''The Iron Mask'' is a 1929 American
part-talkie
A part-talkie is a partly, and most often primarily, silent film which includes one or more synchronous sound sequences with audible dialog or singing. During the silent portions, lines of dialog are presented as "titles"—printed text briefly ...
adventure film
An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...
directed by
Allan Dwan
Allan Dwan (born Joseph Aloysius Dwan; April 3, 1885 – December 28, 1981) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter.
Early life
Born Joseph Aloysius Dwan in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dwan, was ...
. It is an adaptation of the last section of the 1847-1850 novel ''
The Vicomte de Bragelonne
''The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later'' (french: link=no, Le Vicomte de Bragelonne ou Dix ans plus tard ) is a novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is the third and last of ''The d'Artagnan Romances'', following ''The Three Musketeers'' and ''Twe ...
'' by
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where ''Suffix (name)#Generational titles, '' is French language, French for 'father', to distinguish him from ...
, 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 ...
.
Cast
*
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thie ...
– D'Artagnan
*
Belle Bennett
Belle Bennett (born Ara Belle Bennett; April 22, 1891 – November 4, 1932), was a stage and screen actress who started her career as a child as a circus performer. She later performed in theater and films.
Early life and career
Bennett was b ...
– The Queen Mother
*
Marguerite De La Motte
Marguerite De La Motte (June 22, 1902 – March 10, 1950) was an American film actress, most notably of the silent film era.
Early years
Born in Duluth, Minnesota, De La Motte was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph De La Motte. She was a ...
– Constance Bonacieux
*
Dorothy Revier
Dorothy Revier (born Doris Valerga; April 18, 1904 – November 19, 1993) was an American actress.
Early years
Born as Doris Valerga in San Francisco on April 18, 1904, Revier was one of five siblings of the famous Valerga performing fami ...
– Milady de Winter
*
Vera Lewis
Vera Lewis (June 10, 1873 – February 8, 1956) was an American film and stage actress, beginning in the silent film era. She appeared in more than 180 films between 1915 and 1947. She was married to actor Ralph Lewis.
Biography
She was b ...
– Madame Peronne
*
Rolfe Sedan
Rolfe Sedan (born Edward Sedan; January 20, 1896 – September 15, 1982) was an American character actor, best known for appearing in bit parts, often uncredited, usually portraying clerks, train conductors, postmen, cooks, waiters, etc.
Ea ...
– Louis XIII
*
William Bakewell
William Bakewell (May 2, 1908 – April 15, 1993) was an American actor who achieved his greatest fame as one of the leading juvenile performers of the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Early years
Bakewell was a native of Los Angeles, where he at ...
– Louis XIV/Twin Brother
*Gordon Thorpe – Young Prince/Twin Brother
*
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
*
Ullrich Haupt – Count De Rochefort
*
Lon Poff
Alonzo M. "Lon" Poff (February 8, 1870 – August 8, 1952) was an American film actor who appeared in almost 100 films between 1917 and 1951.
Born in Bedford, Indiana, he was the son of Mrs. Mary E. Poff, and he had a sister, Grace Poff. H ...
– Father Joseph: the Queen's Confessor
*
Charles Stevens – Planchet: D'Artagnan's Servant
*
Henry Otto
Henry Otto (August 8, 1877 – August 3, 1952) was an American silent film actor, director, producer, and screenwriter.
Otto contributed to over 150 films throughout his career working as an actor and a director throughout. He directed many ...
– the King's Valet
*
Leon Bary
Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to:
Places
Europe
* León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León
* Province of León, Spain
* Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again f ...
– Athos
*
Tiny Sandford
Stanley J. "Tiny" Sandford (February 26, 1894October 29, 1961) was an American actor who is best remembered for his roles in Laurel and Hardy and Charlie Chaplin films. His tall, burly physique usually led him to be cast as a comic heavy, and o ...
– Porthos (*Stanley J. Sandford)
*
Gino Corrado
Gino Corrado (born Gino Liserani; 9 February 1893 – 23 December 1982) was an Italian-born film actor."Obituaries." ''Variety'' (Archive: 1905-2000); Los Angeles. Vol. 309, Iss. 10, (Jan 5, 1983): 78-79. Via Proquest. He appeared in more ...
