Early silent swashbuckling with talking sequences , starred by a master swordsman , Douglas Fairbanks, defending the French king from a scheme involving substitution by a lookalike . This is an epic retelling about the durable Alexandre Dumas's novel and is set in 17th century French court . In St Germain , on fifth of September , 1638 , public excitement ran high in anticipation of an important event , there was born the royal heir . As twins brothers -the same actor playing a double role- , separated at birth, one become in Louis XIV of France and the other is banished . The latter returns and unjustly imprisons his brother , being forced to wear an iron mask that hides his identity . Both of whom are sons of the Queen mother Anna of Austria . Later on , the real king is jailed by his tyrannical brother in an isolated castle and is hidden his identity wearing the iron mask but his existence threatens the reigning . But there is a friendship that is born of God , it is not altered by time , nor affected by circumstance , it endures to the grave and beyond . Four musketeers whose friendship has become a legend to stir the hearts of men and shouting ¨One for all and all for one¨. Straightforward as well as gallant D'Artagnan and the three musketeers scheme a plan to free him clashing against a malicious Richelieu , the Louis XIV's favorite and his hoodlum Rochefort . As the kidnapped king is eventually rescued by the musketeers and takes place a royal vengeance .
It's an excellent rendition from the immortal novel with quite budget and spectacular action . The picture contains rousing scenes , intrigue , derring-do , exciting swordplay , romantic adventure , mayhem , a lot of fun and is pretty entertaining . It's a silent movie with two brief speeches by Douglas Fairbanks at the beginning and intermission . In this film, the Four Musketeers - Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan - all sleep together in one bed, with the French phrase 'Un Pour Tous, Tous Pour Un' , One For All, All For One, inscribed on the headboard. This entire production was under the supervision of Maurice Leloir , member of the Society of French Artists , illustrator of the Three Musketeers , the acknowledged authority on the period depicted . Marvelous casting with a magnificent Douglas Fairbanks as a valiant swashbuckler . Charming Douglas Fairbanks steals the show when he bounds and leaps , flies and run ; in addition he is the screenwriter of this rollicking adventure . Fairbanks executes athletic feats , moving sword-play and spectacular acrobatics similarly he demonstrated in other classics such as The Mark of Zorro (1920), Robin Hood (1922), Three musketeers , Don Q Son of Zorro , The gaucho , The iron mask , The Taming of the Shrew , Don Juan , Mr Robinson , among others . Douglas performed most of the stunts in his films himself. He was an excellent athlete and used his physical abilities to his best advantage. Douglas was king of Hollywood by that time and he formed his own production company ; during a Liberty Bond tour with Charles Chaplin he fell in love with Mary Pickford with whom he, Chaplin and Griffith had formed United Artists in 1919. Lush production design is well reflected on the luxurious interiors and exteriors . The motion picture was lavishly produced and well realized by Allan Dwan .The realization is fairly exciting , thanks largely to filmmaker Allan Dwan's fair play and achieving a masterly style by skillful lighting .
This classy story is subsequently remade several versions , for both TV and the big screen . Firstly this mute rendition (1929) , after that , ¨The man in the iron mask¨ by James Whale(1939) with Louis Hayward , Alan Hale and Joan Bennet , ¨The Fifth Musketeer¨(1979) by Ken Annakin with Beau Bridges , Rex Harrison , Silvia Kristel , Ursula Andress ; ¨Iron mask¨(1997) by William Richert with Timothy Bottoms , Edward Albert , James Gammon , Dana Barron , Meg Foster and finally ¨The man in the iron mask¨ (1998) , a big production by Randall Wallace with Leonardo DiCaprio , Gerard Depardieu , John Malkovich , Jeremy Irons . And TV adaptation of the classy ¨Iron mask¨ (1977) by Mike Newell with Richard Chamberlain , Jenny Agutter , Ian Holm , Ralph Richardson .
