Il segno di Zorro

I saw this film when I was a child and I was disappointed but I did not remember why;when I saw it again yesterday,it was obvious :Zorro was not the masked hero with his whip under a stormy sky streaked with lightnings ;the hero wears a mask in one sequence and that's it.There's no sergeant Garcia ,and the comic relief is provided by a lookalike ,an alcoholic oaf(Folco Lulli) ,the hero's servant ,thus not on the side of the law (and not dumb,as Guy Williams' faithful Bernardo).Actually Don Ramon is the son of a wealthy generous man who was to free the country before being killed (with the help of a clergyman and the landlords' sons whose dads find time to do before joining the rebellion).The story begins in Europa ,in the Pays Basque ,in a melodramatic way ,but continues with plenty of fights (Sean Flynn is good at fencing).The sign of Zorro (check the title) is not used that much.

What is fascinating is not this simplistic screenplay ,which could have been written by a eleven-year-old as an essay :it's the son of legendary actor playing the part of a son of a legendary hero-although E.FLynn never played Zorro-,just after "the son of captain blood" ,made on the same pattern.