Paul Andrews The Man in the Iron Mask is set in 17th Century France & starts in Burgundy where musketeer D'Artagnan (Louis Jourdan) captures a man named Philipe (Richard Chamberlain) & sends him to be imprisoned in the Bastille prison in Paris with orders no-one else sees or speaks with him. While at the prison visiting her father a young woman named Louise (Jenny Agutter) is accompanied by a high ranking minister named Fouquet (Patrick McGoohan) who recognises the man Philipe as an exact double for King Louis XIV (Richard Chamberlain), visiting Philipe later Fouquet sees a birth mark exactly the same as one on King Louis & is convinced that Philipe is in fact the identical twin brother of King Louis who was meant to have died at birth but somehow lives unaware of who he is, reporting back to King Louis a plan is hatched to send Philipe to an island fortress prison Pignerol & encase him in an iron mask so no-one ever sees his face but D'Artagnan & minister Duval (Ian Holm) plan to rescue Philipe & use him to overthrow King Louis & save France...This British & American co-production was directed by the prolific Mike Newell who has gone to direct recent Hollywood fare such as Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) & Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) & is a fairly lavishly produced & colourful adaptation of Alexandre Dumas père novel The Man in the Iron Mask which was his final book to feature the Three Muskateers. I must admit right now that I have never read the book so cannot compare the two although I am sure they are fairly similar & share the same basic plot, The man in the Iron mask isn't usually the type of film that I watch but it was shown on afternoon telly over here so I decided to give it a go. I must admit that I was expecting a bit more action here, a few more sword fights & chases & was a bit surprised at how talky this is. That's not to say it's a bad film by any means, it held my interest & I liked the story which is told efficiently & effectively enough but I was sat there waiting for The Man in the Iron Mask to spring into life & it never did. The switch at the end as Philipe takes the place of his brother is nothing more than a con trick while Philipe being released from his iron masked imprisonment is also very straight forward apart from a brief horse chase & sword fight. The plot is solid enough, there's the expected treason, lies, political skulduggery, mistrust, the odd plot twist, love triangles & romance as the future of France is on the line & I enjoyed the story but there have been various adaptations of the novel & it's a well known story so maybe there won't be many surprises here. I did like the rather ironic & downbeat ending as King Louis gets his comeuppance in a rather unpleasant way, the only problem is I wasn't totally convinced by the reasons given by King Louis in the first place as to not just kill Philipe outright but if he had there wouldn't have been a story, would there? Also, if Philipe was living in France in Burgundy why had no-one ever recognised him before as looking exactly like King Louis? Not my type of film really but I still enjoyed it for what it was although it probably helps that I have never seen any other adaptation of the novel before, not even the Leonardo DiCaprio one from 1998.Although apparently made for telly by the British production company ITC this actually looks very nice & I am surprised it never got a theatrical release in either the UK or US. The sets, locations & costumes are all very impressive & colourful & give a real air of authenticity to the film, the iron mask itself is a fearsome looking prop with it being soldered onto Philipe's head a particularly good moment. Like I said earlier there's really not that much action in this which is surprising, I would have though there would have been more sword fights & shoot-outs & stunt work but I was obviously wrong. Just don't expect much action that's all I am saying, this is more of a plot driven adaptation than elaborate stunt work.I would have thought The Man in the Iron Mask had a reasonable budget as it's actually filmed in France including Fouquet's actual Cháteau Vaux-le-Vicomte, the Palace of Fontainebleau and the Cháteau de La Houssaye & it show's with some great location work. There's a top cast here including Richard Chamberlain in dual roles, Jenny Agutter, Ian Holm, Patrick McGoohan, Ralph Richardson & Louis Jourdan who is the only French actor here despite the entire film taking place in France with French character's.The Man in the Iron Mask has been adapted to the silver screen no less than a dozen times & this is the only one I have seen thus far so cannot really compare it to any other version but I liked it for what it was, a solid historic political thriller with a hint of adventure. Perfect to waste a couple of hours one lazy afternoon but not really any sort of classic in my eyes.

ma-cortes This is an epic retelling about the durable Alexandre Dumas's novel and is set in 17th century French court where appears two twins brothers (Richard Chamberlain playing a double role) , separated at birth , one nasty become in Louis XIV of France married to Mª Teresa of Spain (Vivien Merchant) and the other Phillippe who is unjustly imprisoned in the Bastilla . Both of whom are sons of the Queen mother , Anna of Austria (Brenda Bruce) . Later on , Phillippe is jailed in an island and hidden his identity wearing an iron mask but his existence threatens the reigning . But D'Artagnan (Louis Jourdan) and the Prime Minister named Colbert (Ralph Richardson) scheme a plan to free Phillippe clashing against a malicious Fouquet (Patrick McGooham) , the Louis XIV's favorite.It's an excellent rendition from the immortal novel with quite budget , though is made for television . The picture contains rousing action , intrigue , exciting swordplay , romantic adventure , mayhem and results to be pretty entertaining . Marvelous casting with a magnificent Richard Chamberlain as a suffering inmate turning valiant swashbuckler and a selfish King . He gives a charming acting and manages to use his fists , swords and to do some acrobatics . Exceptional cinematography by the classic cameraman Freddie Young who has a distinguished and long career crowned with three Oscars for David Lean's films . Spectacular and evocative musical score by Allyn Ferguson . Lush production design by John Stoll is well reflected on the luxurious interiors and exteriors filmed in England and French palaces (Fointeneblau , Versalles , among others) . The motion picture was well realized by Mike Newell . This classy story is previous and subsequently remade in several versions , firstly is shot with Douglas Fairbanks (mute rendition , 1929) and the first sound (1939) retelling was made by James Whale with Louis Hayward and Joan Bennet . A French adaptation (1962) by Henry Decoin with Jean Marais , Jean Rochefort , Claudina Auger , Sylva Koscina . A 1998 recounting by William Richert with Edward Albert , Dana Barron , Timothy Bottoms , Meg Foster , James Gammon . And finally in 1998 , the most recent and lavish adaptation of the classic story by Randall Wallace with Leonardo DiCaprio , Jeremy Irons , Gerard Depardieu , John Malkovich . This is the better adaptation for TV of the classy and will appeal to the costume genre fans

