The Purple Mask
The Purple Mask | |
---|---|
Directed by | H. Bruce Humberstone |
Produced by | Howard Christie |
Starring |
Tony Curtis Angela Lansbury Gene Barry |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release dates | 1955 |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Purple Mask is a 1955 American swashbuckler film, 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 Basquet to go after him.
The lovely Laurette de Latour, niece of a marquis and romantic interest of Captain Laverne, is on the side of the royalists. She helps hatch a scheme in which the foppish Rene de Traviere, who seems able with a sword, impersonates the Purple Mask to infiltrate Napoleon's ranks and free her kidnapped uncle.
Laurette is unaware that Rene is, in fact, the Purple Mask, who continues his charade, drawing ridicule on himself, until ultimately he is imprisoned along with the marquis. Laurette discovers his true identity while imprisoned and she faints.
On their way to the guillotine, Rene, Laurette and the marquis 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 Rene and Laurette to leave the country for England.
Cast
- Tony Curtis as Rene 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
See also
- List of adventure films of the 1950s
- List of American films of 1955
- List of Universal Pictures films
References
- ↑ Database (undated). "The Purple Mask (1955)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
External links
- The Purple Mask at AllMovie
- The Purple Mask at the Internet Movie Database
- The Purple Mask at the TCM Movie Database