Thoroughly enjoyable swashbuckler with great costumes, sets and performances. The Musketeers are here in their latter days and up to the task as is Director James Whale whose style lends a bit of the macabre to the proceedings.This much filmed story is favored by most fans and critics and is not disappointing. It is an engaging nuanced dual performance by Louis Hayward and no one here is beneath the scope of this magnificent movie. The score was nominated for an Oscar and the modest budget is used to maximum effect thanks to the talents behind the camera.If you like this type of film from the apex of the Hollywood system you will love this timeless story of power, greed, compassion, and righteousness. "All for one and one for all" within the confines of benevolent Nationalism.

I have always been fond of The Three Musketeers, Man in the Iron Mask and of the swash-buckling tales in general. The Man in the Iron Mask(1939) shows perfectly why. Some of the effects are on the dated side and while looking gorgeous I found for my tastes Joan Bennett to be too blithe. However, the sumptuous costumes and sets more than make amends, as does the stirring score, beautiful cinematography, sword play that is as far away from clumsy as you can get and James Whale's direction, which is suitably sympathetic without it ever been plodding or overly-flamboyant. The script is witty and intelligent and the story is as compelling as you'd expect. Bennett aside, the performances are great. The Musketeers are well done and it was nice seeing Peter Cushing in his screen debut, but for me the standouts were the malevolent Fouquet of Joseph Schildkaut, Warren William's noble D'Artagnan and the altogether riveting dual-role performance of Louis Hayward as the arrogant, cruel Louis and the gentle, romantically helplessness of Phillippe. All in all, a swash-buckling adventure classic of the highest order. 9/10 Bethany Cox

James Whale's version of the Dumas story is a very good swashbuckler.Lois Hayward plays the twin brothers, one the insane king of France and the other a boy raised by D'Artagnan of three musketeers fame. Hayward is excellent in the roles though his King is probably on the short list of 25 most evil screen portraits. The story was most recently remade with Leonardo DiCaprio to mixed results. The movie is a great deal of fun thanks in part to Whale's sense of the absurd such as when D'Artagnan (The always wonderful Warren William) pretends to be a servant to throw off some pursuers. Definitely worth a bucket of popcorn.

James Whale has to be credited with some very fine direction on this version of THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK, the famous story about the twin brothers, one of whom is a black-hearted rogue who sits on the throne, the other raised in a faraway village by D'Artagnan when it becomes clear that only one twin can sit on the throne of France.All the ingredients for a good swashbuckler are here with the added benefit of an absorbing story, extremely well played by a wonderful cast. LOUIS HAYWARD has never had a better role than the contrasting twins and the special effects are excellent when he shares scenes with his twin. JOAN BENNETT, although very beautiful, is merely a costumed prop here, exuding no real warmth as the princess who falls in love with the good twin. She was never an actress of any depth.But the film really belongs to WARREN WILLIAM as a rather overage D'Artagnan and even more so to Joseph SCHILDKRAUT in another one of his evil impersonations as Fouquet, with ambitions to become the Minister of Finance and an appetite for treachery.Very lavish production values, although one wishes the film could have been filmed in Technicolor (at a time when very few films were). There's a good Oscar-nominated background score in the brisk tradition of such music and there's never a dull moment in the whole film.Summing up: A majestic, impressive version of the tale which stands up to any subsequent telling in recent years.