested in either Captain Ramón or Don Diego. Ever since the afternoon when he came to her family's hacienda while everyone else was taking a siesta, Señorita Lolita has been in love with the dashing Señor Zorro. She has no idea that the timid Don Diego and the brave Señor Zorro are one and the same. The true identity of Señor Zorro is also kept a secret from the reader until the thirty-eighth of the novel's thirty-nine chapters.

The Curse of Capistrano was filmed in 1920 as The Mark of Zorro starring Douglas Fairbanks. The Mark of Zorro was remade in 1940 starring Tyrone Power. That remake was itself remade for television in 1974 starring Frank Langella. The character of Zorro has appeared in numerous other movies, TV series and other media also.

Plot

The novel opens on a stormy night in February inside the inn in the village of Reina de Los Angeles, later to grow into the city of Los Angeles. There is talk in the inn about the highwayman sometimes called the Curse of Capistrano who calls himself Señor Zorro. Señor Zorro always wears a mask and is said to cut the letter Z onto the cheeks of his victims with his sword. Although he is said to be a defender of the oppressed and to only attack wrongdoers, most of the people in the inn are afraid of Señor Zorro. A large reward is offered for his capture dead or alive. The boastful soldier Sergeant Pedro Gonzales talks about how he will kill the highwayman and claim the reward.

Douglas Fairbanks as Don Diego and Noah Beery, Sr. as Sergeant Gonzales on a lobby card for the 1920 film The Mark of Zorro.

The young caballero Don Diego Vega enters the inn. Don Diego is 25-years-old and is very wealthy. He owns a large house in the village and an enormous hacienda nearby. He stands to inherit an even greater fortune upon the death of his father Don Alejandro Vega. Don Diego appears to be very weak and timid. He hardly ever carries a sword and has no interest in fighting, women or many of the other things that usually interest young men. He appears to be easily tired, easily bored and generally not interested in the events that are going on around him, although he does appear to enjoy listening to other men's boastful tales. Don Diego Vega and Sergeant Pedro Gonzales do not appear to have much in common, however, to the surprise of everyone, they are friends. Don Diego enjoys listening to Sergeant Gonzales' boastful talk and Sergeant Gonzales likes the free wine that Don Diego buys for him. In order to keep this arrangement going, both men are careful not to say anything to offend the other, although they both come close to doing so. Don Diego and Sergeant Gonzales have a brief conversation, during which Don Diego asks not to hear any talk of Seňor Zorro.

Shortly after Don Diego leaves, Señor Zorro arrives. He says that he has come to punish Sergeant Gonzales for the brutal beating of a native four days earlier. The two men have a swordfight, Señor Zorro fights one-handed because in the other hand he holds a pistol in order to prevent anyone else in the inn from intervening on Sergeant Gonzales' behalf. The fight comes to an abrupt end when a pounding at the locked door is heard. Señor Zorro escapes through a window, after having slapped Sergeant Gonzales across the face and promised to deal with him later. The pounding at the door was only made by villagers who wanted to come in from the cold and drink wine. Sergeant Gonzales boasts to the newcomers about how he came out better in the fight than Señor Zorro did. Don Diego returns to the inn soon afterwards, saying that he heard that Señor Zorro had been there. He manages to subtly taunt Sergeant Gonzales for not having killed the highwayman.

Front cover of an edition of the novel, published as The Mark of Zorro, from 1924.

