''The Man in the Iron Mask'' is a 1939 American film very loosely adapted from the last section of the 1847-1850 novel '' The Vicomte de Bragelonne'' by Alexandre Dumas, ''père'', which is itself based on the French legend of the

Man in the Iron Mask The Man in the Iron Mask (French ; died 19 November 1703) was an unidentified prisoner of state during the reign of King Louis XIV of France (1643–1715). Warranted for arrest on 28 July 1669 under the pseudonym of "Eustache Dauger", he wa ...

. The film was directed by

James Whale James Whale (22 July 1889 – 29 May 1957) was an English film director, theatre director and actor, who spent the greater part of his career in Hollywood. He is best remembered for several horror films: '' Frankenstein'' (1931), '' The ...

and stars

Louis Hayward Louis Charles Hayward (19 March 1909 – 21 February 1985) was a Johannesburg-born, British-American actor. Biography Born in Johannesburg, Louis Hayward lived in South Africa and was educated in France and England, including Latymer Upper Scho ...

as royal twins,

Joan Bennett Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 – December 7, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She came from a show-business family, one of three acting sisters. Beginning her career on the stage, Bennett appeared in more t ...

as Princess Maria Theresa,

Warren William Warren William (born Warren William Krech; December 2, 1894 – September 24, 1948) was a Broadway and Hollywood actor, immensely popular during the early 1930s; he was later nicknamed the "King of Pre-Code". He was the first actor to play Pe ...

d'Artagnan Charles de Batz de Castelmore (), also known as d'Artagnan and later Count d'Artagnan ( 1611 – 25 June 1673), was a French Musketeer who served Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard. He died at the siege of Maastricht in the ...

, and

Joseph Schildkraut Joseph Schildkraut (22 March 1896 – 21 January 1964) was an Austrian-American actor. He won an Oscar for his performance as Captain Alfred Dreyfus in the film ''The Life of Emile Zola'' (1937); later, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for ...

Nicolas Fouquet Nicolas Fouquet, marquis de Belle-Île, vicomte de Melun et Vaux (27 January 1615 – 23 March 1680) was the Superintendent of Finances in France from 1653 until 1661 under King Louis XIV. He had a glittering career, and acquired enormous wealth ...

. British actor

Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage, and radio roles. He achieved recognition ...

made his screen debut in a minor part.

Plot

In 1638, King

Louis XIII of France Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crow ...

is delighted when his wife bears him a son, Louis, the heir to the throne. However, a few minutes later, a second son is born. Colbert ( Walter Kingsford), the king's trusted adviser, persuades the king to secretly send the second child, Philippe, away to Gascony to be raised by his majesty's dear friend, d'Artagnan (

), in order to avert a possible civil war later. Fouquet (

), a mere cardinal's messenger at the time, finds out about the twin and uses this to advance his career. Twenty years later, he is the Minister of Finance under

Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

. The king is hated by the commoners for levying oppressive taxes and for executing them for not paying them. Fouquet sends soldiers to force d'Artagnan and his people to pay the taxes, though the old king had exempted him and his village from them. They are driven off, but return in much greater numbers and, with great difficulty, capture d'Artagnan, the three musketeers and Philippe. Louis is about to order their executions when Colbert tells him about Philippe's uncanny resemblance to him. As Louis is aware of an assassination attempt to take place that day (but not where or when), he makes Philippe impersonate him in exchange for his friends' lives. Philippe not only survives the ambush, he shows mercy to his would-be killers and is cheered by the people. Princess Maria Theresa (

), whom Louis is to wed to seal an alliance with Spain, finds this new Louis much more attractive than the real one. However, when she discovers that Louis is having an affair with Mademoiselle de la Valliere (

Marion Martin Marion Suplee (born June 7, 1909 – August 13, 1985) known professionally as Marion Martin was an American film and stage actress. Biography Martin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of a Bethlehem Steel executive. She beca ...

), she returns to Spain. When the truth is discovered, Louis has Philippe imprisoned with an iron mask placed on his head, hoping that Philippe's beard will grow inside the mask and eventually suffocate him. Philippe is rescued by the musketeers, who break into the sleeping Louis's chamber and imprison him in the mask. The musketeers drag him away and lock him in the Bastille, where the jailers mistake him for Phillippe, and whip him. When Louis manages to get a message to Fouquet, he is freed, and a chase by coach ensues to stop Philippe from marrying Maria Theresa and taking Louis' place on the throne. The coach is waylaid by the musketeers, who all die heroically, but Fouquet and the real Louis XIV are also killed when the driverless coach plunges off a cliff. The mortally wounded d'Artagnan survives long enough to exclaim "God Save the King!" at Philippe's wedding, and then falls dead. Philippe finally assumes the throne.

