Original poster art for 'The Mark of Zorro' (1920).I have a theory that will get tested this weekend.
The theory goes like this: that 'The Mark of Zorro' (1920) starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. was so popular and so familiar to audiences at the time, that its 1925 sequel, 'Don Q: Son of Zorro' was crafted to take advantage of this.
Yes, the sequel stands on its own as a great movie. I saw 'Son of Zorro' just last month at the Kansas Silent Film Festival and people loved it. So yes, you don't have to see the original 'Zorro' to enjoy the sequel.
But to get the full effect of the sequel, it's worth seeing the original first, so it's fresh in your head, just as it must have been to movie-goers of the time.
That way, it's possible to pick up on quite a few references to the earlier film that must have made the sequel and extra special experience when it hit theaters in June 1925, just under 100 years ago.
Like what? Well, check out how the sequel, once it gets going, circles back to refer to scenes from the original 'Zorro,' in a kind of 'greatest hits' kind of way. On a smaller scale, several personality traits are carried through both films, including a penchant for cheap 'sleight of hand' tricks.
Is there anything to this theory? The only way to find out is to do what we're doing this weekend: show both films, one after another, and see if the whole really does add up to something greater than the parts.
They're both terrific audience-pleasers, so either one on its own will make for a good afternoon in the cinema. But I hope you'll join me in recreating the full 'Zorro' experience via back-to-back screenings, with 'Mark of Zorro' on Saturday, March 29 and 'Don Q: Son of Zorro' on Sunday, March 30.
Both screenings are 2 p.m. matinees at the Town Hall Theatre in beautiful downtown Wilton, N.H. More info in the press release pasted in below. See you at the movies!
Oh, and while I'm at it: in the midst of this weekend's mini 'Zorro-thon,' I'm accompanying another film, 'Straight is the Way' (1921), on Saturday night at the Blazing Star Grange in Danbury, N.H.
The film is preceded by a 'Soup and Bread Supper,' which sounds good to me. Details about this event are in a press release pasted further below.
* * *
Original poster art for 'Don Q, Son of Zorro' (1925).SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 2025 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more info, contact: Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com
Town Hall to screen 'Zorro' and sequel 'Son of Zorro' over a single weekend March 29 & 30
Swashbuckling
silent adventure films starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. to be shown with
live music for 100th anniversary of Zorro sequel's release
WILTON,
N.H.—It's a rare chance to see the classic silent adventure 'The Mark of
Zorro' and its popular sequel, 'Son of Zorro' all in one weekend.
On
Saturday, March 29, the Town Hall Theatre will present 'The Mark of
Zorro' (1920) starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr.
Then, on Sunday, March
30, the theatre will run 'Don Q, Son of Zorro' (1925) on the 100th anniversary of the film's release—a continuation
of the Zorro story and Hollywood's first-ever big budget sequel.
In
'Don Q, Son of Zorro,' Fairbanks plays dual roles: his original
sword-brandishing 'Zorro' character and also his whip-wielding son.
Both screenings start at 2 p.m. and will be accompanied by live music performed by Jeff Rapsis.
Admission
is free; a donation of $10 per person is suggested to defray expenses
and support the Town Hall Theatre's silent film series.
"These
two films were among the most popular of the 1920s, and there are many
links between them," Rapsis said. "It's a rare chance to see them both
together, although each is entertaining and enjoyable on its own."
Douglas
Fairbanks Sr., an immensely popular star whose career peaked in the
1920s, served as the model for the George Valentin character in 'The
Artist,' the silent film that won multiple Academy
Awards in 2012, including the Oscar for Best Picture.
'The Mark of
Zorro,' to be screened on Saturday, March 29, tells the story of young
Don Diego Vega, the son of a wealthy ranch owner in Spanish California
of the early 19th century.
Witnessing the mistreatment of the
poor by rich landowners and the oppressive colonial government, Don
Diego assumes the identity of "Señor Zorro," a masked figure of great
cunning and skill, and vows to bring justice to the region.
