In 1919, a hack writer by the name of Johnston McCulley wrote a five-part story titled “The Curse of Capistrano” for the All-Story Weekly. It featured a ‘caped crusader’ in a black mask who called himself Zorro, the Spanish word for ‘fox.’

At that time, Douglas Fairbanks and the movie industry had a problem: women. They came to the theaters in the afternoons for romances, but the theaters were empty during the day.

Zorro, with his athletics and romance subplots, solved that problem.  His first Zorro film, “The Mark of Zorro,’ was such a hit that its opening night ws the best theaters had seen in years!

It was also so popular that police had to be called at 9 PM to disperse the crowd at the theater.

About the Author

Steve Levi is an Alaskan writer who specializes in the Alaska Gold Rush (nonfiction) and the ‘impossible crime,’ (fiction.)  An ‘impossible crime’ is one where the detective must figure out HOW the crime was committed before going after the perpetrators – like a Greyhound bus with bank robbers and hostages disappearing off the Golden Gate Bridge –THE MATTER OF THE VANISHING GREYHOUND. Steve’s books can be found at www.authormasterminds.com/steve-levi