The following day, Don Diego Vega makes the four mile ride on horseback on a straight road to the Pulido hacienda, a journey that he claims to find exhausting. The hacienda is home to Don Carlos Pulido, his wife Doña Catalina and their 18-year-old daughter Señorita Lolita. The Pulido family were once very rich and powerful. As a result of a political disagreement between Don Carlos and the governor, however, the Pulidos have lost almost all pf their wealth and influence. Don Carlos is pleased to see Don Diego approaching his home because he believes that any association between his family and the influential Vegas, who are on friendly terms with the governor, could help him recover his former position. Don Carlos is even happier when Don Diego explains the reason for his visit. Although he claims to have no interest in marrying anyone, Don Diego says that his father will disinherit him if he does not marry somebody soon. Don Diego has therefore selected Señorita Lolita as a suitable bride because of the good family from which she comes, Although Don Carlos is keen for an alliance between his family and the powerful Vegas, both he and Doña Catalina insist on Don Diego courting Señorita Lolita properly first. Don Diego finds the idea tiresome. He thinks that his wealth alone should be reason enough for Señorita Lolita to agree to marry him. To the suggestion that he should play the guitar beneath Señorita Lolita's window at night, Don Diego replies that he has a servant who plays the guitar well and that he could send that man instead. He bows to the wishes of Don Carlos and Doña Catalina, however, and is left alone with Señprita Lolita. In a business-like manner, Don Diego asks Señorita Lolita if she will marry him. Señorita Lolita, who overheard Don Diego complaining about how the short journey tired him and talking about making a servant do his courting for her, refuses. She says, "The man who becomes my husband must be a man with life enough to want me", before leaving the room. Don Carlos and Doña catalina overhear the conversation. They tell the dejected Don Diego not to give up hope yet before he leaves.

While everyone at the Pulido hacienda is taking a siesta that afternoon, Señorita Lolita is sleeping alone on the patio. She is awakened by Señor Zorro. The highwayman reassures Señorita Lolita that she is in no danger and that he has not come to the hacienda to rob it. Señor Zorro says that he only punishes wrongdoers and he wishes no ill towards Don Carlos Pulido, a man whom he admires. He explains that he has only come to the hacienda to take a rest and that he would have allowed Señorita Lolita to carry on sleeping if he had not been fascinated by her beauty and felt the need to talk to her. He insists on kissing Señorita Lolita's hand twice before leaving. In spite of Señor Zorro's extremely forward manner, Señorita Lolita cannot help being impressed by his charm and courage.

That evening, Señor Zorro returns to the hacienda. He tells Don Carlos in person that he has nothing to fear from him and that, since Don Carlos is a person who has suffered at the hands of the governor, the two of them should be on the same side. Señor Zorro goes on to explain that he has come to the hacienda simply because he craves food and drink. When he is briefly left alone with Señorita Lolita, Señor Zorro admits to her that he has really come back because he wanted to see her again. Although he arranges for food and drink to be brought to Señor Zorro, Do Carlos also sends one of his servants to the army barracks in Reina de Los Angeles to tell the soldiers that the wanted highwayman is in his house. When a servant announces that the soldiers have arrived, Señor Zorro knocks the large candelabra off the table and plunges the room into darkness. Señor Zorro is heard calling to his horse and the sound of hooves galloping away is heard. The soldiers, led by Sergeant Gonzales, leave in pursuit of Señpr Zorro.

Front cover of the August 9, 1919 issue of All-Story Weekly in which the first part of The Curse of Capistrano was first published.

After the other soldiers have left, Captain Ramón, the 23-year-old commander of the barracks in Reina de Los Angeles, arrives. Captain Ramón has only been in Reina de Los Angeles for a month and has never seen Señorita Lolita before. Her beauty strikes him immediately. Captain Ramón says that he had dealings with Señor Zorro during his previous post in Santa Barbara and that the highwayman is said to have killed men indiscriminately and insulted women in San Francisco de Asis. Taking offense at Captain Ramón's false statement, Zorro emerges from the closet where he has been hiding. he explains that he got his horse to leave while he remained. A swordfight ensues between Captain Ramón and Señor Zorro. Unlike when he fought sergeant Gonzales at the inn, Señor Zorro agrees not to hold his pistol in his other hand this time. Since he considers Captain Ramón to be a good officer of the kind that the army needs, Señor Zorro does not want to kill his opponent. He therefore ends the swordfight when he has run through the captain's right shoulder with his blade. Señor Zorro then leaves for real, his well trained horse having returned for him.

