“Have You Seen This One?”

And so, we have seen here and here how the character of Zorro rollicked into pop culture fame in the early years of the 20th century. Then, five years after Douglas Fairbanks Sr. was catapulted from stardom to superstardom by The Mark of Zorro, he decided to return to the character–sort of.

1925’s Don Q, Son of Zorro really is a sequel done right, to me at least. The film is based on the book Don Q’s Love Story by K. and Hesketh Prichard. For the longest time I wasn’t even particularly sure that this novel existed outside of the movie’s opening credits, but an Alibris search has proven that such a book was in fact written. I assume that the Zorro angle was simply wedged into the movie, but I won’t know until I have a permanent address, at which point I will definitely be ordering myself a copy.

Anyway, sequel done right… yes, that’s where I was. So, in Don Q we get a story that, at least from the outset, has very little in common with a normal Zorro story. The action is all set in Spain–with nary an oppressed native in sight–and shows us Don Cesar de la Vega, the son of Diego/Zorro, who is away from his California home for a period of study in Spain. The tale starts rather slowly, as Cesar cavorts and enchants his way about town; it’s all quite fun and harmless, done with just the right carefree and swashbuckling attitude. There is also some incredibly talented whip work from Fairbanks, as the younger de la Vega’s shtick is the use of a bullwhip. (Insert mandatory Indiana Jones and/or S&M joke here.) We get a few wayward mentions of Zorro (”my father is the greatest man in America,” “your father was very dear to me,” etc.) but for the most part the story of Cesar seems to be very much its own.

While I would almost be satisfied with an hour and a half of Douglas Fairbanks gallivanting about and romancing Mary Astor, a crime of anger and its subsequent frame-up finally get the plot moving. Soon enough, Don Cesar is dressed in a rather menacing (if a bit silly) costume, while unraveling the plans of his enemies under the alias of Don Q.

Incidentally, one of my favorite things about this film is that at no point does the son assume the mantle of Zorro–there is one Zorro, and he is Diego de la Vega. This gives both the elder and the younger more significance as characters in my opinion… plus, with no hackneyed “passing of the torch” the original is never devalued. Zorro is still the original, utterly bad-ass, one and only Zorro.

Speaking of whom, Fairbanks steps into old age makeup (if one can actually step into makeup) for the part of Zorro. This, combined with the story’s many deviations from the normal themes of a Zorro tale, originally gave me the impression that the movie would be very light on the franchise hero–even if his name is in the title. Suffice it to say, that right when you’re settled in for a solo Don Q adventure the plot goes to pretty much exactly where you actually wanted it to go all along. As a sidenote, I’ll mention that the special effects used to put both versions of Fairbanks into the same shot are remarkably seamless.

This film also holds a special place in my own heart because in it lies the idea that led to the premise my own novel (which I promise to not talk about very much until it at least falls into the realm of maybe-gonna-be-published). Without going into too much self-indulgent detail, the possibilities of a father/son dynamic in which the father is a legendary, swashbuckler-type hero seem very promising to me. Also, Douglas Fairbanks is one of very few action stars who can fight off a multitude of attackers at once and make it look convincing… so when you have two Douglas Fairbankses (Fairbanksi?) they can pretty much take on the whole world. It is ridiculously inspiring. (I am a dork.)

While, for the most part, Don Q is an odd, almost misplaced, entry in the canon (if it can be called that) of Zorro films, it’s free, and almost fan-service-y, usage of the Zorro mythos helps to shape it into an exciting, if little (by Fairbanks standards) film. Oh yeah, and Fairbanks, late enough in his career to have perfected his flourish, is a marvel of physical grace and acrobatics.

(Clearly I love inserting old pictures into my posts. This is a vintage advertisement for the movie. Enjoy!)