I'm a big fan of Patrick McGoohan so I don't like to find fault in a piece boasting one of his customarily excellent performances. But it should really be noted that this is, like some other movie versions of the same story, a great mutilation of the Dumas version. Dumas's story, actually just one thread of a gigantic novel titled The Viscount of Bragelonnne, has a secret twin of Louis XIV who is hidden away in the Bastille unknown even to the King himself. Through the machinations of Aramis, with the unwitting help of Porthos, an overnight coup is affected and the King sent to the Bastille in his twin's place. The King is, however, freed from the Bastille and reclaims his throne when d'Artagnan identifies him as the authentic monarch. The twin, who is disavowed by his mother, is only then condemned to imprisonment in the quasi-eponymous mask. The King is presented not as a black-hearted villain, but as a King who is sometimes ruthless and even cruel because his office requires such qualities.
Hollywood invariably twists the story into one of a virtuous twin imprisoned in an iron mask who is led by one or more of the one-time musketeers to take the place of the evil king. This is simplistic claptrap, nothing to do with Dumas.
Hollywood invariably twists the story into one of a virtuous twin imprisoned in an iron mask who is led by one or more of the one-time musketeers to take the place of the evil king. This is simplistic claptrap, nothing to do with Dumas.