Cast

King Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

/ Philippe of

Gascony Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part ...

as Princess Maria Theresa *

as Fouquet * Alan Hale as

Porthos Porthos, Baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds is a fictional character in the novels ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844), '' Twenty Years After'' (1845), and '' The Vicomte de Bragelonne'' (1847-1850) by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the othe ...

Miles Mander Miles Mander (born Lionel Henry Mander; 14 May 1888 – 8 February 1946), was an English character actor of the early Hollywood cinema, also a film director and producer, and a playwright and novelist. He was sometimes credited as Luther Mile ...

Aramis René d'Herblay, alias Aramis, is a fictional character in the novels ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844), '' Twenty Years After'' (1845), and '' The Vicomte de Bragelonne'' (1847-1850) by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the other two musketeers, A ...

* Bert Roach as Athos * Walter Kingsford as Colbert *

as Mademoiselle de la Valliere (credited as Marian Martin) * Montagu Love as the Spanish ambassador *

Doris Kenyon Doris Margaret Kenyon (September 5, 1897 – September 1, 1979) was an American actress of motion pictures and television. Early life She grew up in Syracuse, New York, where her family had a home at 1805 Harrison Street. Her father, Dr. Ja ...

as Queen Anne *

Albert Dekker Thomas Albert Ecke Van Dekker (December 20, 1905 – May 5, 1968) was an American character actor and politician best known for his roles in ''Dr. Cyclops'', ''The Killers (1946 film), The Killers'' (1946), ''Kiss Me Deadly'', and ''The Wild Bun ...

King Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

Nigel De Brulier Nigel De Brulier (born Francis George Packer; 8 August 1877 – 30 January 1948) was an English stage and film actor who began his career in the United Kingdom before relocating to the United States. Biography De Brulier was born in Frenchay, a ...

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

* Boyd Irwin as Lord High Constable of France * Howard Brooks as

Cardinal Mazarin Cardinal Jules Mazarin (, also , , ; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino () or Mazarini, was an Italian cardinal, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Louis XIII and Louis X ...

* Reginald Barlow as Jean Paul *

Lane Chandler Lane Chandler (born Robert Clinton Oakes, June 4, 1899 – September 14, 1972) was an American actor specializing mainly in Westerns. Biography Early life Chandler was raised on a ranch near Culbertson, Montana, the son of a horse ra ...

as Captain of Fouquet's Guards *

Wyndham Standing Charles Wyndham Standing''Silent Film Necrology'', 2nd Edition by Eugene Michael Vazzana, c. 2001 page 497 (23 August 1880 – 1 February 1963) was an English film actor. Early years Standing was born in London, England and died in Los ...

as Doctor *

Dorothy Vaughan Dorothy Jean Johnson Vaughan (September 20, 1910 – November 10, 2008) was an American mathematician and human computer who worked for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and NASA, at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virg ...

as Midwife * Sheila Darcy as Maria, Theresa's Maid * Robert Milasch as Torturer * D'Arcy Corrigan as Tortured Prisoner * Harry Woods as First Officer *

as Second Officer * Ted Billings as Prisoner (uncredited) *

Dwight Frye Dwight Iliff Frye (born Fry; February 22, 1899 – November 7, 1943) was an American character actor of stage and screen. He is best known for his portrayals of neurotic, murderous villains in several classic Universal horror films, such as R ...

as Fouquet's Valet (uncredited)

Production

The film was the third movie producer

Edward Small Edward Small (born Edward Schmalheiser, February 1, 1891, Brooklyn, New York – January 25, 1977, Los Angeles) was a film producer from the late 1920s through 1970, who was enormously prolific over a 50-year career. He is best known for the movi ...

made under his new agreement for

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...

was signed as director in September 1938.

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr., (December 9, 1909 – May 7, 2000) was an American actor, producer and decorated naval officer of World War II. He is best known for starring in such films as ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1937), ''Gunga Din'' (1939) ...

