STATE THEATRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 May 1941, Page 2

STATE THEATRE

“THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK.” With Louis Hayward and Joan Bennett playing the top roles, Edward Small's new romantic drama “The Man in the Iron Mask.” which shows at the State Theatre tonight, unfolds a thrilling and exciting tale of romance and adventure in an era when extravagances and excesses ruled the court of France. The central theme of the story revolves around King Louis XIV and his twin brother Phillippe, who at his birth was whisked away to the province of Gascony and brought up secretly as a commoner under the guidance of the famous Musketeers. Warren William, plays the swashbuckling, beloved role of D’Artagnan, with Alan Hale and Miles Mander impersonating the other two musketeers in the trio devoted to Phillippe. Hayward plays the dual roles of King Louis and Phillippe, while Joan Bennett appears as the lovely and gifted Maria Theresa of Spain, imported to marry the cruel and sadistic monarch, thus to preserve the peace of Europe. As King Louis. Hayward is seen as harsh and vain, cruelly taxing his subjects until they are on the brink of starvation and ruin. As Phillippe, he is seen as a brave and understanding son of France, wishing for the honour and welfare of his country. The story reaches a great climax when Louis realises that Phillippe is his twin brother. Louis fears that events may lead to dethronement, and decides he must do away with such a possibility. He takes the most sinister method at hand —the dread iron mask. Phillippe is encased in this monstrous contraption and condemned to life imprisonment in the Bastille. But the Musketeers who also know the secret refuse to see Phillippe die in this horrible way. How they outwit Louis and his ministers concludes the story, which is based on the famous novel by Alexandre Dumas.