Captain Ramón's wounded shoulder is treated and Don Carlos, attempting to be the best host he can possibly be, tries hard to make the captain feel at home and comfortable. Don Diego Vega arrives, saying that he came to check that everybody was safe because there has been talk in Reina de Los Angeles that Señor Zorro was at the Pulido hacienda. Captain Ramón introduces himself to Don Diego. The two men take an almost instant disliking to each other. Don Diego insinuates that Captain Ramón is not a gentleman and Captain Ramón makes it clear that he finds Don Diego irritating. To prevent a fight, Don Carlos steps in and offers both of his guests more wine. Don Diego ignores Captain Ramón afterwards.

Captain Ramón speaks privately to Don Carlos. The captain says that he is from a good family, is on friendly terms with the governor and he is guaranteed a good future in the army. That means that he would make an excellent husband for Señorita Lolita. Don Carlos tells Captain Ramón that Don Diego has already started courting his daughter, although there is still a possibility that Captain Ramón could marry her. Captain Ramón believes that he has a good chance of marrying Seňorita Lolita due to Don Diego's evident lack of machismo and the reduced circumstances in which the Pulido family find themselves. Señorita Lolita sees her father talking to the captain and correctly guesses the topic of their conversation. She does not like Captain Ramón any better than she likes Don Diego. She realizes that she has fallen in love with the dashing Señor Zorro and wishes that he were not a wanted highwayman.

Claiming that he is concerned about their safety while Señor Zorro is abroad, Don Diego invites the Pulido family to stay at his house in Reina de Los Angeles while he has to attend to business at his hacienda. Don Carlos is delighted to accept the invitation, believing that being seen to be a good friend of Don Diego Vega will improve his damaged social standing and give him an opportunity to mingle with the other prominent families of Reina de Los Angeles again. On their first day in Reina de Los Angeles, Don Carlos and Doña Catalina are invited to dine with one of those families. They go to the dinner, leaving Señorita Lolita at Don Diego's house. Captain Ramón arrives and tells Señorita Lolita of his love for her. Señorita Lolita makes it clear she is not interested in him and wants him to leave. Captain Ramón then tries to force Señorita Lolita to kiss him. Señor Zorro suddenly appears. He makes Captain Ramón apologize to Señorita Lolita before throwing him out of the house. Señorita Lolita then asks Señor Zorro id she can kiss him. He agrees.

Douglas Fairbanks as Zorro and Robert McKim as Captain Ramón in a screenshot from the 1920 film The Mark of Zorro.

Captain Ramón returns to the barracks. Angered by Señorita Lolita's rejection of him, he decides to take revenge on her. He writes a letter to the governor in which he accuses the Pulido family of being traitors who are in cahoots with Señor Zorro. Being somewhat suspicious of Señor Zorro suddenly appearing at Don Diego's house, Captain Ramón also insinuates in the last paragraph of his letter that the Vega family are traitors too. He does not name the Vegas, however, and keeps the last paragraph deliberately vague in case he changes his mind later. Captain Ramón gives the letter to a soldier and tells him to take it to the governor in San Francisco de Asis. Returning to his office and, "talking to himself, as does many an evil man", Captain Ramón writes an second copy of the letter to keep in his own records. Señor Zorro has managed to sneak into the barracks, which are almost deserted because most of the soldiers are still out looking for him. He enters Captain Ramón's office and, threatening to kill him if he makes a sound, takes the letter. Señor Zorro does not know that the letter is only a copy and that the original has started its journey towards the governor. The soldiers, led by Sergeant Gonzales, return. Señor Zorro escapes.

The soldiers pursue Señor Zorro to a hacienda on the road to San Gabriel that is run by Franciscan friars under the authority of Fray Felipe. Sergeant Gonzales demands entry to the house, much to Fray Felipe's disgust. Sergeant Gonzales is surprised to find Don Diego Vega there. Don Diego says that he has not seen Señor Zorro at the hacienda or heard him pass.

