The Purple Mask

1955 film by H. Bruce Humberstone

June 15, 1955 (1955-06-15) (New York City)

Running time

82 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

The Purple Mask is a 1955 American swashbuckler film directed by H. Bruce Humberstone starring Tony Curtis and set in 1803 France.^[1]

Plot

France, 1803, is under Napoleon Bonaparte's rule, but royalist adversaries rally behind the mysterious Purple Mask, whose daring feats give them hope. A police captain, Rochet, goes after the Purple Mask only to be taken captive by him, whereupon Napoleon assigns the expert swordsman Brisquet to go after him.

The lovely Laurette de Latour, daughter of a duke and romantic interest of Captain Laverne, is on the side of the royalists. She helps hatch a scheme in which the foppish René de Traviere, who seems able with a sword, impersonates the Purple Mask to infiltrate Napoleon's ranks and free her kidnapped father.

Laurette is unaware that René is, in fact, the Purple Mask, who continues his charade, drawing ridicule on himself, until ultimately he is imprisoned along with the duke. Laurette discovers his true identity while imprisoned.

On their way to the guillotine, Rene, Laurette and the duke are rescued in a pre-arranged raid through the sewers of Paris by the royalist rebels. Napoleon, glad to be rid of the troublemakers, permits René and Laurette to leave the country for England.

Cast

Tony Curtis as René de Traviere / The Purple Mask
Colleen Miller as Laurette de Latour
Angela Lansbury as Madame Valentine
Gene Barry as Capt. Charles Laverne
Allison Hayes as Irene de Bournotte
John Hoyt as Rochet
Dan O'Herlihy as Brisquet
Robert Cornthwaite as Napoleon
Paul Cavanagh as Duc de Latour

Background

The film was based on a successful play of the same name. The original 1913 French play titled Le Chevalier au masque, by Paul Armont and Jean Manoussi, was adapted into English as The Purple Mask by Matheson Lang.^[2] The play opened in London in 1918 and ran for 365 performances. A later production in New York in 1920, starring Leo Ditrichstein, was less successful, closing after 139 shows.^[2]

References

^ Database (undated). "The Purple Mask (1955)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
^ ^a ^b Lachman, Marvin (2014). The villainous stage : crime plays on Broadway and in the West End. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-9534-4. OCLC 903807427.