THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK

This thrice-filmed romance stems from two historical facts. A valiant captain of musketeers named D'Artagnan lived in France c.1620--1673. Sometime before 1681, an unknown political criminal was forced to conceal his identity under an iron (or perhaps velvet) mask and condemned to live out his days in various French prisons. Some say he was the twin brother of the king. From the first fact, Dumas wove his popular adventures that began with The Three Musketeers. From the second fact, the same writer drew his plot for this, the third Musketeer novel. Reg Green delivers this very truncated abridgment with Gallic elegance and panache. He has one of those voices that compel one's attention, which he uses with great evocative power. A warning though--he delivers some odd line readings and strange pronunciations of French terms, and the sound quality is not all it should be. Y.R. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/NOV 98]