Don Diego returns to Reina de Los Angeles. Señorita Lolita tells him how Captain Ramón insulted her. Don Diego promises that he will have angry words with the captain. He goes to the barracks and speaks to Captain Ramón, eventually saying that he forgives him because his behavior was probably either a result of being drunk or caused by a fever brought on by his wounded shoulder. Captain Ramón decides that he was wrong to suspect Don Diego of helping Señor Zorro, saying to himself, "The man has not enough spirit to be a traitor."

Still suspected of helping Señor Zorro, Fray Felipe is arrested on trumped up charges of having swindled a dealer in hides. Don Diego tries to speak in his defense at his trial but is silenced. On the basis of the false testimony given by the dealer and his assistant, fray Felipe is sentenced to be whipped. Don Diego tries to stop the sentence from being carried out but is warned by the judge that to do so would be an act of revolt against the governor. Fray Felipe bears his undeserved punishment bravely.

Zorro brandishes a whip on the front cover of Hit Comics #55 from November 1948.

While the dealer and his assistant are traveling home, they are stopped on the road by Señor Zorro. Señor Zorro whips them both as punishment. That night, Señor Zorro goes to reina de Los Angeles. He forces some peasants and the landlord of the inn to help him publicly whip the judge.

Feeling that he needs to get away from Reina de Los Angeles, Don Diego goes to the visit the hacienda of his father Don Alejandro Vega. His servant Bernardo accompanies him. Bernardo is a deaf mute who cannot read or write and does not know sign language. Consequently, he has little idea about what is going on around him, although he always tries to nod and smile at the right time. Don Diego tells his father that he has had little success in courting Señorita Lolita. Don Alejandro is angry to hear this. he says that he will disinherit his son if he does not marry within three months. He also says that he wishes Don Diego had half the courage and spirit of Señor Zorro.

Following the whipping of the judge, any of the young men from wealthy families band together to hunt down Señor Zorro. They do not do this out of any real conviction that Señor Zorro needs to be punished but simply for an adventure and do not take their task very seriously. In the evening, some of the young caballeros who have set out in pursuit of Señor Zorro make their way to Con Alejandro Vega's hacienda. Don Alejandro gives them wine and a raucous party ensues. Although Don Diego Vega spends some time with the other young caballeros, he soon excuses himself to go to bed. The party continues long into the night. Although the caballeros have almost forgotten their mission, one of them begins to boast of what he would do if Señor Zorro were only there. Señor Zorro then appears. He addresses the caballeros and tells them they would be better off joining him to fight against the injustice of the governor. The young men, who are still mostly interested in having an adventure, agree. They go back to Reina de Los Angeles yo await further instructions from Señor Zorro. Don Alejandro feels disappointed that his son is upstairs sleeping and has missed out on the chance to take part in something exciting.

Captain Ramón's letter reaches the governor. Believing the Pulidos to be traitors who are helping Señor Zorro, he travels to Reina de Los Angeles to deal with the situation. Captain Ramón persuades him to have every member of the Pulido family arrested. Don Carlos, Doña Catalina and Señorita Lolita re taken straight from their hacienda to the jail in Reina de Los Angeles and put in a filthy cell with common criminals.

Swñor Zorro sends word to the other young caballeros who have promised to help him. Together, they break the Pulidos out of jail. Don Carlos is taken against his will because he believes that the jail break will give credence to the idea that he is a traitor and a friend of Señor Zorro. Pursued by soldiers, the band of caballeros splits into three. Don Carlos and Doña Catalina are taken to separate safe locations. Señor Zorro takes Señorita Lolita to the hacienda of Fray Felipe. he leaves her there and continues to flee from the soldiers. Soldiers led by Sergeant Gonzales enter the house. Señorita Lolita comes out of hiding and threatens to kill herself with a knife if she is not allowed to leave. She rides away on Sergeant Gonzales' horse.

