Growing up, I watched a lot of movies that most people probably either never heard of or can believe that I was allowed to see as a kid. One of those movies is Zorro The Gay Blade, starring George Hamilton as the twin sons of the original Zorro, one of whom is much more flamboyant than the other, as they battle against the tyranny of Captain Esteban (played by Ron Leibman). In terms of a plot, ZTGB does fall in line with every other Zorro film of a masked vigilante fighting on behalf of the people against corrupt leaders who exploit their positions for their own game, but unlike other everything else Zorro related this movie is a comedy.
From the opening narration (done by Frank Welker) which established the connection between ZTGB and 1940's The Mark of Zorro, everything plays out as one would expect, Diego Vega is summoned to return home by his father only to learn his father had died, learns of his legacy and takes up the mantle of Zorro, while seeing his childhood friend Esteban going mad with power as the new Alcalde. On his first night out as Zorro, Diego is injured but the arrival of his twin-brother Bunny Wigglesworth (changed from Ramon Vega) allows for Zorro to remain a thorn in Eseban's side until Diego is healed up.
Of course the name of Bunny Wigglesworth is gonna stand out... and that ties into the title, turns out their father thought Ramon wasn't man enough and sent him off to the British Navy.... and well the Navy makes men and they certainly made Bunny. While the character comes in about half way into the movie, Bunny does have sizeable impact with the first appearance being wearing a plum version of the classic Zorro attire, and apparently had several costumes made (we only see the Gold, Orange and Dark Blue on screen), and his flamboyant personality certainly leaves an impression and easily sets up my favorite scene in the film, the second costume ball. Esteban sets a trap using his wife's new necklace as bait, but apparently details for the theme of the ball was changed and all the male guests arrived dressed as Zorro, including Diego, which allows Bunny to dress in drag and go as Diego's cousin Margarita, who Esteban becomes smitten with upon seeing her setting up the little chaos that leads to the theft of the necklace in question.
Now this is a Zorro film and there is plenty of action, the first proper scene of the film sees Diego fighting off a handful of enemies, there's a one on one fight against the Alcalde's top tax collector, the first costume ball turning into a fight, Bunny's first time out as Zorro and of course the big epic brawl at climax of the film. The fencing is actually pretty good and when I think about movies that I have seen that had good sword play, the only other one that comes to mind is Robin Hood Men In Tights. Then again, sword play in movies has basically become a lost art and the closest most people have seen are the Star Wars films with the light saber duels. When it comes to the music.it's fine, the big bombastic theme serves nicely to open up the credits be used for fight scenes, but the romantic theme and other incidental music is kind of on the meh-side. If memory serves me right, I think it was nominated for worst film score in the 1981 Raspberry Awards, which may have been a bit harsh.
Having watched this for the first time in a long time this week, I still enjoyed Zorro The Gay Blade for what it is, a fun film is a homage to what came before it while being unique in its own way.
