OK, people, let's swash some buckles; I finally got around to Zorro this week. (And this will probably be my last 1920 film for a while. Larry advises he's moving on from there. Upcoming reviews will focus on films from 1940, 1960 and possibly even — 1980?) Before Iron Man, before Batman, before all your "I'm a playboy by day and fight for justice at night" masked heroes that keep our blogging colleague Geoff so busy over at Hero Complex, there was Zorro. (Really Larry should be writing this post, having been honored recently for Zorro-like heroics, but, well, he's not.)

The character first appears in a 1919 short story called "The Curse of Capistrano," and in bringing him to the big screen, Douglas Fairbanks created something huge. Not only did he launch a massive film, TV and pop culture franchise in Zorro, he created a swashbuckling superstar persona for himself. After this, he went on to star in "Robin Hood," "The Three Musketeers," "The Thief of Bagdad" and many other hero-in-tights roles. 1920 was also the year he married Mary Pickford, so it was a good year to be Fairbanks.

This was my first Douglas Fairbanks movie and I have to say I was pretty surprised at first. I was expecting another stone cold fox like John Barrymore, and Fairbanks is one goofy-looking guy. He's not bad-looking at all, but I just kept thinking, "wait, THIS is Zorro? He doesn't even stand up straight." This Zorro is not about being all Antonio Banderas and pouty and beautiful. He's really kind of a goofball. I mean, look at the poster here…  Zorro's more interested in having a good laugh than looking good, as long as said laugh comes at the expense of oppressors. But then Fairbanks starts springing around with his rapier, jumping onto mantels and balconies, showing off his signature athletic ability. He's pretty impressive!

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