Robert McKim as Captain Ramón and Douglas Fairbanks as Zorro in a screenshot from the 1920 film The Mark of Zorro.

Señor Zorro returns to the army barracks in Reina de Los Angeles. He makes Captain Ramón go with him to see the governor. At Señor Zorro's urging, Captain Ramón admits that everything he said about the Pulidos being traitors was a lie. Señor Zorro then challenges captain Ramón to one final swordfight. This time, the captain is killed by the highwayman.

Once again fleeing pursued by soldiers, Señor Zorro meets up by chance with Señorita Lolita, who is also being chased by soldiers. Since Señorita Lolita's horse is almost dead with exhaustion, the two of them have no choice but to lock themselves inside the inn in Reina de Los Angeles. Soldiers surround the inn and start to break down the door. Señor Zorro and Señorita Lolita both believe they are about to die. The young caballeros that helped Señor Zorro then appear. They declare to the governor that they are all from prominent families and that, as such, the governor should give in to their demands and let Señor Zorro go free. Seeing that the young men have the support of the highly respected Don Alejandro Vega, the governor agrees and pardons Señor Zorro. Señor Zorro then removes his mask in front of the assembled crowd. To the surprise of everyone, and the delight of Don Alejandro, he reveals that he is really Don Diego Vega.

Marguerite De La Motte as Señorita Lolita and Douglas fairbanks as Zorro on a lobby card for the 1920 film The Mark of Zorro.

Don Diego explains that ten years earlier, when he was only 15-years-old, he became aware of the injustices in California and decided to fight against them. He learned to be an excellent horseman and swordsman in private. So that nobody would ever expect him of fighting against the establishment, he started pretending to be weak, timid and generally not interested in what was going on around him. In time, he found that he did not need to pretend because his personality naturally changed when he dressed as Señor Zorro and when he did not. Don Diego admits to Sergeant Gonzales that he befriended him to use him as a source of information and that his primary motivation for fighting him as Señor Zorro was so that the sergeant would not suspect his friend Don Diego of being the highwayman. Don Diego also says he is pleased that Señorta Lolita liked him better when she thought he was an outcast than as the wealthy but lifeless man. He goes on to announce that he is retiring as Señor Zorro because there is no need for him to adopt the persona any longer and that he will not have time to do so as a married man. Señorita Lolita says she now realizes she loves both of his personalities and asks if she will be marrying the timid Don Diego Vega or the reckless Señor Zorro. Don Diego says that he will try to find a happy median between the two.

Adaptations and legacy

Poster for the 1920 film The Mark of Zorro.

In 1920, the year after it first appeared in print and four years before it was published in book form, The Curse of Capistrano was adapted as the American silent movie The Mark of Zorro starring Douglas Fairbanks. The film is a somewhat condensed but largely faithful adaptation of the novel with a few notable differences. 23 minutes into the film's 107 minute runtime, it is revealed that Zorro and Don Diego Vega are one and the same. Don Diego is helped in his fight against injustice by his trusted servant Bernardo, who although he is mute is able to hear, the only person who knows his secret identity. Captain Ramón does not write a letter to the governor telling him that the Pulidos are traitors. Instead, the governor goes south to deal with the Zorro situation personally. While he is in the village, Captain Ramón tells him that he thinks the treacherous Pulidos are helping Zorro. It is Don Carlos Pulido rather than Don Diego Vega who tries to prevent Fray Felipe from being whipped, an action that leads directly to the arrest of the Pulido family. One of the masked caballeros who help Zorro get the Pulidos out of jail is really Captain Ramón in disguise. He abducts Lolita. Zorro rescues her when he happens to see them passing. Soldiers, led by Captain Ramón, then pursue Zorro and Lolita into the home of Don Diego. Zorro leaves Lolita, telling her that she is safe because Don Diego is his friend. He then appears as Don Diego and tells the soldiers he resents their intrusion. Lolita is found and Captain Ramón asks her where her lover is. Don Diego appears to be angered by the suggestion Lolita has another lover, He challenges Captain Ramón to a swordfight. Lolita is surprised to see Don Diego behaving as he has never done before. Don Diego cuts a letter Z onto Captain Ramón's forehead, ending the fight and revealing that he is Zorro. Saying that he has the support of all the Californians of noble birth, Don Diego forces the governor to abdicate, leave California and take Captain Ramón with him. Although there is a brief reference to Señor Zorro cutting the letter Z onto the cheeks of his victims in the first chapter of The Curse of Capistrano, it is The Mark of Zorro that introduces the idea of Zorro indicating he has been somewhere by cutting the letter Z into walls and cutting it into the clothing of those he defeats. The now iconic Zorro costume with a mask that covers the bandit's eyes, as opposed to the full face mask described in The Curse of Capistrano, is introduced in The Mark of Zorro. Unlike in the novel, it is stated in the film that Don Diego has recently returned to California from Spain, that it was in Spain that he learned to be an expert swordsman and that his father thinks he became a weakling during his time in that country. Also unlike in the novel, Don Diego appears to have a fondness for conjuring tricks that other people find boring in the film.

