I watched the Mark of Zorro (1940) with Tyrone Power, the other day. It was part of a series of movies I would watch on a Saturday morning in Maidstone. At least Zorro was a staple of the matinees.
After having won the heart of the niece of a corrupt Governor and defeated the man in question causing him to resign, Diego (Zorro) is standing with his soon to be wife, and the wife of the governor, who had declared he would to return to Spain. His wife is so excited at the thought of court and of seeing Spain. The closing dialogue ran along the lines of
“Spain. Oh Spain, How exciting to be going there. When can we expect to see you and our lovely niece in Madrid Diego ?”
“Oh, not for some time yet. We thought we would stay here and follow the customs of Los Angeles and the Californians.”
Unprovoked thought arose in my mind “Surfing, and lots of drugs.”
There is so much dialogue in old movies you just couldn’t get away with today. Words have changed their meaning and values themselves have moved so far in the last 80 or so years. Gay no longer means what it used to.
