"THE IRON MASK " IS EXCELLENT FILM AT CIVIC THEATRE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18888, 14 October 1929, Page 7

"THE IRON MASK " IS EXCELLENT FILM AT CIVIC THEATRE.

Three periods of French history are represented in Douglas Fairbanks’s new United Artists’ picture, “ The Iron Mask.” Mr Fairbanks and his actors assume three different ages and appearances. The story opens in the France of 1638. with Louis XIII. on the throne, and the new-born heir in his cradle. D’Artagnan and the three musketeers, Athos, Porthos and Aramis, engage in the adventures, intrigues arid loves of their youth. The next scenes are laid in 1648, five years later. It is to D’Artagnan that the dying Richelieu bequeath.- the care and training of the little Daup to. Twenty ye-’i-s pass between the dee’h of th,-> r-~- ; na j an d the opening of th„ ilurd period of the story. From wigs to shoes there were three changes of costume to represent the modes of the different periods. Even the settings of the picture were redressed to suit the occasions. The Palace of St Germain was completely redecorated for the “ twenty years after ” scenes. The authenticity of the inodes, manners and settings of the. three periods was assured by the personal supervision of M. Maurice Leloir, the world’s greatest living authority on tho seventeenth century. “ The Iron Mask ” will open at the Civic Theatre to-night. Mr Fairbanks again plays D’Artagnan, as he did in “ The Three Musketeers,” of which “ The Iron Mask” is a sequel. The box plan is now open at The Farmers’ and The Bristol. ‘T’ivic telephone ”l-r»9S.