The film was a popular and commercial success. A sequel, Don Q, Son of Zorro, also starring Douglas Fairbanks, was released in 1925. When The Curse of Capistrano was published as a book in 1924 it was under the title The Mark of Zorro, a title under which it has been reprinted many times since then. In response to the film's popularity, and ignoring the original ending of The Curse of Capistrano in which Señor Zorro reveals his true identity and retires, Johnston McCulley wrote more than sixty more Zorro stories that first appeared in magazines between 1922 and 1959. Many of McCulley's short stories about Zorro remained unpublished in book form until the publication of the six volume Zorro: The Complete Pulp Adventures in 2016.

Lobby card for the 1940 film The Mark of Zorro.

The 1940 American film The Mark of Zorro starring Tyrone Power is a remake of the 1920 film and a loose adaptation of The Curse of Capistrano. The film opens at a military academy in Madrid, Spain where Don Diego Vega, the son of the good alcalde has learned to be an excellent swordsman and is one of the most popular students. Don Diego receives word that he has to come home at once. On arrival in California, Don Diego is surprised that people get upset whenever he mentions the alcalde of Los Angeles. One of the first people whom Don Diego meets on return to Los Angeles is Bernardo, who, although he is able to hear, cannot speak because the alcalde ordered that his tongue be cut out. Don Diego learns that his father, Don Alejandro, has been forced out of office and the cruel Don Luis Quintero has replaced him as alcalde. Don Luis Quintero's law is enforced by Captain Esteban Pasquale. Don Diego begins pretending to be only interested in his own social status, fashion and conjuring tricks. He claims to have no interest in fighting and that reports of his skill as a swordsman were greatly exaggerated. He secretly takes on the identity of the bandit Zorro to fight against Don Luis Quintero's regime. As a member of a wealthy and respected family, Don Diego has no difficulty befriending Don Luis and is able to learn important information directly from him. It is Captain Esteban Pasquale who first suggests the idea of Don Diego marrying Don Luis' niece Lolita Quintero. Don Alejandro Vega is strongly opposed to the idea but Don Diego is open to it. Like her equivalent character in The Curse of Capistrano, Lolita is unimpressed by Don Diego but falls in love with him as Zorro. Don Luis Quintero's wife Inez, however, is quite smitten by the timid Don Diego because of his connections to the fashionable world of Madrid. Don Diego is quite happy to flirt with her in order to obtain more valuable information and in the hope of persuading her to return to Spain and take her husband with her.

A TV movie called The Mark of Zorro, starring Frank Langella, first aired on ABC in the United States on October 29, 1974. It is a near short-for-shot remake of the 1940 film and even uses largely the same musical score. It was intended to serve as a pilot for a TV series that was never made.

The Masked Rider, the mascot of Texas Tech University and a character clearly inspired by Zorro..

