Don Q Son of Zorro

Film sequels were a novelty in 1925, when DON Q, SON OF ZORRO marked a big profit for United Artists. Then and now, it is considered to be a better film than the original, THE MARK OF ZORRO (1920), which made star and producer Douglas Fairbanks the personification of the Swashbuckler five years earlier.

Since his screen debut in 1915, Fairbanks had always been cast in contemporary comedies as a fun-loving, never-say-die, go-getter who gets the girl and catches the bad guys – all the while exhibiting his athletic prowess and bravado. He was a major film actor, but his popularity was beginning to wane due to the monotony of his roles and vehicles.

The formation of United Artists Corporation in 1919 gave founders Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and D.W. Griffith control over their own projects. Fairbanks chose this opportunity to risk reinventing his image by starring in this film adaptation of The Curse of Capistrano. The serialized novel written by Johnston McCulley had been published that year in a popular pulp magazine. It introduced the character of Zorro to the world. The magic of the movie assured Zorro's place among fictional super-heroes. The character lived on in several more film versions as well as books, comics, cartoons, Halloween costumes, toys, and in the popular 1950's television series starring Guy Williams.

In THE MARK OF ZORRO, set in early 19th century California, Fairbanks came up with an ingenious concept – showcasing his likable contemporary stock character into an action/adventure period costume picture. He plays Don Diego Vega, the milksop son of an affluent rancher who, like the Scarlet Pimpernel, dons a disguise to defend the impoverished townsfolk from the tyrants in power. His alter ego Zorro's, (Spanish for fox) trademarks are the black cape and cowl mask he wears and the master swordsmanship he displays. He is known to brand his victims with a "Z" made with three fast strokes of his blade. At the end of the film, after Zorro's greatest triumph, his identity is revealed. He throws his sword into the air. It lodges into a high spot on the wall, as Zorro shouts, "Till I need you again!" Though it was probably not Fairbanks' intention at the time, this line was a prime set-up for a sequel if there ever was one.

After the tremendous financial and critical success of ZORRO, Fairbanks continued to give the public what it wanted – the charismatic Fairbanks persona in lavish period epics. THE THREE MUSKETEERS, ROBIN HOOD and THE THIEF OF BAGDAD were all released in the years between the two Zorro epics.

As one can easily discern by the title of this follow-up, Doug is back as Diego's son - namely Don Cesar, aka "Don Q." The screenplay is based on the novel "Don Q's Love Story" by Hesketh Prichard and Kate Prichard which had no relationship to Zorro at all. But by making Don Q the offspring of the famous hero, it cashed in on the audience's familiarity with the original and made it possible for Doug to play a dual role as both father and son.

In the family tradition, Don Cesar is sent to Spain to continue his education and learn the traditions of his ancestors. His high-spirited ways and showmanship with a bullwhip make him a favorite of the Queen's cousin, Archduke Paul of Austria (Warner Oland). Cesar also makes an enemy of surly Don Sebastian (Donald Crisp), a member of the Queen's guard, and both men fall for the beautiful Dolores de Muro (Mary Astor). After Cesar is framed for murder, he fakes suicide and goes underground until he can prove the guilt of the real killer. Meanwhile, in California, Don Diego receives word of his son's predicament. He retrieves his sword from where it had stuck thirty years before, digs out his mask and cape and travels to Spain to help rescue his son. Father and son take on 15 soldiers in a sword fight during the film's exuberant finale.

Audiences and critics alike loved DON Q even more than the original. Film-making technique and technology had improved rapidly since 1920. The sequel had a stronger plot, higher production values and better pacing. What's more, Fairbanks has fine-tuned his swashbuckler persona to perfection. He was never was he more cocksure, flamboyant and amusing than he appears here. Though already 41 years old, he easily got away with playing a much younger character in no small part due to his physical fitness. He is shown to great advantage, engaging in sword-play, jumping on a horse or – his specialty in this film - cracking a whip. Well known for performing his own stunts, Doug reportedly spent six weeks learning fancy whipmanship. He uses it to light a cigarette, extinguish a candle, slice paper, lasso a bull and swing onto a balcony. He also shows himself to be a dandy on the dance floor in a parody of a Valentino tango.

Donald Crisp, best known for his chilling performance as Lillian Gish's cruel father in BROKEN BLOSSOMS, does double duty in DON Q as both co-star and director. He plays Fairbanks' dastardly nemesis Don Sebastian while directing one of his best films. Crisp directed more than 70 films, including the Buster Keaton classic,THE NAVIGATOR. He got his start in the movies in 1908 with the Biograph Company and appeared on screen for the last time 55 years later as Grandpa Spencer in the 1963 film SPENCER'S MOUNTAIN that starred Henry Fonda. Crisp died in 1974.

The New York Times thought so highly of DON Q, SON OF ZORRO, that they named it one the 10 best films of 1925.

