The Curse of Capistrano takes place in California in the early 19th century, although it never establishes exactly when it's set (presumably when it's still under Spanish rule). There are several plot threads, so I'll try and introduce them through the characters:
- A masked swordsman known only as "Señor Zorro" has been striking at those who bully and abuse others.
- The blowhard Sergeant Gonzales is eager to apprehend this outlaw, and boasts about it to his good friend Don Diego Vega, the lazy and foppish son of the wealthy and respected Don Alejandro Vega.
- Don Diego is being pressured by his father to find a wife, and half-heartedly courts Lolita Purlido, whose aristocratic family are out of favour with the governor and have fallen on hard times
- Captain Ramon, the local garrison commander, also courts Lolita and is confronted by Zorro when he makes improper advances
The earlier instalments use the Point-of-View of Gonzales or Lolita rather than Zorro, allowing the masked hero to surprise the viewer. In fact, the book doesn't actually reveal Zorro's identity until the end of the penultimate chapter.
Not long after publication, the story was picked up by then-recently established United Artists and adapted into The Mark of Zorro, a 1920 silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks. One of the biggest changes made in the film was to Zorro's appearance. Zorro is described in the book as having "a black mask over his face that effectually concealed his features, and through the two slits in it his eyes glittered ominously." In the film, this was replaced with a domino mask which covers the top half of his face. As this was a silent film, this would have been a necessary change. After all, a Hollywood swashbuckler can't look dashing behind a veil. Especially when a lack of dialogue makes an expressive face essential. In fact, Douglas Fairbanks looked so distinct in the new costume that he would serve as the basis for all subsequent adaptations of Zorro.
The film was so successful that The Curse of Capistrano would eventually be republished as a standalone book in 1924 under the title of The Mark of Zorro. Furthermore, it ended up creating a demand for further stories. Which is interesting, because the book and the film both end with Diego's secret identity becoming public knowledge. So, McCulley changed this through retroactive continuity ("retconning"), and went on to write four more novels and 57 short stories, starting with The Further Adventures of Zorro in 1922, and ending with The Mask of Zorro, which was published posthumously in 1959. And that's not going into the various other adaptations on TV, film, and in print.
While often overlooked, Zorro could actually be regarded as a precursor to many superheroes. Batman draws many paralells with Zorro, with Bruce Wayne acting like a shallow millionaire while leading a double life as a masked vigilante. Bob Kane has cited Zorro as an influence. Some Batman origin stories have even alluded to this by having Bruce Wayne's parents being killed as they're leaving a cinema which was showing The Mask of Zorro.
Zorro himself could also be considered an appropriation of Baroness Orczy's The Scarlet Pimpernel. Sir Percival Blakeney is another affluent and foppish nobleman who secretly leads an organisation dedicated to helping refugees escape from Revolutionary France.
The Curse of Capistrano is public domain in the United States, and available to read on WikiSource. However, I've found that Bold Adventure Press have gathered the old stories (many of which are hard to find) and have published a six-volume set. Having enjoyed reading The Curse of Capistrano, I'm looking forward to a chance to read some of the other stories.
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