Some sixty other films featuring the character of Zorro, including parodies and porn films, produced in the United States, Belgium, France, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain and Turkey were released between 1936 and 2005. The first screen appearance of a female Zorro-like character (played by Linda Stirling) is in the American movie serial Zorro's Black Whip from 1944. The last major Hollywood movies about the character are the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro and its 2005 sequel The Legend of Zorro. Both films star the Spanish-born actor Antonio Banderas as Alejandro Murrieta, a former outlaw whom the elderly Don Diego (played by Sir Anthony Hopkins in the first film) trains to be the new Zorro before his death. Banderas would also parody his Zorro role by voicing the character of Puss in Boots for the 2004 American animated film Shrek 2.

One of the best known and most influential adaptations of the Zorro story is the TV series Zorro, starring Guy Williams and made by Walt Disney Productions, that originally aired on ABC in the United States between October 10, 1957 and July 2, 1959. It is in the series that Zorro's real name is first said to be Don Diego de la Vega rather than simply Don Diego Vega. In common with the 1940 film, the series introduces Don Diego as a student in Spain. On the ship on his way back to California from Spain, Don Diego de la Vega finds out that Los Angeles is under the tyrannical rule of Capitán Enrique Sánchez Monasterio. Don Diego takes on the persona of the masked vigilante Zorro to fight him. As Don Diego, he pretends to be interested only in books. Whenever he is forced to use a sword as Don Diego, he handles the weapon very poorly. The character of Don Diego's mute servant Bernardo features more prominently in the series than in the 1920 film and much more prominently than the deaf mute servant Bernardo does in The Curse of Capistrano. In the series, people often wrongly assume that the mute Bernardo is deaf and are careless about what they say in front of him, which makes him valuable in gathering information for Zorro. After Zorro defeats Monasterio, he then has to face Magistrado Carlos Galindo and a shadowy figure known as "The Eagle". Although he has little respect for some of the people who make the laws, Zorro also punishes those who break the law in the series.

Zorro appears on graffiti in Rome, Italy photographed in 2015.

Other live-action TV series about Zorro include Zorro and Son (USA 1983), Zorro (USA 1990-1993), El Zorro, la espada y la rosa (Colombia/USA 2007), Zorro (the Philippines 2009) and Zorro (Spain 2024). A new American live-action TV series set in the present-day and featuring a female Zorro was announced in November 2019. The series was originally set to air on NBC but was moved to The CW in January 2022. The project was cancelled in May 2023. Another American live-action Zorro series from Disney-ABC was announced in December 2021. The series is to air on the Disney+ streaming service and to star Wilmer Valderrama as Don Diego de la Vega.

Animated TV series based around the character of Zorro include The New Adventures of Zorro (USA 1981), The Legend of Zorro (快傑ゾロ; Kaiketsu Zorro, Italy/Japan 1996-1997), The New Adventures of Zorro (USA 1997-1998), Zorro: Generation Z (USA 2006) and Zorro: The Chronicles (Les Chroniques de Zorro, France 2015).

The 2005 novel Zorro (Spanish: El Zorro: comienza la layenda; literally: "Zorro: the legend begins") by the Chilean author Isabel Allende serves as a prequel to The Curse of Capistrano and also includes elements from other versions of the Zorro story, including the Disney TV series and the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro. In the novel, Don Diego de la Vega is of mixed race, being the son of a Spanish father and a Native American mother.

Zorro has also appeared in numerous, stage plays, radio programs and audio dramas, video games and comic books.

As an early example of a masked vigilante with a secret identity, Zorro was influential on the later superhero genre. Bob Kane and Bill Finger, the co-creators of Batman, both independently cited Zorro as an influence.

See also

• Video of the 1920 silent movie The Mark of Zorro

External links

• Text of Johnston McCullley's The Curse of Capistrano on Wikisource.
• Free public domain audiobok of The Curse of Capistrano from LibriVox.
• Official Zorro website.
• Zorro Wiki.