Zorro’s Latest Adventure (1969)

Aldo Bufi Landi is Col. Cordoba, who exacts higher and higher taxes from the Mexican peasants, supposedly on behalf of the government.

Gov. Don Fernando (Jose Jaspe) goes along with his tactics. After all, the central government is demanding its money.

But his daughter, strong-willed Isabel (Maria Pia Conte), isn’t afraid to speak out against the colonel. After all, how are the peasants to pay taxes if their homes and fields are destroyed.

Isabel thinks she might have found an ally when Antonio Sandoval returns from Spain. But he immediately dons a uniform and falls in line with what’s expected of one of the colonel’s subordinates in an army where to balk is akin to military suicide.

Then Zorro, the fox, suddenly returns, threatening to upend Cordoba’s grand plan to embezzle the taxes, place the blame on Don Fernando, then replace him as governor.

Zorro also shows up in Isabel’s room under the cover of darkness. And with one kiss, he replaces Antonio Sandoval as the man she admires most.

But no sooner has Zorro revealed Cordoba’s scheming to the governor than a strange change takes place.

Suddenly, Zorro, of someone impersonating him, is working against the peasants and for the military.

And Isabel, thinking she can trust no one, facing the unhappy prospect of having to wed the man she hates the most.

Review:

A routine Zorro offering in which our hero spends lots of time riding around, eluding government troops. All to the sound of a familiar Lallo Gori soundtrack used in a number of low-budget Spaghetti films.

All the stereotypes are here — the despicable tax collector, his oft-bumbling subordinate (Lt. Somoza) and the governor, who’s a bit slow at realizing what’s going on.

And our handsome Zorro is quick to right wrongs, but slow to kill. Just check out the scene in which he saves the governor and his lovely daughter from ambush, disposing of a sizeable escort with the use of his whip and some nifty horsemanship.

If anything stands out in this Zorro outing, it’s the beauty of Maria Pia Conte as the governor’s daughter. Director Jose Luis Merino wisely makes sure she gets plenty of camera time and lots of closeups.

Directed by:
Jose Luis Merino

Cast:
Carlos Quiney … Antonio Sandoval / El Zorro
Maria Pia Conte … Isabel
Aldo Bufi Landi … Col. Cordoba
Jose Jaspe … Gov. Don Fernando
Pasquale Simeoli … Capt. Alvaro Mendoza
Juan Cortes … Manuela’s father
Pasquale Basile … Lt. Somoza
Santiago Rivero … Treasurer
Maria Salerno … Sarita
As Marta Monterrey
Lea Nanni … Manuela

Also with: Antonio Vidal Molina, Rafael Vaquero, Alex Marco, Antonio Jimenez Escribano

Runtime: 92 min.

aka:
La ultima Aventura del Zorro

Music: Lallo Gori

Memorable lines:

Sorry, watched a foreign language version of this film.

Trivia:

* The same year this film was released, Maria Pia Conte played the title character in the sexploitation film “Juliette de Sade.” She plays a sexually precocious young woman who is kicked out of a convent school, heads to Rome, experience a lesbian affair, then falls under the control of a man who’s a disciple of the teachings of Marquis de Sade.

* Lea Nanni plays a peasant girl aided by Zorro in this film. She plays Maria Pia Conte’s lesbian lover in “Juliette de Sade.” Two years later, she’d appear as the female lead in “Zorro the Invincible.” That film also starred Carlos Quiney and was directed by Jose Luis Merino.

* Maria Salerno has a small role here as Isabel’s handmaiden, Sarita. Also acting under the name Marta Monterrey, she had secondary roles in three other Spaghetti Westerns — “Garringo” (1969), “More Dollars for the MacGregors” (1970) and “Reverend Colt” (1970).

Maria Pia Conte as Isabel, introducing her father Don Fernando (Jose Jaspe) to Antonio Sandoval (Carlos Quiney) in Zorro’s Latest Adventure (1969)

Maria Pia Conte as Isabel, explaining a change of heart to Antonio Sandoval in Zorro’s Latest Adventure (1969)

Carlos Quiney as Antonio Sandoval, back from Spain and wondering what’s happening under Don Fernando’s rule in Zorro’s Latest Adventure (1969)

Maria Pia Conte as Isabel, irate over Col. Cordoba’s tax collection methods in Zorro’s Latest Adventure (1969)