– Aramis
Production background
The 1929 part-talkie version, titled ''The Iron Mask'', was the first talking picture starring
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thie ...
, though until recently it was usually shown in a
silent version. The film stars Fairbanks as d'Artagnan,
Marguerite De La Motte
Marguerite De La Motte (June 22, 1902 – March 10, 1950) was an American film actress, most notably of the silent film era.
Early years
Born in Duluth, Minnesota, De La Motte was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph De La Motte. She was a ...
as his beloved Constance (who is killed early in the film to protect the secret that the King has a twin brother),
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 ...
as the scheming
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 ...
, and
Ullrich Haupt as the evil Count De Rochefort.
William Bakewell
William Bakewell (May 2, 1908 – April 15, 1993) was an American actor who achieved his greatest fame as one of the leading juvenile performers of the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Early years
Bakewell was a native of Los Angeles, where he at ...
appeared as the royal twins.
Fairbanks lavished resources on his final silent film, with the knowledge he was bidding farewell to his beloved genre. This marks the only time where Fairbanks's character dies at the end of the film, with the closing scene depicting the once-again youthful Musketeers all reunited in death, moving on (as the final title says) to find "greater adventure beyond".
The original 1929 release, though mostly a silent film, actually had a soundtrack: two short speeches delivered by Fairbanks, and a musical score with a few sound effects. In 1952, it was reissued, with the
intertitle
In films, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (i.e., ''inter-'') the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred to as "dialo ...
s removed and a narration voiced by
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) ...
added. The original film included a scene in which d'Artagnan tells the young King of an embarrassing adventure involving him and the three musketeers. The story is told in flashback but the 1952 version has it in chronological order with the scene with the King cut out.
In 1999, with the cooperation of the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
and the
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
,
Kino Video
Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art house films, ...
released a DVD of the 1929 version. A complete set of
Vitaphone
Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one th ...
disks exists for this picture. However, only a small portion of the original sound from these was synchronized with film footage, namely the two short sequences in which Douglas Fairbanks speaks. The rest of the soundtrack, which contained a Synchronized Score along with sound effects was not used as this would make the DVD
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
. (The copyright has expired on the original 1929 sound version.) For this DVD reissue, therefore, a new score was commissioned from composer
Carl Davis
Carl Davis, (born October 28, 1936) is an American-born conductor and composer who has lived in the United Kingdom since 1961.
He has written music for more than 100 television programmes, but is best known for creating music to accompany si ...
. The Kino disc also includes excerpts from the 1952 version, some outtakes from the original filming, and some textual background material from the program for the 1999 premiere showing of the reconstruction. A complete restoration of the original sound version has yet to be released.
Reception and legacy
Fairbanks Biographer
Jeffrey Vance
Jeffrey Vance (born May 21, 1970) is an American film historian and author who has published books on movie stars including Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.
Career
While working as an archivist for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists he met E ...
has opined, "As a valedictory to the silent screen, ''The Iron Mask'' is unsurpassed. In one of his few departures from playing a young man—and with fewer characteristic stunts—Fairbanks conjures up his most multi-dimensional and moving screen portrayal in a film that is perhaps the supreme achievement of its genre."
[Vance, Jeffrey (2008). Douglas Fairbanks. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, pg. 251. .]
References
Further reading
*Vance, Jeffrey. Douglas Fairbanks. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2008. .
External links
* – 1929
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iron Mask (1929 film), The
1929 films
1920s adventure drama films
American silent feature films
American adventure drama films
American black-and-white films
1920s English-language films
American swashbuckler films
Transitional sound films
Films based on The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later
Films directed by Allan Dwan
Cultural depictions of Cardinal Richelieu
Cultural depictions of Louis XIII
Cultural depictions of Louis XIV
1920s historical adventure films
American historical adventure films
1929 drama films
Man in the Iron Mask
Twins in fiction
1920s American films
Silent American drama films
Silent adventure films