Swashathon 2 -- A Blogathon of Swashbuckling Adventure -- July 14, 2017

Motion Picture News, 15-January-1921

This post is part of  Swashathon 2 -- A Blogathon of Swashbuckling Adventure, hosted by Fritzi at Movies Silently.  I agree with Fritzi that the first Swashathon may have been my favorite blogathon yet.  For the first Swashathon, I wrote about the Robin Hood of the West, the Cisco Kid:
Cisco Kid Was a Friend of Mine
http://bigvriotsquad.blogspot.com/2015/11/cisco-kid-was-friend-of-mine-november-7.html 

This time, I am writing about Johnston McCulley's Zorro.  I'm going to concentrate on English-language movies and other media.

Like the Cisco Kid, Zorro was unusual because he was a Hispanic hero in American movies, on American television and in American pulp magazines and comic books.  Don Diego de la Vega was a Californio aristocrat.  Californios were people of Spanish or mixed Spanish-native descent in  California during the period after Mexican independence in 1821 and before the US took over in 1846.  Diego takes the secret identity of Zorro (The Fox) to fight against corrupt officials and other villains who oppress the common people.  Zorro made his mark, a letter "Z" formed with three slashes of his sword, as a warning to evildoers and a sign of hope to the oppressed...

Read the rest on my other blog:
https://bigvriotsquad.blogspot.com/2017/07/zorro-from-douglas-fairbanks-to-antonio.html 

Bessie Love #6 -- June 6, 2013

I have always been fascinated by the career of actress Bessie Love.  She was born in Texas.  Her name was Juanita Horton.  Her family moved to Los Angeles and she went to Los Angeles High School.  Looking for work, she met director  DW Griffith and got a small part in Intolerance.  She appeared in movies with William S Hart and Douglas Fairbanks.  She was a 1922 WAMPAS (Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers) Baby Star.  She played many leading roles, most famously in The Lost World, but never broke through until the talkies came, when she starred in The Broadway Melody.  Her career was hot for a few years, but then tailed off.  She continued to appear in small parts in movies until the early 1980s.

This item, from the 1916 Motion Picture Studio Directory and Trade Annual, mentions some of the movies she did for the Fine Arts studio.  DW Griffith was the 1916 equivalent of an executive producer.  The Flying Torpedo predicted guided missiles.  Reggie Mixes In starred Douglas Fairbanks. 

Bessie Love #1 -- January 6, 2013

 

I have always been fascinated by the career of actress Bessie Love.  She was born in Texas.  Her name was Juanita Horton.  Her family moved to Los Angeles and she went to Los Angeles High School.  Looking for work, she met director  DW Griffith and got a small part in Intolerance.  She appeared in movies with William S Hart and Douglas Fairbanks.  She was a 1922 WAMPAS (Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers) Baby Star.  She played many leading roles, most famously in The Lost World, but never broke through until the talkies came, when she starred in The Broadway Melody.  Her career was hot for a few years, but then tailed off.  She continued to appear in small parts in movies until the early 1980s. 

This item, from the May, 1929 Photoplay heralds her rise to good roles in the talkies.