Instrumentation

2(II=picc).2(II=ca).2(II=bcl).2 - 4231 - timp - perc(3) - harp - string (min 10.8.6.6.4) (an additional horn and trumpet player are recommended). Notes: this film contains two sequences of silence for the orchestra, where the film itself does contain two passages with soundtrack. The first occurs at the beginning (after the titles) and the second at the opening of the second half. On both occasions the orchestra remain silent and wait for the conductor to cue them in.

Availability

Score and parts for hire

Programme Notes

Starring: Douglas Fairbanks Snr, Marguerite De La Morte, Nigel De Brulier
Director: Allan Dwan Production Company: Elton Corporation USA, 1929
Film Print: 35mm newly restored B&W print available from Photoplay Productions (Film Speed: 22-24 frames per second)

In his last swashbuckling success, Douglas Fairbanks returned to a role he was born to play: Alexander Dumas' D'Artagnan. The character provided a perfect foil for the qualities that had established Fairbanks as the silent screen's most beloved hero -exuberance, agility, and devil-may-care courage. Drawing on Dumas' 'The Three Musketeers' and 'The Man in the Iron Mask', Fairbanks and director Allan Dwan concocted a tale of Machiavellian intrigue on a lavish scale. The birth of twins to Anne of Austria and Louis XIII bodes ill for the French monarchy. Unwittingly, D'Artagnan is embroiled in the subterfuge after the abduction of his lover, Constance. His search leads to the 'eminence gris himself, Cardinal Richelieu, with whom he strikes a bargain for the lives of his comrades in arms, the Three Musketeers. His charge is to protect the true heir to the throne from the machinations of the villainous Count de Rochefort. Made in 1929, this film marks the silent screen's last homage to a more chivalrous age and Fairbanks' spectacular farewell to the art that had made him the uncrowned King of Hollywood. The score, without making direct quotes, reflects the 17th Century musical world of Lully and Charpentier.

The Iron Mask

Cinémathèque de la Ville de Luxembourg (Luxembourg, Luxembourg)

Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg/Carl Davis CBE

The Iron Mask

Westfield Presbyterian Church (Westfield, NJ, USA)

Westfield Symphony Orchestra

The Iron Mask

1929 version

Symphony Hall (Birmingham, United Kingdom)

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

The Iron Mask

Mary Moody Northen Recital Hall, West Texas A&M University (Canyon, TX, USA)

West Texas A&M University Orchestra/Mark Bartley

The Iron Mask

Ector Theatre (Odessa, TX, USA)

West Texas A&M University Orchestra/Mark Bartley