FILMS/
THE IRON MASK
Tributes
USA, 1929, 104 minutes
SHOWTIMES
Sat, Apr 28 / 02:00 / Castro / AWAR28C
CREDITS
- dir
-
Alan Dwan
- prod
-
Douglas Fairbanks
- scr
-
Jack Cunningham
- cam
-
Warren Lynch, Henry Sharp
- editor
-
William Nolan
- mus
-
Carl Davis
- cast
-
Douglas Fairbanks, Belle Bennett, Marguerite De La Motte, Dorothy Revier, Vera Lewis, Rolfe Sedan
- source
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Photoplay Productions, 21 Princess Road, NW1 8JR London, U.K. FAX: +44-20-77-22-66-62 EMAIL: julia@photoplay.co.uk
The jaunty swashbuckler lives on in this sharply restored Douglas Fairbanks epic, a lavish version of The Three Musketeers made at the tail end of the silent era. In fact, it’s the great star’s last silent film and his last appearance in a swashbuckler, two facts that only heighten the film’s reputation as perhaps the finest achievement of the genre. (That it was filmed in Monterey and Point Lobos is yet another plus for Bay Area audiences.) Fairbanks plays his favorite literary hero, Dumas’s gallant D’Artagnan, still busy leaping off balconies and fighting ruffians with the aide of his sword-wielding brethren, the Musketeers. He even has time for a love interest in the distracting form of the seamstress Constance, but soon friendship and romance are put to the test by the machinations of the black-hearted Cardinal Richelieu and the formidably slimy Count De Rochefort, both of whom are scheming to topple the throne of France. Along the way there’s enough displays of chivalry, derring-do, swordplay and impressive pre-special effects stuntwork to make contemporary Hollywood actioneers seem like utter dullards, with everything topped by a spectacular, surprisingly bittersweet climax. The Iron Mask was directed with verve by the action specialist Allan Dwan, who helmed more than 140 films and whose later output included such cult works as Slightly Scarlet (1956) and Silver Lode (1954). Restored by Kevin Brownlow—recipient of this year’s Mel Novikoff Award—from an original nitrate print from the Museum of Modern Art, The Iron Mask rediscovers the glamour and glory of a genre, and a star, that once again and forever deserves the big screen.The restored print will be accompanied by Carl Davis’ beautiful symphonic score, recorded by a 42-piece orchestra.
The screening will be preceded by an onstage interview with Kevin Brownlow. Presented in association with the Silent Film Festival.