The Iron Mask (1929)

Director:

Allan Dwan

Writers:

Alexandre Dumas père (novels)
Douglas Fairbanks (screenplay)

Release Date:

21 February 1929 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | History | Romance

Tagline:

The Further Adventures of "The Three Musketeers"!

Plot:

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...

Plot Keywords:

Musketeer | Mask | Heir | Convent | Iron Mask

Cast

Douglas Fairbanks	...	D'Artagnan
Belle Bennett	...	The Queen Mother, Anne of Austria
Marguerite De La Motte	...	Constance Bonacieux
Dorothy Revier	...	Milady de Winter
Vera Lewis	...	Madame Peronne
Rolfe Sedan	...	Louis XIII
William Bakewell	...	Louis XIV and Twin Brother
Gordon Thorpe	...	Young Prince and Twin Brother
Nigel De Brulier	...	Cardinal Richelieu
Ullrich Haupt	...	Count De Rochefort
Lon Poff	...	Father Joseph - the Queen's Confessor
Charles Stevens	...	Planchet - D'Artagnan's Servant
Henry Otto	...	The King's Valet
Léon Bary	...	Athos (as Leon Barry)
Tiny Sandford	...	Porthos (as Stanley J. Sandford)

Runtime:

95 min | UK:103 min (restored version) | USA:72 min (edited) (re-release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System) (talking sequences, musical score and sound effects) | Silent

Certification:

USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Big Sur, California, USA

Company:

Elton Corporation

Trivia:

In the prologue, the four musketeers stand in a framing device, as a medieval stage booth, and D'Artagnan steps forward and speaks to the audience, then steps back and resumes his position with the other three, who remained motionless; after the mid-point intermission, the same situation is repeated, with D'Artagnan speaking again to the audience, finishing with the words, "once more, once more...", after which the film resumes with the title card "20 years later". These were the two Douglas Fairbanks' first scenes with spoken dialogue, in his last silent film.

Quotes:

Porthos: Come on! There is greater adventure beyond.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime: The Unbreakable Alibi (#1.7)" (1983)

Soundtrack:

One for All, All for One

A timeless adventure

The Iron Mask, rich in breathtaking swordfights, carefree merriment, and suspense, is one of Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.'s masterpieces. The story of the four musketeers, gentle Athos, jolly Porthos, brave Aramis, and fearless, outgoing D'Artagnan, goes on in this tale of twin heirs and the unscrupulous Count de Rochefort who switches them to obtain his own ends. The movie begins as the Queen gives birth to a crown Prince of France. Everybody rejoices over the heir, and nobody suspects that there are actually two! Cardinal Richelieu (played by the aging Nigel de Brulier) tells no one of the birth of the second child and sends the twin away to the Spanish border, but Count de Rochefort (Ulrich Haupt) entangles himself in this plan and eventually switches the twins so that he may make himself the most powerful man in France.

Fairbanks, who aged remarkably well over the course of his life and is as dashing and handsome as ever in this film, plays an energetic and athletic D'Artagnan who serves his King to the point of death. Marguerite de la Motte returns as Constance, D'Artagnan's lover who is tragically murdered by the criminal Milady de Winter. The movie is excellent and portrays Fairbanks's skill at fencing most accurately. One of his best!