karlpov I'm a big fan of Patrick McGoohan so I don't like to find fault in a piece boasting one of his customarily excellent performances. But it should really be noted that this is, like some other movie versions of the same story, a great mutilation of the Dumas version. Dumas's story, actually just one thread of a gigantic novel titled The Viscount of Bragelonnne, has a secret twin of Louis XIV who is hidden away in the Bastille unknown even to the King himself. Through the machinations of Aramis, with the unwitting help of Porthos, an overnight coup is affected and the King sent to the Bastille in his twin's place. The King is, however, freed from the Bastille and reclaims his throne when d'Artagnan identifies him as the authentic monarch. The twin, who is disavowed by his mother, is only then condemned to imprisonment in the quasi-eponymous mask. The King is presented not as a black-hearted villain, but as a King who is sometimes ruthless and even cruel because his office requires such qualities.Hollywood invariably twists the story into one of a virtuous twin imprisoned in an iron mask who is led by one or more of the one-time musketeers to take the place of the evil king. This is simplistic claptrap, nothing to do with Dumas.

amidalasky Richard Chamberlain had already proved himself a fine actor before starring in this TV production of "The Man in the Iron Mask," but here he truly gives the performance of a lifetime. Performances, I should say, because he plays two different (VERY different) roles: King Louis XIV and his long lost twin brother, Phillippe.Louis is a spoiled, infantile (his courtiers know perfectly well to deliberately lose at croquet lest they "risk another tantrum") and often cruel man, who lives in splendor while his subjects starve. He treats his long-suffering wife like garbage, openly flirting with and carrying on other women, and at one point he even viciously rips her wig off in public after calling her a "mountain of sallow flesh." Not surprisingly, no one likes Louis all that much; even his mother is hard pressed to say anything nice about him.Meanwhile, Phillippe, totally unaware of his relation to Louis, is mysteriously kidnapped from his cozy home and thrown into the Bastille. But it's not what you think -- his kidnappers are the ageing Three Musketeers, who, fed up with their "water lily" of a ruler, have a plan to oust him and replace him with his identical twin, Phillippe. (Though Phillippe was born first and is therefore the rightful king, they insist that he rule as Louis XIV because of France's instability.) The Bastille was a "safe place" to stash Phillippe, or so they thought; at least two people, upon accidentally seeing Phillippe, are struck by his resemblance to Louis. One of them reports to Fouquet, the king's closest adviser. Upon verifying Phillippe's identity, Fouquet breaks the news to Louis, who, quite rightly fearing usurpation, hatches a cruel plan: imprisoning Phillippe for life in a run down castle in a distant part of France. But even that isn't enough: "No one must look upon his face," Louis tells Fouquet. Hence the iron mask, which is locked upon poor Phillippe in a gut-wrenching sequence.The rest of the movie is about the Three Musketeers rescuing Phillippe, telling him the truth, and proceeding ahead with their plans. Meanwhile, Phillippe falls in love with Louise, a pretty lady of the court who the king is also unsuccessfully trying to romance (and as it turns out, Fouquet likewise tried to romance, and when she spurned his advances, he had her father thrown in the Bastille), and there's plenty of wonderfully intricate plotting.While the performances are strong all around (except for maybe Jenny Agutter as Louise), it's Richard Chamberlain who carries the entire movie. Phillippe starts out an ordinary person, but his grotesque mistreatment starts to make him almost savage. Not surprisingly, the desire for revenge burns white-hot inside him, and he finally gets to realize it at the end. He also has a remarkable moment when, after having assumed Louis XIV's identity, he meets his mother for the first time: he is so emotional that he can barely get the words out, yet manages to cover it by telling her how beautiful she looks. The queen mother, who of course doesn't know his true identity, beams and says, "My Louis?" as if wondering that maybe now she can finally truly love her son.Meanwhile, his turn as Louis is admirably restrained. Most actors would not be able to resist chewing the scenery while playing such a vile, decadent character, but Chamberlain instead gives a nuanced, surprisingly subtle performance. Louis is thoroughly despicable, and Chamberlain is clearly having fun playing such a juicy villain, but he doesn't go over the top.Patrick McGoohan also shines as the clever, vain, heartless Fouquet. He often speaks in a type of growl that reminds me of Jeremy Irons, and his refined sadism is chilling to watch. It makes it all the more satisfying that, in the end, Fouquet is deceived by a simple seamster -- and that he himself is the one who seals his own fate by incorrectly naming Louis as the pretender.