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Lost Again – The Mark of Zorro

27 May

May 26, 1938

Louella Parsons
Los Angeles Examiner

Errol Flynn is lost again between Havana and Hollywood.

May 28, 1938

Erskine Johnson
Los Angeles Examiner

Fox turned down Warners’ offer of $150,000 for film rights to Douglas Fairbanks’ old picture,
The Mark of Zorro. They wanted it for Errol Flynn.

— Tim

 
4 Comments

Posted in Films, Gentleman Tim, Newspaper & Headlines, Ships & the Sea, Sirocco, Travels

 

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  1. Karl

    May 28, 2019 at 2:34 am

    Doug Sr’s first fully realized swashbuckler; his 1917 “A Modern Musketeer” presaged with some short scenes as D’Artagnan what was to later come.

    Flynn as Zorro… with Power having done such a sterling job… I don’t know?

    And yet Guy Williams, a Flynn look-a-like if there EVER was one, did a MOST SUPERLATIVE job portraying Diego de la Vega/Zorro in the Disney TV Series so… it’s YOUR call as to what works for you.

    (Williams did in fact redo a Flynn film, along with Uncle Walt, and the film…? “The Prince and the Pauper”.)

    (BTW, in the Fairbanks 1920 version there are some other notable players: Wallace Beery’s brother, Noah, and HIS son, Jr, who went on to play the father of Jim on The Rockford Files, and speaking of television… the fellow known as Mr. TV himself- Milton Berle!)

     

  2. Jack Marino

    May 28, 2019 at 5:16 am

    Tim, Karl,

    I read a long time ago, that Walt Disney was going to create ZORRO for television and he told his casting people to find an Errol Flynn look alike and he wanted a Harpo Marx look-alike for Bernado. One would never think Errol and Harpo would work as characters for a TV show there was a huge success. Just shows that Uncle Walt was a genius in what he did.

     

  3. Karl

    May 28, 2019 at 9:00 am

    Ahoy Jack… and SO right you are; Disney was a genius and transitioned from animation to film to TV.

    And a knack for knowing what would “work” whether it even be in black and white or COLOR!

    His choice in Gene Sheldon as Bernardo was an inspired one. A Harpo-like character would have been over the top only he didn’t play it that way but, LIKE Harpo, he was a mimest and “musical” (played the banjo) and had a Harry Langdon sort of way about him.

    Here’s his “act” in a brief clip:

     

  4. Gentleman Tim

    May 29, 2019 at 6:18 am

    Wow, I forgot how good Williams was! A Stand-In-Like Flynn! Indeed, the whole cast and production was great.

    He was great live, too. This is some wonderful 1950s Americana. Uncle Walt sure was the best in the world at what he did. Nothing he did was Mickey Mouse (Except, of course, Mickey Mouse himself …you know what I mean!)