Le Cavalier au masque

As reviewer Mario Grauci points out, the screenplay for this historical drama bears a striking resemblance to that of "The Scarlet Pimpernel", released in 1934,and 1982. The protagonist, ably played by Tony Curtis, does at times wear a purple mask, though through most of the film, he doesn't. Instead he plays his unmasked self, as Rene de Traviere, or an imposter of himself as The Purple Mask. In all of these guises, he is a legendary foe of the Napoleon-led republic, hoping to restore the monarchy 10 years after the height of the Reign of Terror. Napoleon's henchmen are still ferreting out nobilities of the old monarchy. The P.M. is part of a Parisian cell of anti-republicans. Another of them is Laurette de Latour, played by cute Collen Miller. She much admires the work of The Purple Mask, but doesn't realize until near the end that he is also Rene, with whom she has had an up and down relationship. (It's hard to believe that people familiar with both the Purple Mask and Rene don't readily recognize them as the same person, with just a minimal mask to fool them.

In the bargaining with Napoleon, at the end, these 2 are allowed to emigrate to England, though Rene doesn't promise he won't be back some day. They were saved from an imminent execution by a group of compatriots, who had entered the barracks housing the royal guards, at night, bound them, dressing themselves in their uniforms, and marching out as a unit when time for the executions. They brandished their rifles, taking the Minister of Police captive, as well as the famous swordsman: Brisquet, after he lost an impromptu rapier duel with Tony.

The entry of the compatriots into the dormitory involved descending from an entrance into the underground sewer system, and traversing it until they reached the exit under the guard house, which they were able to pry open. How did they know when they were at the sewer entrance under the barracks? Also, they might have been gassed by toxic sulfurous emissions.

This film was shot in Technicolor. However, the copy I saw at YouTube didn't have vibrant colors , like it should have had. This reduced my enjoyment of the film. The main reason for seeing this film is to experience the stars. They are at their peak of beauty. That's not to say the story isn't somewhat interesting. Tony, especially, made a good account of himself: in debonair looks, acting and speaking . His fencing looked quite professional: a good replacement for Errol Flynn. He makes money for the rebels, by kidnaping important people in the republic and ransoming them. He uses most of the money to buy the freedom of royalist rebels and fund other rebel activities

Have a real fondness for swashbuckling/adventure/historical films, some of which being part of my childhood and still hold up well today, so that was one of my reasons for seeing 'The Purple Mask'. The other being that it was part of my initially accidental quest (having seen many of his films popping up in my recommended for you section) to see more Tony Curtis films, he was not the greatest of actors at this point but he was always a very likeable actor and improved all the time.

'The Purple Mask' is not one of his best films or best performances, everybody else involved have similarly done better. That being said, 'The Purple Mask' is still lots of fun, and achieves in its goal at being an entertaining and amiable film that doesn't take itself too seriously or try to be anymore than it needs to be. Not one of my favourite films by all means but it is a very hard film to dislike.

It may be nonsense in some of the story and it may be a touch talky at times.

Angela Lansbury also has next to nothing to do in a thankless role and it did come over that she had not wanted to do the film (apparently that was actually the case too), a waste of a great actress.

However, Curtis goes for it and is athletic and has boundless energy, he carries 'The Purple Mask' very well regardless of him not being completely fitting in the setting. Coleen Miller is very charming, Gene Barry is his reliable self and the villains are appropriately antagonistic. John Hoyt is a standout and Robert Cornthwaite was a surprising choice for Napoleon but coming off reasonably well. The chemistry is great.

Visually, 'The Purple Mask' looks great, sumptuously designed and costumed with lots of vibrant colour and the photography is suitably lavish. The score is suitably lively and the direction assured. The short length and fast pace thankfully works in 'The Purple Mask's favour. The story has a lot of energy and charm, even with the silliness, and the script doesn't get too camp.

On the whole, lots of fun. 7/10 Bethany Cox

1803 was an important date for the royalists : the count de Lille , future Louis the XVIII th ,then in exile , confirmed his claim to the throne as a monarch by divine right ; but unlike what the purple mask says to the noble he rescues in the first sequence ,the terror was over since 1794 ,after the fall of Robespierre;there were aristocrat conspiracies ,notably by Cadoudal an ex-chouan leader (counter -revolution in Vendée ),and the Duke of Enghien ,but only the first one was guillotined ,because he was born a commoner ;the nobles were shot ,imprisoned or exiled ;the scene when the aristocrats are waiting to be beheaded is an anachronism ,and could have taken place ten years before.Napoleon's most famous cop,Fouché ,is represented here by Brisquet whose part is small in the screenplay.

Forget French history ; there was at the time ,a huge conspiracy to abduct Napoleon himself but it failed and the culprits were arrested and chastised . In the movie, they only kidnap a politician to hold him to ransom to get money to help the nobles flee from their homeland (or prepare the usurper's fall) ; thanks to Tony Curtis, who possesses dynamism and charm aplenty , the movie is quite entertaining,supported by a good cast '(Angela Lansbury,Gene Barrry) ,and a smart screenplay (the purple mask is particularly astute in his would be arrestation);on the other hand ,Robert Cornthwaite is rather ill-at -ease as the emperor.And Colleen Miller is no match for Janet Leigh .

But the principal makes it a good swashbuckler for a rainy day.

"The Purple Mask" is a standard swashbuckler with not much pretensions on the line of the masked avengers that fight for what they think right in a hidden personality (tha "Zorro" series, "The Scarlet Pimpernel" or "The Black Tulip" could be clear examples).

Most colorful and rather fast in its development (which is good) the film is in the limit of entertainment for fans of the genre. Romance and acceptable swordplay are there too.

A young Tony Curtis in the main role is no Errol Flynn, but he reaches the level of the movie. Angela Lansbury, Dan O'Herlihy, Gene Barry and John Hoyt (a usual villain) are there too. Robert Cornthwaite doesn't fit as Napoleon, and it is hard to believe that Bonaparte would take so much trouble with just a lonely masked guy that is against his plans for dominating Europe.

Just a watch is enough even if you are a swashbucklers fan.

It's the usual Hollywood swashbuckle routine but dated, as Errol Flynn was on his way out at this time and Hollywood perhaps needed some sort of a replacement. Tony Curtis does handomely, but the script is on old worn out patterns with a deplorable dialog, while the worst of all is Napoleon totally out of character and as unconvincing as a lackey for the emperor - this actor would have been more credible as a clown. The story is dashing enough and in colours, but of course you miss the classics, Leslie Howard, Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Ronald Colman and Errol Flynn, but Tony Curtis does his honest best and fair enough. There is a lot of sword fighting, and I doubt Tony Curis has proved so elegant a fencing master before or after. In brief, an entertaining adventure not without qualities, while the plot is a miserable pimpernel offprint imitation.