The Mark of Zorro Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "The Californian" )

directed by Rouben Mamoulian
USA 1940

In a role that perfectly combines his feyness and machismo, Power is marvelous as the fop by day and brave avenger by night. Returning to 19th-century Los Angeles, Don Diego (Power) finds that his father Don Alejandro (Love) has been replaced as governor by the slimy Don Luis Quintero (Bromberg) and the cruel Capt. Pasquale (Rathbone). Shortly after the mincing Don Diego has convinced the powers that be that he's nothing to worry about, the dashing, heroic but mysterious Zorro begins righting wrongs left and right, leaving his mark (literally) on everything...and everyone. Who says the pen is mightier than the sword?

Power cuts a stylish and convincing Zorro, vigorously playing the brilliant swordsman, although his more strenuous routines are performed by stunt double Albert Cavens. Mamoulian cleverly cuts in and out of his terse scenes to suggest more action than really occurs. The final deadly confrontation between Rathbone and Power is a thrilling duel no less exciting than the final contretemps between Errol Flynn and Rathbone in THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD. Rathbone is terrific as the villain, always fondling his sword, prepared at any moment to draw blood for sport or sadistic amusement. "Most men have objects they play with," Rathbone remarks in one scene. "Churchmen have their beads; I toy with a sword." Love is as sturdy as ever, the paunchy Bromberg and the sleek Sondergaard are a delight as the sleazy rulers, and the unique Palette gets to reprise his performance as Friar Tuck from ROBIN HOOD. Darnell doesn't get to do much more than glow in soft focus, but she does show lush promise beneath the prim dictates of her role.

Excerpt from TV Guide Online located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: November 1st, 1940

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Comparison

20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC (Black / White and Colorized) vs. Kino Lorber - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

1) 20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT

2) Kino Lorber - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - RIGHT

Box Covers
	The original black and white version is the same as the Studio Classics version (Spine #12), but in this version you also get the colorized version on the opposite side of a dual layered dual sided DVD. It is $5 cheaper getting the original release without the addition of the colorized print...
Distribution	20th Century Fox Region 1 - NTSC	Kino Lorber Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:33:36	1:33:42.617
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.59 mb/s / 5.94 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 21,873,257,914 bytes Feature: 19,166,300,160 bytes Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Total Video Bitrate: 23.93 Mbps
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Black and White
Bitrate: Colorized
Bitrate: Blu-ray
Audio	English (Dolby Digital Mono), DUB: Spanish (Dolby Digital Mono)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1582 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1582 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 256 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 256 kbps
Subtitles	English, Spanish, and none	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: 20th Century Fox Aspect Ratio: Original aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Studio Classics trailers • Commentary by: film critic Richard Schickel • "Tyrone Power: The Last Idol" as seen on A&E's Biography • 6 Photos in an envelope DVD Release Date: October 18th, 2005 Keep Case Chapters 24	Release Information: Studio: Kino Lorber 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 21,873,257,914 bytes Feature: 19,166,300,160 bytes Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Total Video Bitrate: 23.93 Mbps Edition Details: • Audio Commentary by Film Critic Richard Schickel • Tyrone Power: The Last Idol Documentary (45:03) • Trailers (Zorro - 1:45, Rawhide - 2:27, Witness For the Prosecution - 3:08) Standard Blu-ray case Blu-ray Release Date: August 2nd, 2016 Chapters: 8

Comments

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were obtained directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Lorber - Region 'A' - Blu-ray July 16': This new Kino Lorber 1080P has about 3+ X the bitrate of the DVD transfer. It only offers the black and white version - which is fine. It looks better in the usual ways - superior layered contrast, shows a shade more information than the colorized, and has some film textures. It's the same print with the same light marks.

Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel at 1582 kbps (16-bit) in the original English. There are a few flourishes and the mix-n-match score by the group effort of Alfred Newman (The Diary of Anne Frank, Bus Stop, Blood and Sand, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Panic in the Streets, The Song of Bernadette etc. etc.), David Buttolph (Pete Kelly's Blues, Rope, Three Secrets, Kiss of Death, Blood and Sand and many more), Hugo Friedhofer's (Man in the Attic, Ace in the Hole, Body and Soul, The Young Lions), and Cyril J. Mockridge (Thieves' Highway, Desk Set, The Ox-Bow Incident, The Dark Corner, My Darling Clementine, Nightmare Alley) sounds a bit tighter and crisper in lossless. A definite improvement. Kino offer no subtitle options and their disc is region 'A'-locked.

Extras duplicate the 2005 DVD with the Richard Schickel audio commentary and 45-minute AE bio Tyrone Power: The Last Idol documentary as well as a promo for the film and two trailers (Rawhide - 2:27, Witness For the Prosecution - 3:08).

Such an adventurous, enjoyable film. The chemistry between Power and Darnell is undeniable and I'm so glad to have this in a superior version - HD, lossless audio, the old commentary and bio piece... certainly a worthy Blu-ray purchase, IMO.

***

ON THE DVD: Now you know what geeks like us do for some fun....

This edition has the black and white version also sold in the original Studio Classics series by 20th Century Fox and on the opposite side this colorized version. On colorization... we do not condone or recommend films that have been manipulated by colorization. Just as we do not recommend censored films, non-original audio or aspect ratio manipulated films. Colorization can look silly at times, attempting to give texture where there often is none. I don't really have much to more to say than you can determine for yourself by viewing the images below. The colorized version looks pretty good and brings out detail (often in shadows) that is lost in the original black and white print - of course this information mat have intentionally be left out - how can we ever know. The trouble with the coloring is that it is mostly guesswork and highly inaccurate. Anyway the colorized print is very interesting to see regardless of your stance on the issue and its also interesting to see how far the colorization process has come. The colorized edition is cropped on the left and bottom edges.

P.S. I heard Ted Turner is going to colorize the moon before 2008.

NOTE: Nick says: 'In your recent review of the colorized/b&w Mark of Zorro: SE from Fox you don’t make any mention of the aliasing on the original “studio series” edition. I have the original Studio Series B&W only disc and I can tell you that the shimmering of fine details is obtrusive to put it mildly. Fox paid very little attention to their initial ‘remastered’ titles in this collection.' (Thanks Nick! )

- Gary Tooze

Menus

(20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. BFI - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)

Kino Lorber - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

Subtitle Samples

1) 20th Century Fox (B+W) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) 20th Century Fox (Color) - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE