Italy in 1848 is the setting for MASK OF THE AVENGER, which borrows heavily from every Zorro-like swashbuckler or "Count of Monte Cristo" film ever made. Columbia's fledgling stars, JOHN DEREK and JODY LAWRENCE play the romantic leads with ANTHONY QUINN lending his presence to a colorful supporting role. He was on the verge of his own big-time stardom.
Derek is the masked aristocrat who must engage in swordplay with military tyrant Quinn. Although given Technicolor and some appropriate sets, it has the look of a second-rate epic indistinguishable from a dozen other such stories.
Nor is it any help that JODY LAWRENCE is a strictly one-note actress who brings nothing but a pretty face to her role as the lovely heroine.
JOHN DEREK fares slightly better but it's no more than a cardboard, by-the-numbers sort of adventure done countless times in more inventive ways. This one stirs up only a moderate amount of interest and can be easily forgotten.
Obviously designed to give Derek's teen-age fans a thrill since he gets solo billing over the title.
Derek is the masked aristocrat who must engage in swordplay with military tyrant Quinn. Although given Technicolor and some appropriate sets, it has the look of a second-rate epic indistinguishable from a dozen other such stories.
Nor is it any help that JODY LAWRENCE is a strictly one-note actress who brings nothing but a pretty face to her role as the lovely heroine.
JOHN DEREK fares slightly better but it's no more than a cardboard, by-the-numbers sort of adventure done countless times in more inventive ways. This one stirs up only a moderate amount of interest and can be easily forgotten.
Obviously designed to give Derek's teen-age fans a thrill since he gets solo billing over the title.