Customer Reviews

The Iron Mask

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This has always been my favorite Douglas Fairbanks feature as well as one of my favorite silent films. It has everything. Comedy! Drama! Spectacle! Adventure! Pathos! And in this new restoration grand sweeping music from the John Williams of the silent film score, Carl Davis.

For years this film was available in an abridged 1952 version with no intertitles and voiceover narration by Douglas Fairbanks Jr. or in an extremely worn out version from the Killiam Collection. Now Kino International in conjunction with the Museum of Modern Art and Britain's Photoplay Productions have given us this beautifully restored version of the original 1929 film complete with Fairbanks Sr's original spoken introduction and interlude. A fitting end to Doug's silent film career and to silent film itself as by the time this came out sound was here to stay and an art form that was born, developed and refined within the space of only 30 years perished.

Of the many film adaptations of THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK, this one remains the most compelling. The DVD comes loaded with a number of bonus features including outtakes and a portion of the 1952 reissue. Needless to say an absolute must for the silent film or Douglas Fairbanks buff and an ideal introduction to the art of the silent film for those not familiar with it. Great for kids too.

The Iron Mask is Douglas Fairbanks's last great film. It is one of those rare birds, a sequel which improves on the original. The Three Musketeers is a fine film, a fun swashbuckling romp, but The Iron Mask has a better story and has a depth which the earlier film lacks. Fairbanks was coming to the end of his career when he made The Iron Mask and seems to have put everything into it. The sets and costumes look authentic, the extras are numerous and the cast are uniformly first rate. Nigel de Brulier reprises his role as the scheming Cardinal Richelieu. He is a good villain because he is not wholly malevolent. He is the enemy of D'Artagnan, but the two respect each other and behave towards each other honourably. Richelieu is cruel but it is the cruelty of the statesman who will do anything in the interest of the state. Marguerite de la Motte is, once again, the lovely Constance. Her romantic scenes with D'Artagnan show why he will go to any lengths to save her from Richelieu's plots. Fairbanks is his usual athletic self. He performs amazing stunts, all the more remarkable because he was nearly fifty when he made The Iron Mask. But Fairbanks's performance is not merely a matter of swordplay and gymnastics. His acting shows greater depth of emotion than in some of his earlier films. This story is at times poignant, but Fairbanks has the acting skills to be equal to the changes of mood. He is wonderful as the aging musketeer full of regret, saddened and chastened by life, but still willing to give his all for his King.

The print used for this Kino DVD is wonderful. It scarcely has a blemish and the black and white photography is shown in all its glory. There are two brief talking sequences in The Iron Mask one at the start and one half way through. There is thus the chance to hear Fairbanks talk. The sound crackles a bit, but is about as good as can be expected from the sound systems of 1929. The rest of the film has a fine orchestral score by Carl Davis. This sounds great and fits the action and the mood of the film very well. Davis uses Wagnerian themes as the film darkens its mood and his score really adds to the whole viewing experience. The DVD contains a good few extras. There are three sets of out-takes, which show how Fairbanks performed some of his stunts. It is extremely rare for out-takes from silent pictures to survive so we are fortunate indeed to be able to see these. Next there is a five-minute extract from the film with Douglas Fairbanks Junior providing narration. This is interesting, but shows most of all why narrating silents does not work. There is a collection of stills from the film and a good collection of informative essays. Altogether this is a very fine DVD of one of Fairbanks best films.

This is a magnificent film that has been overlooked for too long.It's Fairbank's shortest swashbuckler and this really helps.
The film just flies by and is not bogged down by too much pagentry or an inane love story. The brief wooing of Constance by D'Artagnan is adorable and the musketeers only "defeat" - though pure slapstick - is simply wonderful. There are other bits of comedy but this a is a very dark film. At the end, eight of the films ten leading characters have died and only one by natural causes Director Dwan has you really caring for Constance and the Musketeers and their deaths are very moving. And best if all is the conclusion - one of a handful of greatest in all film. Only the hardest soul could not shed tears yet feel the warmth as the four great friends go on to "greater adventure."

This is actually a new issue (for 2002) of The Iron Mask from Kino featuring a new print from the Museum of Modern Art and a score written by Carl Davis. Kevin Brownlow is one of the producers. There are two brief scenes where Douglas Fairbanks speaks to the audience that has been remastered for this version of the film. The print is flawless, and it was a pleasure to see such a loving restoration. Carl Davis does an excellent job with the score; it fits the mood of the film perfectly. Even if you have the older issue by Kino you will want to see this new edition, if nothing else, for the excellent music. Having seen the 1952 re-release of this film with spoken narration by Douglas Fairbanks Jr. I much prefer the film the way it was first presented. The narration, good as it may be, is more of a distraction and an accommodation to an audience used to sound pictures. Sorry to have to correct Amazon but Fairbanks was 46 when he made this film not 43. It had been eight years since he did The Three Musketeers.

With the many positive reviews already posted for this film all I can say is that it is well cast and acted and is a memorable farewell to the silent era by one of its brightest stars.