The film stars Fairbanks, who until 'Zorro' had focused on playing traditional all-American leading roles in romantic comedies.
The
success of 'Zorro' launched Fairbanks on a series of historical
adventure films that went on to rank among the most popular spectacles
of the silent era, including 'The Three Musketeers' (1921) and 'Robin
Hood' (1922).
The enduring popularity of 'Zorro' led Fairbanks to film the sequel, which continues the story to another generation.
Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in a scene from 'Don Q, Son of Zorro' (1925).In
'Don Q, Son of Zorro,' Fairbanks plays Don Cesar de Vega, Zorro's grown
son, a prodigy with the whip who is visiting the family's Spanish
homeland to finish his education.
The trip is no dull semester
abroad: Cesar duels with Don Sebastian of the Queen's Guard (soon to be
his rival for the hand of lovely Dolores de Muro), makes love to a
general's daughter, and befriends the visiting Archduke of Austria.
But
a quarrel ending in violence gives Don Sebastian the chance to dispose
of his rival by framing him for murder. Feigning suicide, Zorro's
whip-wielding son escapes to the family's abandoned castle, where he
makes plans to clear the family name.
Both screenings will be accompanied live by silent film musician Jeff Rapsis.
Rapsis
achieves a "movie score" sound for silent film screenings by using a
digital synthesizer to reproduce the texture of the full orchestra.
"Each
of the 'Zorro' films are terrific movies on their own, but the chance
to see the original and then the sequel is a great way to present these
two films as they were intended to be seen: on the big screen, with live
music, and with an audience," said Rapsis, who provides live music
accompaniment for silent film screenings across New England and beyond.
'The
Mark of Zorro' (1920) will be screened with live music on Saturday,
March 29 at 2 p.m. Its sequel, 'Don Q, Son of Zorro' (1925) will be
screened with live music on Sunday, March 30 at 2 p.m. Each screening is
free and open to the public; a donation of $10 per person is suggested
to defray expenses.
Both screenings take place at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H. For more info, visit
www.wiltontownhalltheatre.com or call (603) 654-3456.
* * *
A production still from 'Straight is the Way' (1921) featuring a car with N.H. license plates.MONDAY, MARCH 17, 2025 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com
Vintage feature film with story set in Granite State to be screened in Danbury, N.H. on Saturday, March 29
Rare surviving silent comedy/drama 'Straight is the Way' (1921) to be shown with live music at Blazing Star Grange
DANBURY,
N.H. — It's a film not seen in theaters since its original
release more than a century ago. And it's set in fictional 'Hampton
Center, N.H.,' a small town where a pair of big-city crooks hide out
from the law.
It's 'Straight is the Way,' a Paramount release that proved a modest box office success in the spring of 1921.
The film then completely disappeared—until now.
This month, the Blazing Star Grange of Danbury, N.H. will host a screening of 'Straight is the Way,' which boasts a screenplay by two-time Academy Award-winning writer Frances Marion.
The event takes place at the Blazing Star Grange Hall, 15 North Road in Danbury, N.H.
The evening begins with a "soup and bread dinner" served at 6 p.m., cost $5 per person.
The film starts at 7 p.m. Admission is free, with donations gladly accepted; suggested amount is $5 per person.
Live music for the silent film program will be provided by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis.
The story of '
Straight is the
Way'
follows two burglars who flee to rural "Hampton Center, N.H." to hide
out in the unused wing of a mansion, where an impoverished family faces
eviction.
Exposed to small town values, the pair resolve to change their ways.
'Straight is the Way' was promoted with the tagline: "They came to lift the silver, but they stayed to lift the mortgage."
"It
should be a fun screening because the filmmakers depict 'Hampton
Center' as a small rural Granite State community—rather like Danbury
today," Rapsis said.
The film, a comedy/drama, features scenes in which a Ouija board is used to contact the spirits of long-dead relatives.
