The Man in the Iron Mask

Peter Cushing’s debut. Fitting it should come in a film directed by James Whale, who had—eight years prior—directed Frankenstein. This loose adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’s novel boasts a winning double-role from Louis Hayward. The lavish sets scream for Technicolor, but the optical effects involved in Hayward playing opposite himself may have prevented it. I’d have preferred more swashbuckling and less melodrama, but it’s still an entertaining ride. The climactic chase reminded me of a western. Our heroes on horseback pursing the villain across the California landscape as he shoots back at them. It also drove home that we weren’t in France. Cushing has one scene as the vice-goon of a band of soldiers sent to arrest d’Artagnan.