The Mark of Zorro

A young Spanish aristocrat must masquerade as a fop in order to maintain his secret identity of Zorro as he restores justice to early California.

Around 1820 the son of a California nobleman comes home from Spain to find his native land under a villainous dictatorship. On the one hand he plays the useless fop, while on the other he is the masked avenger Zorro. —Ed Stephan <[email protected]>

Don Diego Vega returns to California to learn that his father is no longer the alcalde of Los Angeles having been forced out and replaced by the corrupt Don Luis Quintero and supported by his Captain of the Guard, Esteban Pasquale. Vega disdains interest in politics and the treatment of the local population. The people soon have their savior in the form of Zorro, the masked bandit who has sworn to protect them. He steals from the tax man and ensures that the money is returned to the poor peasant farmers. In the hopes of cementing his power - and unaware of his secret identity - Quintero arranges for his beautiful niece Lolita to marry Don Diego but she resists the seemingly foppish young man. Her views change when she learns he is really Zorro. As tensions rise, Zorro will have to defeat Esteban Pasquale if justice and order is to be restored. —garykmcd / edited by Rob