Dashing aristocratic soldier Capt. Renato Dimorna (John Derek) returns home to find his father accused of treason and murdered by Governor Viovanni Larocca (Anthony Quinn). Feigning a leg injury and belief that his father was a traitor, Renato takes on the identity of the masked “Ghost of Monte Cristo” to bring justice to the land. He is aided by the lovely Maria d’Orsini (Jody Lawrance), who is not only a pretty face, but unknown to Renato, a skilled swordswoman.
It’s hard to dislike Mask of the Avenger, but it’s equally hard to like it very much. It’s a casserole of Swashbuckler clichés. It’s the form of Zorro with the foundation of Robin Hood, covered by irrelevant name-dropping of Monte Cristo. There’s lots of speeches about freedom and revenge, a Machiavellian villain, a pretty girl, and an even prettier guy. Well, maybe that last part isn’t so good.
John Derek, best known as the sometimes husband of Ursula Andress, Linda Evans, and Bo Derek, was certainly a good-looking man, with enough charisma in his real life to hook himself some world-class hotties, but onscreen he’s just a humorless, stiff male model. He looks the part of the Swashbuckling rogue, but it takes more than chiseled features to swagger about with a sword and a cape and not look like an idiot. That may be a bit severe. With the script never giving Renato a single amusing line, even Errol Flynn would be out of luck.
Luckily, the girl is more interesting than the guy, and had this been Maria d’Orsini’s story, it might have really been something. She rides about in tight black pants and displays enough sexapeal to forgive Derek’s dullness. Anthony Quinn makes an equally enjoyable evil governor, although it’s hard to take him seriously once rapiers start swinging. The writers needed to re-watch the main film they were stealing from: The Mark of Zorro. Your wicked governor always needs a slender, athletic, equally-evil sword-champion to fight the climactic duel with the hero. This fight looks like a warrior is taking on his out-of-shape uncle.
Many of the the ’50s Swashbucklers were cheaply made, a fact that was all too clear to viewers, but Mask of the Avenger escapes that failing. The picture is crisp, the colors are vibrant, and although the sets lack realism, they do so in an elaborate fashion. It all adds up to a tolerable Swashbuckler—not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon, but not worth seeking out.
John Derek’s other Swashbucklers are Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950) and Prince of Pirates (1953).