MovieChat Forums > Zorro (1957) Discussion > Story arc missing- what do you think abo...

Story arc missing- what do you think about this?

posted 16 years ago by francisco533
6 replies | jump to latest

I consider this show one of the best shows I've seen in television.

Guy Williams is the best Diego\Zorro ever and all the cast is wonderfull ( Gene Sheldon, Henry Calvin, George L. Lewis, Britt Lommond, Jolene Brand).

I enjoyed the stories ( specially the one with Diego's uncle Estevan.) But "The Tyrant Monastario" arc, "The Eagle" arc and "Visit to Monterey" arc are the best of the show.

This is what I think. They should've done another 13 story arc- in wich Monastario (Britt Lommond) returned and Ana Maria (Jolene Brand) discovered Zorro's identity.

Zorro is one of my favourite shows ever! but I think that the story arc I mentioned is what is missing to reach perfection!

What do you think?

[–] hightp 15 years ago

According to Britt Lommond in his book 'Chasing After Zorro', there were discussions to bring Monastario back for another go round, but because Disney cancelled the series after it had been off the air for while, the stories never came to be.

I would have liked to see the return of Ricardo Montalban's character as he knew Zorro's identity, but back then, most TV shows plots were 'one and done's'.

He who fights and runs away, lives to run away again!

[–] Arbok9782 15 years ago

Monastario coming back would have been great. Personally I would have liked for a change of setting, like having another "big bad" like the Eagle show up and Monastario is turned to out of desperation for help by the people of Los Angeles. This in turn means Zorro and Monastario end up working together for awhile... as I always liked their chemistry together and figure a situation like that would have been perfect for them to play off each other.

[–] MrEdnablackadder 9 years ago

Personally I would have liked for a change of setting, like having another "big bad" like the Eagle show up and Monastario is turned to out of desperation for help by the people of Los Angeles. This in turn means Zorro and Monastario end up working together for awhile.

Good idea. Had the show ever involved the Mexican war of independence, Zorro and Monastario may have ended up fighting together, as subjects of the crown.. well, scrap that. I wouldn't have liked to see Zorro fighting for such a questionable cause.

I wonder if Monastario kept his uniform after being brought back to Spain. I might believe that he did: nothing he did stood out as really different from what most little local tyrants would do in the colonies. But it's probably unlikely that he would've been ever sent back to Los Angeles, since all the trouble his presence had caused. I think his return should've been carefully written to sound believable (the writers would have probably been able to do it, actually).

[–] vpilutis 10 years ago

Lets not forget how Ricardo Montalban was in a TV remake of THE MARK OF ZORRO in the
Basil Rathbone role.

on location with SUPERMAN I,& OTHER STARS
http://www.vbphoto.biz/

[–] MrEdnablackadder 9 years ago

It's funny that, years after having been written out of the show, Britt Lomond would still be making stage appearances in Disneyland as Monastario, fighting Guy's Zorro: aby 1959, some of the scenes they'd stage involved him trying to kidnap Jolene Brand's Anna Maria Verdugo and Zorro defeating him. It feels so strange, since he and Jolene belonged to such different periods of the show.
Truth be told, Disney may have liked Britt to believe he was still part of the Zorro family this way, but he actually never had the slightest intention to bring Monastario back. That's rather cruel. When he left, Walt had apparently told him that they may have brought Monastario back as the Governor in some future episodes: that may have been interesting to see!

To address the original point, I agree that Monastario was a great asset to the show and would've been nice to see him again (he only got mentioned by name again in the episode that followed his demise and possibly a couple times more during the Magistrado story arc as 'the previous comandante'). Still, even if he wasn't written out for a very valid reason, I think his exit allowed the show to keep changing and helped it to become the definitive Zorro version: with a resident tyrant, storylines wouldn't have been so varied. The Eagle's organization made for such an interesting story arc, which mixed the swashbuckler nature of the show with an element of espionage, creating a very original and unique blend. Pehaps a source of inspiration for some future spy shows (MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., Get Smart) which featured some felonious societies associated with birds (THRUSH, KAOS)? And, while I agree that Season 1 remains the best, I give credit to the second for being so mutable while remaining able to create fresh and interesting stories. Some of the later, more serious story arcs like the Death to the Governor plot or the Señor Basilio stay were more similar to Season 1, style-wise. Some of Basilio's stories would've worked very well with Monastario or the Magistrado methinks.

[–] briantravelman 15 years ago

they shouldve had an episode where he marries anna maria and shows her his face!