THE MAN IN THE IRON mask begins with the Queen of France giving birth to identical twins. However, the father (Louis XIII) is afraid having twins might destabilize the country and possibly lead to civil war, so he gives custody of the child to D'Artagnan. He is to raise the boy with no knowledge that he is a member of the royalty.
Many years pass and by now, Louis XIV is on the throne and he's a selfish and weak leader--led around by his conniving adviser, Fouquet. Under Louis' rule, the country is is dire poverty while this young king lives for his own demented pleasures (such as watching men hang). Later, when Louis' identical brother is identified, Louis brings him to the court for all sorts of boring intrigues--none of which particularly help the story. Later, after tiring of the brother, Louis orders an iron mask to be created and the brother is forced to wear it while imprisoned in the Bastille. So now it's up to the good people in the government and the Four Musketeers to rescue the brother and substitute him in Louis' place for the good of the nation.
THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK is very, very loosely based on part of the story "The Vicomte de Bragelonne" by Alexandre Dumas. And, from what I have read about the original tale by Dumas, none of the movie versions have much to do with the novel. Plus, the real life Louis XIV was a selfish jerk during ALL of his reign, so unless the identical twin was also a total scumbag, it's unlikely any switch every occurred! As a great fan of the 1977 version starring Richard Chamberlain, I was disappointed by the script. Since none of the films stick very close to the facts, it's not like preferring the later version is necessarily a bad thing. My biggest complaint about this 1939 version is that the plot, particularly at the end, is amazingly anticlimactic and convoluted. Instead of a single and fitting ending, the film is drawn out needlessly further. Plus, the acting in the later version just seemed more interesting and the plot more compact and enjoyable.
Many years pass and by now, Louis XIV is on the throne and he's a selfish and weak leader--led around by his conniving adviser, Fouquet. Under Louis' rule, the country is is dire poverty while this young king lives for his own demented pleasures (such as watching men hang). Later, when Louis' identical brother is identified, Louis brings him to the court for all sorts of boring intrigues--none of which particularly help the story. Later, after tiring of the brother, Louis orders an iron mask to be created and the brother is forced to wear it while imprisoned in the Bastille. So now it's up to the good people in the government and the Four Musketeers to rescue the brother and substitute him in Louis' place for the good of the nation.
THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK is very, very loosely based on part of the story "The Vicomte de Bragelonne" by Alexandre Dumas. And, from what I have read about the original tale by Dumas, none of the movie versions have much to do with the novel. Plus, the real life Louis XIV was a selfish jerk during ALL of his reign, so unless the identical twin was also a total scumbag, it's unlikely any switch every occurred! As a great fan of the 1977 version starring Richard Chamberlain, I was disappointed by the script. Since none of the films stick very close to the facts, it's not like preferring the later version is necessarily a bad thing. My biggest complaint about this 1939 version is that the plot, particularly at the end, is amazingly anticlimactic and convoluted. Instead of a single and fitting ending, the film is drawn out needlessly further. Plus, the acting in the later version just seemed more interesting and the plot more compact and enjoyable.