Le masque de fer

Seven stars. My twelve year-old son and I both LOVE Douglass Fairbanks. I showed him Zorro when he was about four, and he's been hooked ever since. But this one was a bit of a let-down. I guess Fairbanks was finally starting to get too old to pull off the sort of stunts that litter films like Zorro, The Three Musketeers, The Black Pirate, and Thief of Bagdad. There are the occasional nuggets, and the film is still chock full of bravura action sequences. But it's a film about the inevitable consequence of aging, even if it's done up in Hollywood gloss. This film was made at the cusp of the arrival of talkies, and features intro and entr'acte sequences with Fairbanks, as D'Artagnan, talking to the audience. That provided a fun opportunity for me to discuss the limitations of early sound technology with my son, and about why big spectacle films stayed silent longer than small-scene dramas. Anyway. The film is a combo of the Dumas novels Twenty Years After and The Man in the Iron Mask, using both to put a more upbeat spin on the later novel. It has excellent production values, and a solid cast. The acting is first-rate silent film acting -- everything HAS to be big to work, and it is. The stunts are well-done, if not breath taking. It works best if seen as a sort of coda to the stuff Fairbanks had been doing so brilliantly for the previous dozen years or so. 8 November 2021.

In Kevin Brownlow and David Gill's extraordinary 1980 documentary about the silent era "Hollywood" the final sequence of "The Iron Mask" is described as Fairbanks' farewell to the silent film. And it is.

Generally this is an inferior film to the amazing 1921 "Three Musketeers". Allan Dwan is not the visual stylist that Fred Niblo is, and so "The Iron Mask" becomes much more of a straightforward action film. But as such it is splendid. I think we tend to forget what a good actor Fairbanks was. His emotional journey here is quite powerful as he faces the death of his lady and of his friends - and he ages convincingly as well.

Most of the cast is different to the "Three Musketeers" but Margueritte de la Motte returns as Constance and the unforgettable Nigel de Brulier again plays Richilieu with extreme venom.

Fairbanks has an athletic field day as well. There seem to be a number of versions of this film around. The one I saw ran 95 minutes and had tinted sequences. I've seen some advertised as having talking sequences, and others with narration by Douglas Fairbanks Jr - the one i saw had neither of these.

It was probably the last large scale silent feature made in Hollywood. And that is what gives those gorgeous last minutes such power. The silent era was truly the golden years of Hollywood and Fairbanks was its king - in this film he sadly abdicates.

Douglas Fairbanks picks up where he left off with the "Three Musketeers" (1921) in this altogether better sequel that focusses on the succession to Louis XIII's France. When a son is born to Queen Anne (Belle Bennett), the entire nation celebrates. Only a few in the Kingdom know, however, that there is a twin... For the safety of the realm, the second born is whisked away to Spain on the instructions of Cardinal Richelieu (Nigel de Brulier) but not before the roguishly scarred "Rochefort" (Ullrich Haupt) discovers the truth. Some years later - after all but their mother are dead, he kidnaps the youngster from his Spanish hideaway and secretly substitutes this altogether different King on the throne of France, whilst consigning the real King to an hideous masked confinement in prison. Miraculously, the prisoner manages to get a message to his loyal Captain D'Artagnan (by this time a slightly more portly Fairbanks) and the race is on to rescue and restore him. Unlike any other cinema adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' story that I recall, this story starts off with the good king before the bad one, rather than just starting of with the bad one - and that helps to get the story off at a cracking pace. De Brulier's Richelieu is much better than with his previous iteration here; constantly sparring with those pesky - if somewhat more aged - musketeers, and with the aid of the conspiring "Milady de Winter" (Dorothy Revier) there are a couple of decent sub-plots that help keep the action coming thick and fast. The photography sets that pace well, with plenty of shoot-outs, sword fencing, explosions and intrigue to keep the pot boiling. Again, sparing inter-titles assist with dialogue but don't intrude in what is essentially a super boy's-own adventure. Definitely worth a watch, and in my view the best adaptation of "the Man in the Iron Mask" yet made.