While enjoyable on TV or home video, the movie is twice the fun when watched with live accompaniment and an audience as I was fortunate to experience at Cinevent 2006.

A sequel to one of Doug's best pictures that rousingly maintains the high standard of the original with much of the action played for laughs as Fairbanks effortlessly sees off the opposition while nonchalantly cracking a whip (even snapping a cigarette from Donald Crisp's mouth at one point!), mounting horses and performing other exhilarating feats of derring do.

Amidst all the macho brawling Lottie Pickford and Stella DeLanti (as the Queen) both make lively impressions in relatively brief roles; the latter early on, the former towards the end.

The rollout for a Douglas Fairbanks movie during the summer was becoming a much-heralded annual ritual for movie fans. During the steamy days of 1925, the actor/producer released his sequel to the highly successful 1920 "The Mark of Zorro" in July 1925's "Don Q, Son of Zorro." Cinematic special effects created a double of Fairbanks as he appears in the film's later scenes as an aging Don Diego Vega (Zorro) while his son (Fairbanks) is seen in the same frame.

The actor/producer combined the Hesketh-Prichard 1909 novel 'Don Q.'s Love Story' with the Zorro character. Don Q, Cesar, possessed as his main defensive weapon a whip, but was also adept with the sword. And he never wears a mask to hide his identity. The story's location in Spain allows "Don Q" to have a totally different cast of characters, including Cesar's arch love rival, Sebastian (Donald Crisp), head of the Queen's Palace Guard. Crisp, released previously by Buster Keaton for his handling of portions of 1924's "The Navigator," capably directed "Don Q." Crisp was no slouch when it came to directing, sitting in the monogrammed chair for some 70 films before he went full-time acting.

It was an interesting time for lead actress Mary Astor, who played the love interest between Fairbanks and Crisp as Dolores. Just 19 years old and only a three-year veteran of the screen, Astor was one of a number of very young actresses whose parents lived off her salary. After discouraging actor John Barrymore from marrying their daughter while making 1924's "Beau Brummel," Otto and Helen Langhanke (Mary's birth name was Lucile Langhanke before Paramount Pictures changed it) controlled every aspect of her life.

Just after filming "Don Q," Mary was closely kept to her parents' hips when they bought a Moorish-style mansion known as 'Moorcrest,' in the hills above Hollywood just below the recently built famous sign. Charlie Chaplin previously rented the 1921 house, right across the Theosophical Society's utopian community called Krotona. The Langhankes became friends with Marie Hotchener, a Theosophist. When Marie heard the parents were taking Mary's entire $2,500 a week salary to pay the mortgage and other luxury items, she convinced the Langhandes to give their daughter $5 per week as an allowance.

Soon tiring from her father's physical and psychological abuse, Mary climbed out of her bedroom window and sought refuge in a Hollywood hotel. Mrs. Hotchener again became the intermediary between the family and negotiated her return to the parents by forcing them to deposit $500 in her bank account. Mary also supposedly obtained control of her finances, which never happened until she was 26, four years after she had married director Kenneth Hawks, the brother of film director Howard Hawks.

Sprightly, only slightly less appealing sequel to Fairbank's first outing as Zorro. Here as Zorro's son, we also get some neat whiptricks and the sight of 2 Fairbanks (as Zorro and his son) in addition to the usual acrobatic stunts. The plot concerns Don Q being sent to the "old country" to study. He ends up framed for a crime by the corrupt officials of the Queen (who are made jealous when Don Q saves their commander from a bull with his whip, impressing the Queen with his courage). Zorro must come over to help him prove his innocence and defeat his enemies in battle.

Like his father a generation before, a young Californian caballero must fight against treachery & evil in high places.

DON Q SON OF ZORRO was Douglas Fairbanks' rousing sequel to his previous hit film, THE MARK OF ZORRO (1920). Much more expansive & elaborate than the first film, Fairbanks shows what he's learned about producing silent swashbucklers in the intervening five years. Mixing history, spectacle & lots of action, Doug always gave his audience their money's worth.

By this point in his career, Fairbanks was the absolute master of the swashbuckler. Whether romancing a fair señorita, fighting off hordes of enemy swordsmen, or jumping all about the architecture, his infectious grin & superb athletic prowess never fail to charm the viewer. And here he gets to charm twice, playing both father & son very nicely.

Doug is given wonderful support from three excellent character actors: Warner Oland as a silly Austrian Archduke whose foolish behavior precipitates the movie's crisis; Jean Hersholt as a social climbing buffoon who gets more than he bargained for; and vile Donald Crisp (who also directed) as the villain who wants both Fairbanks' life & sweetheart.

Although given little to do, Mary Astor is still a lovely heroine worth the fighting of several duels.

But this remains Fairbanks' film. His powerful personality & spectacular stunts not only dominate the movie, but also have ensured him an unassailable niche in Hollywood history.