The Mark of Zorro is a 1940 American black-and-white swashbuckling film released by 20th Century-Fox, directed by Rouben Mamoulian, produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, and starring Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, and Basil Rathbone.

The film is based on the novel The Curse of Capistrano by Johnston McCulley, originally published in 1919 in five serialized installments in All-Story Weekly,[3] which introduced the masked hero Zorro; the story is set in Southern California during the early 19th century.

Don Diego quickly adopts the guise of El Zorro ("The Fox"), a masked outlaw dressed entirely in black, who becomes the defender of the common people and a champion for justice against the uncaring Quintero and his garrison of brutish soldiers.

As part of his plan, Don Diego simultaneously flirts with the alcalde's wife Inez, filling her head with tales of fashion and culture while nurturing her desire to finally get rid of her cruel husband.

So there may not be quite the same old punch that there was twenty years ago in this story of the dashing young Spaniard who rode mysteriously through the night, performing great deeds of daring with reckless imprudence in order to rid the land of a cruelly oppressive tyrant.” Crowther praises the film for its “lively, exciting clip” and its “excellent cast of expansive actors.”[7][8] Film historian Tom Milne considers The Mark of Zorro, director Mamoulian’s first foray in action-adventure pictures “a masterpiece of the genre” and simultaneously a deviation from the formula.

[13][14] Milne admits that The Mark of Zorro is merely a “swashbuckle” but nonetheless “one of Mamoulian’s most elegant and intelligent films.”[15][16][17] “Power was the most agile man with a sword I’ve ever faced before a camera.

[21] Diego' s discovery that his rightful heritage is usurped by a malignant male authoritarian transforms the youth into the avenging Zorro, who proceeds to destroy “the evil father” figure.

[23] The Mark of Zorro (1974) is a made-for-television remake film starring Frank Langella and co-starring Ricardo Montalbán in the roles played by Power and Rathbone in the original.

Portions of Newman's original music score were reused by composer Ian Fraser for the George Hamilton swashbuckling comedy film Zorro, the Gay Blade (1981).

[25]In the DC Comics continuity, The Mark of Zorro was established as the film that the eight-year-old Bruce Wayne had seen with his parents, Thomas and Martha, at a movie theater, only moments before they were killed in front of him by an armed thug (later retconned to be Joe Chill).