This has always been my favorite Douglas Fairbanks feature as well as one of my favorite silent films. It has everything. Comedy! Drama! Spectacle! Adventure! Pathos! And in this new restoration grand sweeping music from the John Williams of the silent film score, Carl Davis.

For years this film was available in an abridged 1952 version with no intertitles and voiceover narration by Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Or in an extremely worn out version from the Killiam Collection. Now Kino in conjunction with the Museum of Modern Art and Britain's Photoplay Productions have given us this beautifully restored version of the original 1929 film complete with Fairbanks Sr's original spoken introduction and interlude. A fitting end to Doug's silent film career and to silent film itself as by the time this came out sound was here to stay and an art form that was born, developed and refined within the space of only 30 years, perished.

Of the many film adaptations of THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK, this one remains the most compelling. The DVD comes loaded with a number of bonus features including outtakes and a portion of the 1952 reissue. Needless to say an absolute must for the silent film or Douglas Fairbanks buff and an ideal introduction to the art of the silent film for those not familiar with it. Great for kids too...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

With his head encased in THE IRON MASK that hides his identity, the true king of France waits for the elderly D'Artagnan & the Three Musketeers to come to his rescue...

Douglas Fairbanks, silent cinema's greatest swashbuckling hero, bid farewell to the glory days of the silent screen with this joyous romp of a film. As a sequel to Fairbanks' earlier THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1921), it more than surpasses its predecessor in lavish production values, good acting & nonstop action.

Now 46, Fairbanks seems none the worse for wear and his muscular athleticism is still called upon to win the girl, beat the foe & thrill the audience. Fairbanks had a natural spontaneity & authentic joie de vivre, both in his private life and in his screen persona, which audiences of the 1920's found absolutely irresistible. He was unique - unforgettable - utterly irreplaceable.

Fairbanks is supported once again by a fine cast: lovely Marguerite De La Motte as the faithful Constance; Dorothy Revier as the treacherous Milady de Winter; William Bakewell in the dual role of the two princes; Lon Poff as the sinister Father Joseph. That's the excellent character actress Vera Lewis in the tiny role of the Royal Midwife.

The Three Musketeers themselves are rather more finely delineated than in the previous film. Léon Bary as Athos, Tiny Sandford as Porthos & Gino Corrado as Aramis all give good account of themselves throughout the flurry & turmoil of the lively plot.

Special mention must be made of British actor Nigel de Brulier, once again playing the rapacious Cardinal Richelieu. Even though the character disappears half way into the film, de Brulier still manages to invest the Churchman with more than just villainy. He helps the viewer to glimpse the real person behind the facade and to understand some of the reasons for his tyrannical behavior.

One of the versions in which this film is available has all the title cards removed & a rousing narrative read by Douglas Fairbanks Jr. substituted in their place.

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The opening credits state that the film's narrative was based on the story by Elton Thomas (a pseudonym for Fairbanks), which was in turn based on Alexander Dumas' ‘The Three Musketeers' & ‘Twenty Years After.' This is true, but all of the Man in the Iron Mask elements actually came from Dumas' novel ‘Ten Years Later; or, The Vicomte de Bragelonne,' (1848-50). Thus, the events in the latter half of THE IRON MASK take place 30 years after the events in THE THREE MUSKETEERS.

The first film is set in 1625; the second film starts in 1638. Since important plot elements are not handled in THE THREE MUSKETEERS - for instance, Milady's evil behavior towards Constance - they are somewhat incongruously left dangling for 13 years until the beginning of THE IRON MASK. And some of the most fascinating elements of the later books - such as the Musketeers' clash with Milady's malevolent son & the machinations of Richelieu's successor, the wily Cardinal Mazarin - are completely ignored altogether.

But this is a mere quibble and should not detract from the immense enjoyment of a very fine film. It might be helpful to note, in passing, a few historical dates which deal directly with the plot:

Louis XIV born September 15, 1638.

Cardinal Richelieu dies December 4, 1642.

Louis XIII dies May 14, 1643.

Louis XIV is crowned King in 1654, after attaining maturity.