Face Behind the Mask, The (1938)
*** (out of 4)
Part of the MGM series that would take historic events, tales of mystery and other strange stories and try to bring them together for a "what it" moment. This time out director Tourneur (a vet of this series...check out THE MAN IN THE BARN) tells the story of France's biggest and greatest mystery, which just happens to be the "main in the iron mask." We're given the events surrounding the mysterious man's capture and imprisonment and then we're shown three people who might have been the mystery man. I'm not sure how much is really "known" about the events here as narrator John Nesbitt makes it perfectly clear that thousands of people have tried, without success, of figuring out who the man really was. The short does a good job at giving us the details of the original event and then three clips of who the man was and why he could have been a target of the King. All in all the director does a good job at telling the stories and making an interesting film. I'm sure history buffs might throw a fit with some of the items but to me a film like this should have one big goal and that's to be entertaining. This film is.
*** (out of 4)
Part of the MGM series that would take historic events, tales of mystery and other strange stories and try to bring them together for a "what it" moment. This time out director Tourneur (a vet of this series...check out THE MAN IN THE BARN) tells the story of France's biggest and greatest mystery, which just happens to be the "main in the iron mask." We're given the events surrounding the mysterious man's capture and imprisonment and then we're shown three people who might have been the mystery man. I'm not sure how much is really "known" about the events here as narrator John Nesbitt makes it perfectly clear that thousands of people have tried, without success, of figuring out who the man really was. The short does a good job at giving us the details of the original event and then three clips of who the man was and why he could have been a target of the King. All in all the director does a good job at telling the stories and making an interesting film. I'm sure history buffs might throw a fit with some of the items but to me a film like this should have one big goal and that's to be entertaining. This film is.