I can't say enough good things about this film, and the restoration done by Kino. Unfortunately, the DVD seems to have some kind of factory defect. The film itself plays fine, but the rare outtake footage suffers from digital dstortion that makes the picture quality completely unwatchable.

I returned my first order of this DVD for an exchange, hoping that a fresh DVD would not have this problem. But it does, and it's factory sealed, so it must be a problem on Kino's end. I had a similar problem with Kino's VHS version of "Nomads of The north" (1920 w/ Lon Chaney), returned it to Kino for a replacement copy, and both had the exact same problem.

It doesn't sound like other users here had trouble with their DVD, but I'm so frustrated because this is the 2nd copy I've bought and STILL can't watch the extras and rare outtake footage.

I wouldn't say that this DVD is a total waste of money - after all, the film itself plays fine. But if you're buying this disc for the extras and bonus outtake footage, you may well end up as frustrated and disappointed as I am.:(

"The Iron Mask" (1929) was Douglas Fairbanks' glorious valedictory to the art of silent film. Collaborating with director Allan Dwan and set designer William Cameron Menzies, the producer-star poured all his resources into this lavish sequel to "The Three Musketeers" (1921) - acknowledging the advent of sound with two brief talking interludes. Restored by film historians Patrick Stanbury and Kevin Brownlow from an original 35mm print (courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art), "The Iron Mask" can be seen as Fairbanks' finest achievement. However, for all its style and exuberance, the swashbuckling adventure has a melancholic tone that lends a poignant grace to Doug's silent farewell - accompanied by Carl Davis' sweeping orchestral score. For modern viewers unfamiliar with the spirit and athleticism of Fairbanks, "The Iron Mask" represents a terrific starting point.

This film, released in the final year of the silent era (at least in America; other regions of the world were still making silents until the early Thirties), is a sequel to the earlier Fairbanks film 'The Three Musketeers,' and similarly is based upon the novel by Alexandre Dumas père. While it is helpful to have seen the first film (if not read the book) to get some background information on the main characters and a sense of where the general plot is picking up from, it's one of those sequels which one can also enjoy and understand entirely on its own merits. It's not so much a continuation of the prior story as it is a continuation of the adventures of the main characters. It begins in September of 1638, 13 years after the original film took place, and Queen Anne of Austria is about to give birth to the heir of France. King Louis XIII is thrilled to have a son, but what he doesn't know is that the Queen actually gave birth to twin boys. D'Artagnan's sweetheart Constance, who was present at the second birth, is kidnapped and taken to a convent to try to shut her up, but D'Artagnan quickly finds out about it, and as soon as he discovers just where she's been taken, he and the other Musketeers, Porthos (Tiny Sandford, whom fans of classic comedy will recognise as the frequent foil to Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy), Athos, and Aramis, take off to try to rescue her. Meanwhile the scheming Cardinal Richelieu, fearing a revolution if word of the second heir gets out, has the second-born twin taken away to be raised in Spain. Things don't go well for anyone, and the four friends are ordered to be separated. In the interim, D'Artagnan and the young Prince Louis are as thick as thieves, and D'Artagnan's loyalty to his three dear friends, the future king, and France remain as strong as ever in spite of the passage of time. All four of them still live by their adage of all for one and one for all when they are pressed into service for one last hurrah to rescue the true King Louis XIV and to preserve the glory and honor of France. Although there are a number of rather depressing and heartbreaking events in this film, and the end is quite bittersweet, it almost seems appropriate that this, one of the final great silents, not be all sunshine and roses. It was the end of an era, both the end of the silent era and Fairbanks's final silent feature, and the end of such a wonderful era should be duly mourned. The ending itself is also particularly poignant, sad, and bittersweet, knowing this was Doug's final silent and that the silent era was about to end forever. It's also kind of sad to see him made up to look like an older man in the second half of the film, knowing that he only lived to be 56 in real life. (Though he was 45 when this film when this film was produced, he was still as gorgeous as ever and in incredible physical shape, still able to do all of his trademark stunts and swashbuckling with ease.)

Extras are outtakes, an animated gallery with commentary by Doug, Jr., an excerpt from the 1952 reissue of the film, with all of the title cards deleted and Doug, Jr., narrating, and 7 text essays from the 1999 program book from Photoplay Productions Ltd. and Channel Four Television UK. The outtakes don't have any soundtracks, though since they're not extraordinarily long in length, this isn't as much of a hindrance as it is when similar outtakes or bonus short films on silent DVDs have no soundtracks.

