The Man in the Iron Mask

Anthony Steven did another magnificent job of adapting the Vicomte de Bragelonne,Louise de la Valliere and Man in the Iron Mask stories. This is the sequel to the Further Adventures of the Musketeers (1967) and The Three Musketeers (1966). The problem with this sequel it didn't have the same actors playing the Three Musketeers like the The Further Adventures of the Three Musketeers and The Three Musketeers but it did have a different D'Artagnan as did the Three and the Further Adventures. But then D'Artagnan and the Musketeers are thirty years older and no longer young men. All in all fine acting.This version did the Dumas trilogy justice. The 1955 French version added characters that were not necessary like Helene de Winter relative by marriage of Milady de Winter but at least she was a good character.The 1962 French version which was close to faithful but not. The 1929,1939,1977 and the 1940's Spanish version were entertaining but butchered the stories as did the highly entertaining critically acclaimed but loosely adapted 1977 Richard Chamberlain version,1997 version with Nick Gammon and the 1998 Leonardo DiCaprio.The closest true adaptation to this 1968 is the Russian version of the 1990's which had the same cast as its Three Musketeers and the Twenty Years After. The Russian is the best foreign adaptation even better than the French.Two pieces of trivia Roger Delgado was in the BBC's 1954 Three Musketeers and Jack Gwillim was in the Hallmark Hall of Fame's 1960 TV version with Maximillian Schell. I hope this will soon be released on DVD along with the Further Adventures of the Three Musketeers.