{"id":2846,"date":"2025-03-22T16:44:27","date_gmt":"2025-03-22T15:44:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/champagne-bond500.com\/?post_type=product&p=2846"},"modified":"2025-03-22T16:47:16","modified_gmt":"2025-03-22T15:47:16","slug":"zorro1957-the-sign-experience","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/champagne-bond500.com\/eng\/produit\/zorro1957-the-sign-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Zorro(1957) The Sign Vision"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I mentioned when I started this project, the purpose of this column is to examine all of the Disney studio\u2019s theatrical output in order of its American release. This means that TV productions like\u00a0The Horsemasters<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Hans Brinker<\/em>\u00a0that screened theatrically overseas won\u2019t be appearing here.\u00a0The Sign Of Zorro<\/em>, a compilation of TV episodes originally broadcast back in 1957, first premiered overseas in late 1958. By the time it hit American theatres in June of 1960,\u00a0Zorro<\/em>\u00a0was essentially over.<\/p>\n

Zorro first appeared in the 1919 novel\u00a0The Curse Of Capistrano<\/em>\u00a0by prolific pulp writer Johnston McCulley. A year later, the character made his movie debut with Douglas Fairbanks starring in\u00a0The Mark Of Zorro<\/em>. Both the book and the film were incredibly popular, leading McCulley to write dozens more Zorro stories, more movies (notably the 1940 version starring Tyrone Power), serials, comics and assorted rip-offs. Somewhere along the way, a little kid named Bruce Wayne saw a version of it just moments before his parents were senselessly murdered in front of him. But that\u2019s another story.<\/p>\n

Walt acquired the TV rights to Zorro in 1952, hoping to attract a network that would help finance the construction of Disneyland. Nobody was willing to give\u00a0Zorro<\/em>\u00a0a greenlight without a pilot, a prospect Walt found somewhat insulting given his track record. However, Walt did reach a deal with ABC to produce the anthology series\u00a0Walt Disney\u2019s Disneyland<\/em>, which premiered in 1954. After\u00a0Disneyland<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0The Mickey Mouse Club<\/em>\u00a0both proved popular, ABC agreed to take a chance on\u00a0Zorro<\/em>.<\/p>\n

To play the title character, Walt cast Guy Williams, a former fashion model who had been kicking around Hollywood for a few years, appearing mostly in smaller supporting parts. Williams was presumably cast solely on the basis of his good looks and the fact that he knew how to wield a sword. Certainly there was nothing in his professional background to suggest that he could anchor a series, much less pull off a dual role.<\/p>\n

As it turned out, Walt\u2019s instincts were correct. Guy Williams is a terrific, swashbuckling Zorro. He looks like he\u2019s genuinely having fun, which is something of a prerequisite for this character. You can understand why kids everywhere tried emulating his Zorro, resulting in a schoolyard epidemic of slashed and graffitied Z\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Pantomime artist Gene Sheldon won the role of Zorro\u2019s devoted, mute manservant, Bernardo. Broadway actor Henry Calvin was cast as the bumbling Sergeant Garcia. Both actors would appear in the Kevin Corcoran circus vehicle\u00a0Toby Tyler<\/a><\/em>, a movie we\u2019ve already covered in this column but was filmed after\u00a0Zorro<\/em>\u00a0had completed its second season. Sheldon and Calvin will be teamed up again soon.<\/p>\n

The impulse behind\u00a0The Sign Of Zorro<\/em>\u00a0was the same one that led to the two\u00a0Davy Crockett<\/a><\/em>\u00a0features. Overseas audiences didn\u2019t have access to Disney\u2019s TV productions unless they were given a theatrical release. Once international audiences proved that the TV stuff played just as well on the big screen, why not release them in the States?<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s an important difference between\u00a0Davy Crockett<\/a><\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Zorro<\/em>. The Crockett programs were both miniseries. Each one of the films simply assembled all three episodes of its respective series. But\u00a0Zorro<\/em>\u00a0was an ongoing, weekly series with story arcs that tended to run for about 13 weeks.\u00a0The Sign Of Zorro<\/em>\u00a0was compiled from the first arc, following Don Diego de la Vega\u2019s arrival in Los Angeles, the creation of the Zorro persona, and his defeat of greedy tyrant Captain Monastario (Britt Lomond, previously seen as General Custer in\u00a0Tonka<\/a><\/em>). That\u2019s a whole lot of story to whittle down from 8 half-hour episodes to a brisk 90 minutes.<\/p>\n

Given those limitations, it\u2019s a little surprising that\u00a0The Sign Of Zorro<\/em>\u00a0is as coherent and enjoyable as it is. I haven\u2019t seen the TV series, so I\u2019m not entirely sure what material was left on the cutting room floor. That\u2019s a good thing. If at any moment the audience starts to suspect they\u2019re missing something, the project would have to be considered a failure.<\/p>\n

I suspect the TV version makes more use of George J. Lewis as Zorro\u2019s father, Don Alejandro de la Vega. Lewis was a veteran character actor who had earlier starred in the Zorro-In-Name-Only serial\u00a0Zorro\u2019s Black Whip<\/em>. He\u2019s mostly stuck on the sidelines in the feature version but he stayed with the series to the end.<\/p>\n

More than anything,\u00a0The Sign Of Zorro<\/em>\u00a0reminds me of a greatest-hits album. You get a little taste of everything that made the TV show fun. There\u2019s the catchy theme song by Norman Foster and George Bruns, performed by the Mellomen. (The Chordettes, the girl group best known for \u201cLollipop\u201d and \u201cMr. Sandman\u201d, got as high as #17 on the pop chart with their version in 1958.) You get a little flavor of the comedic touch Sheldon and Calvin brought to their roles. Williams and Lomond are well-matched and get in some exciting swordplay. It\u2019s all just enough to leave you wanting to see more Zorro adventures.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I mentioned when I started this project, the purpose of this column is to examine all of the Disney studio\u2019s theatrical output in order of its American release. This means that TV productions like\u00a0The Horsemasters\u00a0and\u00a0Hans Brinker\u00a0that screened theatrically overseas won\u2019t be appearing here.\u00a0The Sign Of Zorro, a compilation of TV episodes originally broadcast back […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[19],"product_tag":[],"class_list":["post-2846","product","type-product","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","product_cat-non-classe","first","instock","sale","taxable","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-simple"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/champagne-bond500.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/2846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/champagne-bond500.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/champagne-bond500.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/champagne-bond500.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2846"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/champagne-bond500.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/champagne-bond500.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/champagne-bond500.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=2846"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/champagne-bond500.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=2846"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/champagne-bond500.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=2846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}