Ouija boards had become popular in the years following World War I, when 'Straight is the Way' was released.
How does a film disappear for 100 years, and then resurface?
Produced by Cosmopolitan Pictures, 'Straight is the Way'
was one of dozens of titles on Paramount's 1921 release schedule. After
its initial run, the film was never reissued or re-released.
This
was the fate of nearly all motion pictures of the era, most of which
were lost to neglect, decay, or accident. Today, about 75 percent of all
silent films no longer exist in any form.
But 'Straight is the Way'
is among the survivors. A single 35mm print of the film is in the
collection of the U.S. Library of Congress. The print was part of a
hoard of film material donated long ago by 1920s star Marion Davies,
whose pictures were produced by Cosmopolitan.
However, the print
is on fragile and flammable nitrate cellulose film stock, meaning it
can't be safely projected or loaned out. To keep the film from
deteriorating, the print is kept in long-term storage at the Library of
Congress media center in Culpeper, Va.
In 2021, Maine-based film
archivist Ed Lorusso organized an online Kickstarter program to raise
funds to transfer the surviving print of 'Straight is the Way' to digital media. The fundraiser was successful, and the transfer was completed earlier this year.
Lorusso
made the film available on DVD to fellow vintage film enthusiasts,
including accompanist Rapsis, who felt the film's Granite State setting
merited a revival, complete with live music.
The film's "world
re-premiere" took place in December 2021 at Red River Theatres in
Concord, N.H., which hosted the first theatrical showing of the film
since its original run.
"Very few films are set in New Hampshire, then or now," Rapsis said. "What's interesting about 'Straight is the Way'
is that it shows how the state was viewed at the time—a place of small
towns and old-fashioned ways, including a constable patrolling the town
in a horse and buggy."
Although 'Straight is the Way'
contains authentic details such as New Hampshire license plates on the
few autos that appear, Lorusso has found no evidence that any part of
the film was shot in the state.
Instead, 'Straight is the Way'
was produced in New York City, where Cosmopolitan Pictures was based,
and which continued to host film production even after most movie-making
moved to California in the 1910s.
'Straight is the Way' features several location shots of Manhattan scenes such as Washington Square in Greenwich Village as it appeared in 1921.
Lorusso
believes the New Hampshire scenes were most likely filmed in the rural
countryside of Long Island or New Jersey, just outside the city, as was
common practice at the time.
Lorusso has identified one location:
the mansion shown in the film is the summer home of author Ethel Watts
Mumford in Sands Point, Long Island. Mumford wrote 'The Manifestations
of Henry Ort,' on which 'Straight is the Way' was based.
The screenplay was by Frances Marion, the one recognizable name associated with the production.
Marion,
a prolific writer, authored more than 300 screenplays in a career that
spanned three decades. Her credits include silent classics such as 'The
Wind' (1928); she would later win Academy Awards for writing the prison
drama 'The Big House' (1930) and the iconic boxing story 'The Champ'
(1931).
'
Straight is the
Way'
features a cast of solid performers, all unknown today: Matt Moore,
Mabel Bert, Gladys Leslie, George Parsons, Henry Sedley, Van Dyke
Brooke, and Emily Fitzroy.
The film was directed by Robert
Vignola; the following year, he would direct Marion Davies in 'When
Knighthood Was in Flower' (1922) a big budget costume drama.
Rapsis said the Blazing Star Grange screening of '
Straight is the
Way' is a rare chance to see the film as it was meant to be experienced—on the big screen, with live music, and with an audience.
'
Straight is the
Way'
(1921), a silent comedy/drama set in New Hampshire, will be screened
with live music on Saturday, March 29 at 7 p.m. at the Blazing Star Grange Hall, 15 North Road in Danbury, N.H.
The
evening begins with a "soup and bread dinner" served at 6 p.m., cost $5
per person. The film starts at 7 p.m. Admission is free, with donations
gladly accepted; suggested amount is $5 per person.
