A wonderful definitive adaptation of the great romantic legend, based on the 1919 Johnston McCulley story, with matinée idol Tyrone Power as the swashbuckling Don Diego Vega, alias the masked avenger known as Zorro. Amazingly, Ty is the equal (well, almost) of predecessor Douglas Fairbanks Sr in this lavish black-and-white 20th Century-Fox spectacular. Basil Rathbone makes as superb a villain as he did playing Sir Guy of Gisbourne to Errol Flynn's Robin Hood two years earlier, and the swordfights are terrific. The only trouble is that on TV at the slightly faster speed you can tell that they're faked. For schoolboys of all ages (and their mums if they're Power fans).

In 1820 Spain, the son of a California nobleman comes home to find his native land under a villainous dictatorship. On one hand, he plays the useless fop, while on the other, he is the masked avenger Zorro.