Fight Clip Club: Mark of Zorro

The fencing master has met his equal!

It’s funny – in my long studies of the art of staged combat, I’ve seen this particular fight scene multiple times, but have never sat down and watched the whole film all the way through. And now it occurs to me that, though Zorro is one of the swashbuckliest of all swashbuckler characters in cinema (or even in literature), I have never watched a whole Zorro film from any era all the way through. I’ve only ever enjoyed the swordfights. Should I correct this lack in my sword-viewership?

I’ve seen a few versions of Robin Hood, several great renditions of Three Musketeers (one of which starred legendary hoofer Gene Kelly as d’Artagnan – I must get to that one here at FCC at some point), and many many wonderful romanticized pirates from many eras. But not one full Zorro movie. Even the Mask of Zorro, the flirtatious fight from which I’ve already analyzed here, I haven’t seen all the way through.

What do you think? Do you have a favorite Zorro? Is this masterful fight scene a good example of why I should sit through the whole? In this economy? Let me know in the comments. And follow me below the paywall, as I take apart this, yet another fantastic example of an old-school fight from an old-school swashbuckler, in a pre-modern-stage-combat era.

Fight Clip Club is the only series in Zuko’s Musings that is paywalled, as it is from my professional expertise. To join the Club, upgrade to paid, or drop me a line and ask for a comp.