Mask of the Avenger

If you have ever wondered how a costume action movie from Columbia Pictures could look like without the awful Sam Katzman as a producer, with this Phil Karlson's, you have the answer. The difference is obvious if you compare with the other numerous Katzman productions from this era for directors William Castle, Henry Levin... Here the budget is openly larger and you see it on screen. It is as good as the pirates movies made by Sidney Salkow; and the awful music - always the same I guess - from Katzman movies is absent.... John Derek is excellent here and Anthony Quinn exquisite too. A rare Phil Karlson's early material not to miss if you can. Forget the predictable plot.

Italy in 1848 is the setting for MASK OF THE AVENGER, which borrows heavily from every Zorro-like swashbuckler or "Count of Monte Cristo" film ever made. Columbia's fledgling stars, JOHN DEREK and JODY LAWRENCE play the romantic leads with ANTHONY QUINN lending his presence to a colorful supporting role. He was on the verge of his own big-time stardom.

Derek is the masked aristocrat who must engage in swordplay with military tyrant Quinn. Although given Technicolor and some appropriate sets, it has the look of a second-rate epic indistinguishable from a dozen other such stories.

Nor is it any help that JODY LAWRENCE is a strictly one-note actress who brings nothing but a pretty face to her role as the lovely heroine.

JOHN DEREK fares slightly better but it's no more than a cardboard, by-the-numbers sort of adventure done countless times in more inventive ways. This one stirs up only a moderate amount of interest and can be easily forgotten.

Obviously designed to give Derek's teen-age fans a thrill since he gets solo billing over the title.

It's mid 19th century Italy and Anthony Quinn pulls something of a palace coup by framing provincial governor Wilton Graff of the very treason that Quinn is perpetrating. He kills Graff in the process and sets up shop in his palace.

And for some very weak plot reasons when Quinn has a chance to let the mob dispose of the 'traitor's' son John Derek he chooses to save him and keep him in the palace. Derek pretends to be more seriously wounded than he is and soon learns of Quinn's double dealing. At that point Derek dons the Mask Of The Avenger and starts to right some wrongs in the style of that other Dumas hero Edmund Dantes whose statue is in the town square.

Phil Karlson who was two years from directing one of the great noir films of all time, Kansas City Confidential, seemed to lose his muse doing this one. Though the film is based on a Dumas novel and mentions his famous hero The Count Of Monte Cristo, it bares more resemblance to a weak remake of The Mark Of Zorro.

Somehow I'm willing to bet that some obvious plot flaws that are in this film aren't present in the Dumas novel. Derek looks good with sword in hand, Anthony Quinn hams it up good as the villain. Jody Laurence is fetching as the dueling countess who Derek and Quinn both want to make some time with.

Still Mask Of The Avenger is ultimately unsatisfying, Dumas has been better served cinematically speaking elsewhere.

During the European revolutionary fervor of 1848, Italian Captain Renato Dimorna tries to avenge his father's death, goes against the corrupt local military governor Larocca and prevents an Austrian military invasion.

Mask of the Avenger has all the required elements: horses, intrigue, treachery, ambitious villainous plans, derringer-do, fancy costumes, and colourful sets. It's quite a fun swashbuckler in the Zorro/Monte Cristo fashion. It's nothing new, but it's lively, has a plot that keeps one interest and has a good climax. Anthony Quinn - no surprise - plays the villain who kills John Derek's father and John Derek is energetic as the hero. Jody Lawrence makes for a spirited heroine. Arnold Moss plays Quinn's sidekick who suspects that Derek is the masker avenger.

It's a pretty good movie, with swordplay, secrets, murder, and horseback riding...reminiscent of the old Zorro movies. There's a bit of romance, too.

Good over all.