Zorro, the Gay Blade (1981)

After having a surprise hit playing Dracula in Love at First Bite, George Hamilton seized the moment and spoofed another movie hero: Zorro. In fact, he plays two characters: the heroic Don Diego, who fights Spanish tyranny in Old California in his secret identity as Zorro, and Diego's long-absent brother, Bunny Wigglesworth, a man totally comfortable with his sexual identity and unafraid of accessorizing the Zorro outfit by rendering it in purple. When the swashbuckler is injured, he turns his sword over to the swishbuckler, who is just as good a swordsman, though a few shades less fiery. Some of the gay humor is heavy-handed, but Hamilton easily handles the comedy demands of the dual roles, and has strong support from Ron Leibman as the chief bad guy. --Marshall Fine Amazon.com

 The pipples are not happy!
If you like comedies and spoofs then this one shouldn't be left out. While it is outdated. it's still a classic spoof. In the time of Love At First Bite (1979) and the king of all spoofs; Airplane ('80) there lies Zorro the Gay Blade which stars George Hamilton playing a duel role.


George Hamilton plays a bumbling Zorro who is trying to stop the evil Spanish governor Esteban (Ron Leibman) from squashing the peasants. All this happens as he is wooing the beautiful Charlotte Taylor Wilson who was played by the Pepsi Light commerical supermodel Larren Hutton. Esteban senses that Don Diego Vega aka Zorra aka George Hamilton are all the same but he can't seem to catch him in the act. When Zorro injures his leg, Esteban visits Vega and notices a slight limp. Vega is quick to dismiss his claims and wants him out. What made matters worse is that Esteban's wife, Florinda (Brenda Vaccaro) is hot for Vega and visits him by way of ladder as Esteban visits as well. While Vega/Zorro is recovering, he enlists the help of his twin brother, Ramon Vega of the Royal British Army who also changes his name to Bunny Wigglesworth (also played by George Hamilton). He also happens to be very flambouant and dresses for every imaginable occasion...if you get my drift. While Bunny takes over as Zorro complete with a whip and a new outfit (sometimes more than one lol), he adds even more laughs. When Charlotte's life is in jeopardy (cue Alex Trebek), Don Deigo Vega/Zorro and Ramon Vega/Zorro whip into action knowing that Esteban had set a trap. Will the Zorro's succeed? Will they succeed in changing how Zorro dresses while completing an extreme makeover?

Watch as there are laughs almost every minute. If you love comedies and spoofs, as well as zaniness and just an all around good time with an old classic, don't pass on this one. April 21, 2008

 Slapstick Zorro Comedy
This movie is still funny even after many, many, many years. George Hamilton does a good job in a dual role. He even handles a Spanish accent well considering he's not Hispanic. This is a good movie for light-hearted slapstic humor. If you like goofy comedy you will like Zorro The Gay Blade. April 20, 2008

 A great villain makes a great comedy!
This hilarious movie is all about Ron Leibman as the over-the-top Alcalde, Esteban and his thwarted attempts to catch Zorro.

What makes a great adventure movie is a great villain and apparently the same goes for adventure-comedy films.

George Hamilton is funny as both Don Diego and Bunny, but without his great interplay with Ron Leibman the movie would be completely lost.

Esteban's repeated assertion that he is "From you! I am from the people!" is hilariously contradicted as he extorts more and more taxes from "the people" and is constantly thwarted by both Zorro's.

There are so many funny comic moments hidden throughout the film as Esteban constantly mutters one-liners under his breath, which are then forgotten as he shouts out orders to his troops.

I describe the movie as Mel Brooks meets Bugs Bunny with it's funny character one-liner jokes and hilarity resulting from the villain never being able to catch the smart-aleck hero.

This really is a smart and overlooked movie without any of the raunchiness or profanity that plagues so many other stupid comedies. Buy it today and get ready to laugh!

April 16, 2008

 Don't miss this one
Its a classic! They've taken a classic Zorro movie and made it very funny. I never thought that George Hamilton would pull off 2 roles of Zorro, one straight and one gay so well. Its one movie that that my entire family enjoys watching. April 6, 2008

 Our family's humor therapy
My husband and I watched this when it came out on video after it's first run in theaters. Not real impressed, but strangely we were compelled to repeat... and repeat, and repeat..with the kids. Pretty soon we were quoting movie lines from it, at fitting moments. The humor helped us cope with the stupid things in life. Or just for the fun of it. Tom Hanks character, in You've Got Mail, calls The Godfather the "IChing" of movies: "Leave the gun; take the canoli."...wisdom, for sure, but the Godfather's sagacity can't compare to Zorro, TGB's, contribution to everyday life with playful humor.

Here's a small sample:
"How's my party going?!!!"
"To be your friend, I would have to be a-more than a-clumsy; I'd have to be a-stupid!"
"Ah...you agree I have a point?"... "Of course! It must be difficult to find a hat that fits it properly!"
"Two fruits, one vegetable, and a fl-ow-er..."
"What is a name?...a brand, a label...worth nothing...except, in de fashion world!"
"C'mon little bear, we goin' to go to the party now. Maybe we'll find a friend for chu - ...maybe another bear, with...pig ears."
"Thank God for small fa-vors!!!"
"She threw, yes, threw-her-self-at-me!"
"We are of the Order of Saint Peter, the dressmaker..our Lord's tailor." (and then the prayer)
"Your gold and your horse are gift enough! De peeples thank you, your repugnancy!""
"Where is YOUR invitation, senor Beaver?"
"Luis Obispo; from Bakersfield!"(San Luis Obispo is an awesome CA college town)
"Well, it certainly is good to be home!"
"And now, it's-a time to pay YOUR taxes!"
"He's not going to just walk in and say, 'Here I yam!"..."HERE I YAM!"
"Roads? What do they need roads for? -they never go anywhere."
"Swing your hipsss, and say, "You naughty, evil alcalde...I'm going to do such terrible things to YOU!"
"You know that little thing...we do...one night...every year? We still got 3 months to go."
"Now we have MORE than before!"
"Chu hav never heard of de ships in de filds??? De leetle, ba-ba-ba's?"
"With all this talk about de peeples, I see you like decent inns."
"I'm sure you have some poor and needy friends who could use de extra dough!"

(Visualizing the characters saying these lines is what makes them so funny. That, and how often they can be applied to everyday things.)

Then, only Zorro would soothe everything at the end of a super-stressful day. Way-past avoiding watching it so we wouldn't get tired of it, we watched it so many times we could quote huge chunks of it during long car trips.

It is SO FUN! Cute, silly, charming, wry, George is way-handsome. Don Juan music. George is awesome! He is comic genius and he's QUALITY. Check-out Leslie Howard in The Scarlet Pimpernel, and see the fun stuff he borrows from that classic.

Our daughter came home from Europe last month for a visit. The first DVD she watched -not the usual Coen bros, Wes Anderson or Terantino- was Zorro TGB. Our son is a professional photographer finishing up a film school education and working on his first two big films next month. Almost every phone visit with him ends with him quoting the very playful, "It certainly has been good talking to you, my friend!" (Esteban to Zorro's mute servant, Paco...check it out). We LOVE movies- lots of movies and all kinds. This is our very personal family favorite! March 6, 2008

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