It's good to have this film in its complete version on an Alpha DVD, minus the two brief dialogue scenes in which Fairbanks steps out of character to address the audience. Mind you, the Alpha print is a bit distracting as the movie has been scrupulously reconstructed from an excellent Kodascope cutdown, fleshed out with not-so-well preserved footage from the complete version. Mind you, it works rather well – and for $5.95, who's complaining? Fans are more likely to complain that the three musketeers have so little to do in this version – but that's the way it was written by Dumas himself! And that's one reason "The Iron Mask" has never been even half as popular with readers as "The Three Musketeers". In fact, in my childhood days, I always thought D'Artagnan was a somewhat flawed hero. He spends a whole book fighting Cardinal Richelieu and his hired thugs, but at the end of the book, what does he do, but join them! However, the lead character of The Iron Mask is actually not D'Artagnan but Richelieu, here so charismatically played by Nigel De Brulier, reprising his role from the 1921 "Three Musketeers". The villain, the man in the mask himself, is brilliantly played by William Bakewell who differentiates between the two princes most adroitly. They certainly look alike, but Bakewell always ensures the audience knows who is who – even if the characters on the screen do not! Produced on a grand budget, and atmospherically photographed by Henry Sharp on sets designed by William Cameron Menzies, "The Iron Mask" rates as absolutely must-see entertainment!
Review of The Iron Mask
