The queen of France has twin sons, later named Louis XIV and Philippe. The second is kept secret and sent off to be raised by the musketeer DâArtagnan (Warren William), with the aid of three godfathers: Parthos (Alan Hale), Aramis (Miles Mander), and Athos (Bert Roach). The young prince grows to be an evil king (Louis Hayward)m supported by the self-serving Fouquet (Joseph Schildkraut). Philippe (also Louis Hayward) grows to be a rash and rather foolish hero. When the twins meet, it sets in motion a great many incidents.
The Man in the Iron Mask comes from the same novel series as The Three Musketeers, with many of the same characters. The various stories of the Musketeers are the most filmed Swashbucklers, but not the most artistically successful. The films often vary wildly from the source material, and no more so than here as which brother is the good guy is different from the book.
As in most of the Musketeer films, the hero is not just a charming rogue, but an idiot. This gets tiring as he is constantly putting his life in danger as well as those around him for no reason. And while there is something of an overall plot to the movie, the flow is more âstuff that happens because there are royal twins.â That gives the film a lackadaisical feel.
Louis Hayward was a reasonable second-tier adventure lead, appearing in The Son of Monte Cristo (1940) The Return of Monte Cristo (1946), The Black Arrow (1948), The Masked Pirate (1949), Fortunes of Captain Blood (1950), Lady in the Iron Mask (1952), and Captain Pirate (1952). He is passable as Philippe and better as the effete Louis. When he is just this side of crazy he is excellent. Joan Bennett is pleasant eye-candy as the slightly-written princess/romantic interest. She would reteam with Hayward in the superior The Son of Monte Cristo.
The Musketeers have small roles, though Alan Hale makes an impression. He was a Swashbuckling mainstay with a supporting role in The Sea Hawk and three portrayals of Little John: Robin Hood (1922), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), and Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950). Warren William also makes an impression, but a less favorable one, He is far too stuffy as DâArtagnan and far more suited to the businessman roles that were his bread and butter.
James Whale was a great director for the proper film; he excelled at quirky horror such as Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, and The Invisible man). And here his eye for a scene and work with actors is solid, but he is not an action director. A Swashbuckler needs to sing in its sword fights and Whale canât manage that, playing tricks with speed that would be at home in silent pictures. Made a year after The Adventures of Robin Hood, the action appears primitive.
I enjoyed The Man in the Iron Mask, but if Iâd missed it, that would have been fine as well.