El Zorro (1968)

The Viceroy of Mexico orders the arrest of the alcalde of Santa Maria del Consuelo for corruption and for impoverishing the region by extorting exorbitant taxes from the population. The government messenger carrying the order for the arrest is murdered on the orders of Don Pedro, commander of the royal guards, who effectively wields judicial power over the region with an iron fist, manipulating the alcalde to enrich himself. Don Pedro also plots, with the complicity of another high-ranking official, to unite the region with its neighbor and then depose the governor himself. Don Diego de Alcántara y San Juanito is a young nobleman who lives idly while carrying on a half-serious affair with a merry widow, Donna Ines. In truth, however, he is in love with a young woman, Isabella, who does not return his feelings and is infatuated with Zorro. The hero, beneath whose mask Don Diego himself is hiding, fights to recover the letter and free the region from the alcalde and his vile henchman, Don Pedro, with the help of his horse Birillo, the parish priest Don Eusebio, and a U.S. journalist who ultimately sacrifices his life for the cause. The alcalde is killed by Don Pedro himself. Donna Ines leaves for Spain for good, without causing Don Diego any particular distress. To stop the plot, Zorro allies himself with the nobles who want to fight, but without asking the governor for help. Zorro agrees on the condition that the people—ready to rise up but poorly armed—not be involved, in order to avoid a bloodbath. During the decisive battle, the masked hero faces Don Pedro in a fight to the death and defeats him, resolving the situation. At the end, Don Diego speaks with Donna Isabella and a child, explaining that Zorro has gone away to return to a normal life, but he is betrayed by the very carrier pigeon with which, as Zorro, he sent love messages to the young woman. Isabella is radiant to discover the secret identity of her beloved hero. Don Diego tells the child that the pigeon is summoned with a whistle and, like Zorro, comes whenever he is needed.