, whose

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

had starred as D'Artagnan in the 1929 epic version '' The Iron Mask'', was originally announced as male star and met with director James Whale. However producer Edward Small insisted on Louis Hayward, who had just made '' The Duke of West Point'' for him.

played

D'Artagnan Charles de Batz de Castelmore (), also known as d'Artagnan and later Count d'Artagnan ( 1611 – 25 June 1673), was a French Musketeer who served Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard. He died at the siege of Maastricht in the ...

in a gender-switched 1952

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sam ...

entitled ''

Lady in the Iron Mask ''Lady in the Iron Mask'' is a 1952 American adventure film''Lady in the Iron Mask''
at

'' with Patricia Medina in the titular role and

Alan Hale, Jr. Alan Hale Jr. (born Alan Hale MacKahan; (March 8, 1921 - January 2, 1990) was an American actor and restaurateur. He was the son of actor Alan Hale Sr. His television career spanned four decades, but he was best known for his secondary lead role ...

as Porthos, the part his father Alan Hale, Sr. had portrayed in the 1939 version. In what may have been another instance of

stunt casting Stunt casting is the use of a gimmick or publicity stunt to fill a role in a television series, film, or theatre production.The Fifth Musketeer ''The Fifth Musketeer'' is a 1979 German-Austrian film adaptation of the last section of the 1847–1850 novel '' The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later'' by Alexandre Dumas, père, which is itself based on the French legend of the Man in the ...

'' (which is also based on ''The Man in the Iron Mask'').

Reception

Frank S. Nugent Frank Stanley Nugent (May 27, 1908 – December 29, 1965) was an American screenwriter, journalist, and film reviewer, who wrote 21 film scripts, 11 for director John Ford. He wrote almost a thousand reviews for ''The New York Times'' before lea ...

called the film "a moderately entertaining costume piece" with "an overfondness for pageantry and stiff heroics." He criticized the casting of Marion Martin as "outright absurd" and called her performance "artless" and "rather hopeless". ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called the film "a highly entertaining adventure" with "excellent" direction. ''

Harrison's Reports ''Harrison's Reports'' was a New York City-based motion picture trade journal published weekly from 1919 to 1962. The typical issue was four letter-size pages sent to subscribers under a second-class mail permit. Its founder, editor and publisher ...

'' declared it "good mass entertainment" with a "charming" romance. ''

Film Daily ''The Film Daily'' was a daily publication that existed from 1918 to 1970 in the United States. It was the first daily newspaper published solely for the film industry. It covered the latest trade news, film reviews, financial updates, informatio ...

'' called it "a vivid picturization of Alexandre Dumas' novel" with Hayward's "best screen work to date."

John Mosher John Mosher (1928–1998) was an American jazz bassist, classical bassist and composer who worked, recorded and toured with a wide range of primarily West Coast artists from the 1950s through the mid-1990s. Early years A native of Sioux City, I ...

of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' wrote, "The piece belongs to the old school of things and the Douglas Fairbanks of 1929, but Douglas Fairbanks is not here, and the swordplay, the hard riding, the desperate escapes seem to demand him. Louis Hayward can give a modern effete touch when that is needed in the double role he has, but he can't compete with his rapier or his acrobatics."

Influence

The first film adaptation of Dumas' novel to allow for the lasting triumph of the good twin over the evil twin was Douglas Fairbanks' 1929 version of the tale, ''The Iron Mask'' (although in this case the good twin was the one already on the throne, reared under the tutelage of D'Artagnan, and it was he who had to be rescued when the evil twin was put onto the throne). The 1939 version flips this around so that the evil twin, Louis, sits on the throne and the good twin, Phillipe, is raised by D'Artagnan and must eventually win the throne. The staging of several other scenes are borrowed from the 1929 version, most importantly the ending. The ending of the 1939 version, with the ghosting of the figures of the four musketeers together (presumably in heaven), is a direct homage to the ending of the 1929 Douglas Fairbanks' film in which Athos, Porthos, and Aramis greet D'Artagnan upon his death and they in a ghosted image head off together for the "greater adventure beyond." Most subsequent film versions, including the 1977 version and the 1998 version, have followed the basic outline of the 1939 film (and its borrowings from the 1929 version), not of the original novel. The English band

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harr ...

was named by founder Steve Harris after seeing the film.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Man in the Iron Mask (1939 Film), The 1939 films Films based on The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later American black-and-white films Films directed by James Whale American swashbuckler films 1930s historical adventure films Films produced by Edward Small Cultural depictions of Louis XIV Cultural depictions of Cardinal Richelieu Cultural depictions of Louis XIII Cultural depictions of Cardinal Mazarin Films set in the 1630s American historical adventure films Man in the Iron Mask Twins in fiction 1930s English-language films 1930s American films