The Iron Mask

Unrated

2/21/19291h 43m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ The Further Adventures of "The Three Musketeers"! ~

Overview:

King Louis XIII of France is thrilled to have born to him a son - an heir to the throne. But when the queen delivers a twin, Cardinal Richelieu sees the second son as a potential for revolution, and has him sent off to Spain to be raised in secret to ensure a peaceful future for France. Alas, keeping the secret means sending Constance, lover of D'Artagnan, off to a convent. D'Artagnan hears of this and rallies the Musketeers in a bid to rescue her. Unfortunately, Richelieu out-smarts the Musketeers and banishes them forever.

Director:

Allan Dwan

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$3,270,000.00

Key words:

mask
paris, france
based on novel or book
nun
chase
loyalty
game of dice
sequel
flashback
sword fight
tavern
priest
musketeer
mother superior
sewer
swashbuckler
women fight
heir
firing squad
convent (nunnery)
carriage
catholic priest
iron mask
identical twin
cardinal
usurper
17th century

Cast

Douglas Fairbanks

~ as ~

D'Artagnan

Belle Bennett

~ as ~

The Queen Mother, Anne of Austria

Marguerite De La Motte

~ as ~

Constance Bonacieux

Dorothy Revier

~ as ~

Milady de Winter

Vera Lewis

~ as ~

Madame Peronne

Rolfe Sedan

~ as ~

Louis XIII

William Bakewell

~ as ~

Louis XIV / Twin Brother

Nigel De Brulier

~ as ~

Cardinal Richelieu

Lon Poff

~ as ~

Father Joseph

Charles Stevens

~ as ~

Planchet - D'Artagnan's Servant

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 3 year(s) ago
7
Douglas Fairbanks picks up where he left off with the "Three Musketeers" (1921) in this altogether better sequel that focusses on the succession to Louis XIII's France. When a son is born to Queen Anne (Belle Bennett), the entire nation celebrates. Only a few in the Kingdom know, however, that there is a twin... For the safety of the realm, the second born is whisked away to Spain on the instructions of Cardinal Richelieu (Nigel de Brulier) but not before the roguishly scarred "Rochefort" (Ullrich Haupt) discovers the truth. Some years later - after all but their mother are dead, he kidnaps the youngster from his Spanish hideaway and secretly substitutes this altogether different King on the throne of France, whilst consigning the real King to an hideous masked confinement in prison. Miraculously, the prisoner manages to get a message to his loyal Captain D'Artagnan (by this time a slightly more portly Fairbanks) and the race is on to rescue and restore him. Unlike any other cinema adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' story that I recall, this story starts off with the good king before the bad one, rather than just starting of with the bad one - and that helps to get the story off at a cracking pace. de Brulier's Richelieu is much better than with his previous iteration here; constantly sparring with those pesky - if somewhat more aged - musketeers, and with the aid of the conspiring "Milady de Winter" (Dorothy Revier) there are a couple of decent sub-plots that help keep the action coming thick and fast. The photography sets that pace well, with plenty of shoot-outs, sword fencing, explosions and intrigue to keep the pot boiling. Again, sparing inter-titles assist with dialogue but don't intrude in what is essentially a super boy's-own adventure. Definitely worth a watch, and in my view the best adaptation of "the Man in the Iron Mask" yet made.