The Man in the Iron Mask

James Whale has to be credited with some very fine direction on this version of THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK, the famous story about the twin brothers, one of whom is a black-hearted rogue who sits on the throne, the other raised in a faraway village by D'Artagnan when it becomes clear that only one twin can sit on the throne of France.

All the ingredients for a good swashbuckler are here with the added benefit of an absorbing story, extremely well played by a wonderful cast. LOUIS HAYWARD has never had a better role than the contrasting twins and the special effects are excellent when he shares scenes with his twin. JOAN BENNETT, although very beautiful, is merely a costumed prop here, exuding no real warmth as the princess who falls in love with the good twin. She was never an actress of any depth.

But the film really belongs to WARREN WILLIAM as a rather overage D'Artagnan and even more so to Joseph SCHILDKRAUT in another one of his evil impersonations as Fouquet, with ambitions to become the Minister of Finance and an appetite for treachery.

Very lavish production values, although one wishes the film could have been filmed in Technicolor (at a time when very few films were). There's a good Oscar-nominated background score in the brisk tradition of such music and there's never a dull moment in the whole film.

Summing up: A majestic, impressive version of the tale which stands up to any subsequent telling in recent years.

Intermittently exciting "Musketeers" tale, highlighted by the "Jekyll-Hyde" performance of Louis Hayward as the King of France and his undiscovered (then, discovered) twin brother. Mr. Hayward does a great job; especially when the "Good" twin confronts the "Evil" twin with his "Iron Mask".

"The Man in the Iron Mask" might have been better as a swashbuckling horror story; and, director James Whale could have delivered the goods. The Iron Mask of the title is designed for Edgar Allen Poe-type horror… it is locked around a Hayward's neck, so that he will slowly be strangled by his own beard. A gruesome death! I expected a little more excitement, and suspense, in this film.

The other characters are enjoyable; Joseph Schildkraut was my favorite supporting character. Joan Bennett is the beautiful love interest, but she doesn't have much of an opportunity to show any acting skills. By the way, her scene in the coach shows her looking very much like Scarlet O'Hara from "Gone with the Wind." After seeing her in this, you can picture her testing for Scarlett.

******* The Man in the Iron Mask (6/26/39) James Whale ~ Louis Hayward, Joan Bennett, Joseph Schildkraut, Warren William

There have been many versions over the years of the fanciful story, "The Man in the Iron Mask," the most recent one being the 1998 film starring Leonardo di Caprio. Back in the late 1970s, Richard Chamberlain took a stab at it, with highly entertaining results.

This particular version was directed to great effect by the talented James Whale, who gives us a fast, energetic, and athletic telling of the story of twins separated at birth, one who will be King of France and one who does not know that he is royalty. The twins are played by Louis Hayward, Joan Bennett is Maria Theresa, Josef Schildkraut is Fouquet, and Warren William leads the Musketeers as D'Artagnan. As one post on this board mentions, the Musketeers are getting up there in age here; Alan Hale, Miles Mander, and Bert Roach are the heroic swordsmen and friends.

It's important always that a good actor plays twins so that they have different personalities. This often is not the case. One may be mean and one may be good, but they talk the same, look the same, act the same etc. Louis Hayward does a fantastic job in his dual roles. As the arrogant King, he is foppish, cruel, dismissive and lustful. As Philip of Gascony, he is gentle and unassuming with a very different demeanor and even a different vocal timber. Hayward was a very smooth actor. It's not exactly clear what happened to his career and why he ended up in the '60s doing spaghetti westerns. Apparently this film set him up for a resume of playing twins, which he gamely did, finally becoming a very successful producer.

Although she was no match in acting for Vivien Leigh, anyone who has seen the "Gone With the Wind" screen tests knows what a beautiful Scarlett Joan Bennett would have made. She's stunning here as the confused Maria Theresa in glorious costumes, with her serene smile, porcelain skin and beautiful bone structure. Warren William, an early leading man who was the movie Perry Mason, is very likable and does well with the athletic sword fighting as D'Artagnan. Having been a leading man when talkies began, by this time he was moving into character roles. With his pencil-thin mustache, he was a familiar presence in films until his death in 1948 at the age of 54.

This is a wonderful movie, a nice remembrance of the good old Hollywood period pieces, when they really knew how to do them. Look for a young Peter Cushing as a King's messenger.

Screenwriter George Bruce, a specialist with swashbuckling tales, is at his best in this rather loose adaptation of the fanciful Alexandre Dumas novel that relates how the Three Musketeers won their final battle. The scenario tells of the birth of twin sons to King Louis XIII of France and his wife, and of how, since there can be but one dauphin, the latterly born is secretly given to the care of the King's favorite swordsman D'Artagnan who, along with the Musketeers, raises him in Gascony. The return to Paris of the untitled and untravelled son, Philip, along with the four veteran warriors, at the request of Minister Colbert, one of the few who is aware of the twin birth, and the resulting adventures largely brought about by a sharp contrast in humanity between the brothers, forms the basis for the subsequent fast-moving and exciting events. Louis Hayward brilliantly plays the dual parts of the twins King Louis XIV and the unrecognized Philip, providing a proper degree of personality disparity, along with a display of excellent fencing skill and a robust penchant for romancing the Infanta of Spain, nicely performed by Joan Bennett. Walter Kingsford and Joseph Schildkraut are sterling as ministers in competition for the King's ear, as are Albert Dekker and Doris Kenyon as Louis XIII and his queen, but it is Warren William, whose profile puts that of John Barrymore to shame, who steals the supporting cast honors with a very strong performance as D'Artagnan. James Whale's flamboyant style of direction is perfect for this cinematic transposition of the classic novel, and the editing is well-nigh perfect, capping a delightful performance by all.

Though The Man In the Iron Mask is swashbuckling adventure at its finest it's hardly an accurate picture of the times. But Alexander Dumas was no more writing history here than he was in The Three Musketeers which in many ways this is the further adventures of.

Twin sons are born to Louis XIII and his wife Anne of Austria and in order to avoid dynastic rivalry, one of them is sent with the King's trusty right hand D'Artagnan to raise in his native Gascony. The other becomes the well known Louis XIV and ascends to the throne as a child of six.

Warren William is the aging, but still very capable D'Artagnan. In his scenes especially the film bares more than a slight resemblance to the version that Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. did as his last silent film. I would not be surprised if a lot of stock footage was incorporated here by producer Edward Small and director James Whale.

Louis Hayward essays the difficult dual role of both Louis XIV and his twin brother Phillip. Hayward's first big break came as Anita Louise's lover and Fredric March's father in Anthony Adverse where he lost a duel to Claude Rains. Hayward never lost too many screen duels after that though his swashbuckler parts that he mostly did after service in World War II never matched up to this.

Joseph Schildkraut and Walter Kingsford are the evenly matched pair of ministers vying for preeminence as Fouquet and Colbert. Colbert did in fact triumph, but not in the way as shown here. And Fouquet was a guy who liked to live high on the hog. In real life that's what actually brought him down.

The Man in the Iron Mask is an often filmed tale here in America, I'm sure the French have done many versions. For adventure and romance you can't beat it and this version is one of the best around.