While this film might not be the most perfect first silent for a new fan (primarily because silent costume dramas can take awhile to warm up to, although this is one that I don't feel would have been better as a talkie), it does have terrific production values and tells a very engrossing satisfying story. I found it a lot faster-paced than 'The Three Musketeers,' not to mention easier to follow the plot of. The print used is gorgeous, and the soundtrack is also wonderful. Like many silents made in the transitional period of the late Twenties, this one too has a few scenes of synchronised speech. Doug delivers a spoken prologue, and then makes another speech (much shorter) about midway through the film. Unfortunately, due to the primitive technology of the time, the sound quality isn't very crystal-clear, nor does it give a fully accurate register of his real voice. (The story goes that he was so horrified upon hearing the playback of the prologue that he turned green and someone yanked the plug to put him out of his misery at hearing this high-pitched girlish falsetto that sounded nothing like his real voice.) However, one should expect less than pristine sound quality when dealing with a very early talkie or one of these hybrids, and everything else is so great that that becomes a minor detail.

In his groundbreaking series Hollywood, Kevin Brownlow chose 1929's The Iron Mask not just as Douglas Fairbanks' swansong as a silent swashbuckler, but as a swansong for the entire silent era, and it's hard not to agree with him: it may well be the most perfect silent swashbuckler of them all. It's as if everything that had ever been learned in the silent years had been poured magnificently into this one picture, resulting in as vivid, spectacular and enjoyable an entertainment as you're ever likely to find on any movie screen. After filming finished, Fairbanks said that with the coming of talkies the fun had gone out of movies, but there's plenty of fun here, with great stunts, stirring adventure and moments of comedy that really work while the bittersweet sentimental ending, at once sad and triumphant as the musketeers are finally reunited, won't leave a dry eye in the house.

Like Fairbanks' version of The Three Musketeers eight years earlier, it's not the most faithful of adaptations - this time round it's the good twin who initially reigns as king and his bitter brother who plots to usurp him and put him in the iron mask so that D'Artagnan can restore the natural order rather than stage a benign coup - but the film does include many of the darker elements of Dumas' earlier novel that were skipped over in the earlier film as Milady gets her revenge. Yet the film does a fine job of balancing the light and shade, making a wildly entertaining film that's also surprisingly affecting when it needs to be. Not everything is perfect, with William Bakewell really overegging the pudding as the evil twin in a performance that's pure panto, while the spoken introduction with Fairbanks breaking out of a tableaux to address the audience in a spoken prologue is perhaps more successful in the thought than the execution, but so much here works so very well you can forgive it its failings.

And what a difference just eight years makes between the two films. The cast may have changed - different Musketeers (aside from Leon Barry's Athos) and king this time round, though Marguerite De La Motte's Constance returns as does Nigel de Brulier's Richelieu, in a much broader performance - but it's the massive strides in filmmaking that really stand out. Where in the original film director Fred Niblo managed to hide the not terribly interesting sets somewhat by marshalling his limited number of extras well and giving them all something eye catching to do, this is a much more elaborate affair, with beautifully designed sets and thousands of extras to populate them, and Allan Dwan's fluid and often kinetic direction always makes the most of the considerable resources at his disposal. Fairbanks even hired Maurice Leloir, the French illustrator of the most popular edition of Dumas' novel to design the film alongside William Cameron Menzies, and the film is gorgeously shot, the prison scenes making atmospheric use of the kind of giant shadows Michael Curtiz would later make his signature shot in his Errol Flynn swashbucklers. You can even spot legendary fencing master Fred Cavens as one of Richlieu's ruffians and future director Robert Parrish as a page.

Sadly, Kino's Region 1 DVD of the restored version doesn't impress as much as it should. While the film was lovingly restored by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill, the DVD seems to suffer from excessive Dolby Noise reduction in places, giving it a soft look or blurry motion in places (nowhere near as overt as in the print broadcast on Channel 4) that detracts from the otherwise excellent work. Unlike the various public domain versions that use the shorter 1952 reissue prints that replaced the original captions with Douglas Fairbanks Jr's narration - with Junior even dubbing his father's spoken introductions - this is the only release offering the original silent version in all its glory, complete with captions and a new score by Carl Davis. There's also a lengthy extract from the `talkie' reissue version for comparison as well as several outtakes of the stunt and fight sequences, a gallery of production art and copious and detailed notes taken from he programme for the film's London Film Festival screenings. It may not be the best possible version of the film thanks to the problems with the transfer, but it is definitely the best on the market, and the film is just so splendid that it still comes very highly recommended. Films like The Iron Mask are just too magical not to make some allowances for. More than eighty years on it's still the best film I've seen all year.

The only thing that would make this DVD package better, for me, would be to also have the option of the entire 1952 reissue of the film. I am greatful for the excerpt , but would love to see the whole version with Jr's narration.
But I am so Happy with the Kineo print and that they really Thought about the musical score added. So often I am coming across Fairbanks films that are just impossible for me to get into fully because of the music that has been thrown onto them not relating to what was happening on screen at all. case in point... The Three Musketeers with old 20s Jazz recordings ... that's just lazy to me. I Love 20s Jazz, and it might work with a "contemporary " 20s comedy ... but the musketeers soundtrack reminded me of Laurel and Hardy more than a Musketeer-period adventure film .... anyway, It's an important issue to me regarding silent films.

Also I've been waiting for years to see and hear the sound introductions by Fairbanks senior , since I first read about them back in the 70s, so that addition was a very special treat.