THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK (1977) **1/2 Great original classical (baroque, whatever) musical score by Allyn Ferguson, and the feel of the film strikes me as very much what Alexandre Dumas had in mind. The differences aren't slight however-this film is about the French as seen through British (Mike Newell) eyes, and nothing can bring about more of a sense of the acute than an Englishman observing French royalty. The film's great undoing is Richard Chamberlain in the central dual role. I've heard that women find him attractive, and the wages for that attraction is that he's regularly cast so far above his artistic abilities. He could be effective as blustering window dressing of the Han Solo ilk, but he doesn't have nearly enough range for either of the polar roles that he plays here, much less the both of them. To make matters worse the script finds Chamberlain regularly engaged in extended dialogues that invariably wear out their welcome well in advance of their conclusion. Jenny Agutter adds her gentle grace, but even she isn't an actress of the magnitude to arouse much interest in whatever it is that she and Chamberlain are allegedly thinking about each other. Chamberlain isn't terrible, don't get me wrong, it's just that everything else about the film is better, and unfortunately it all has to revolve around him. Patrick McGoohan stands out among an all-star cast that includes Ralph Richardson and Ian Holm.
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