Man in the Iron Mask support of the National Library of France collections of ancient textiles, the accuracy of these notary documents discovered in 2015 has allowed the creation of the first virtual reconstruction of the prison of the man in the iron mask. The Man in the Iron Mask has also appeared in many works of fiction, most prominently in the late 1840s by Alexandre Dumas. A section of his novel "", the final installment of his D'Artagnan saga, features the Man in the Iron Mask. Here the prisoner is forced to wear an iron mask and is portrayed as Louis XIV's identical twin.
The Iron Mask excerpts from the 1952 version, some outtakes from the original filming, and some textual background material from the program for the 1999 premiere showing of the reconstruction. A complete restoration of the original sound version has yet to be released. Fairbanks Biographer Jeffrey Vance has opined, “As a valedictory to the silent screen, "The Iron Mask" is unsurpassed. In one of his few departures from playing a young man—and with fewer characteristic stunts—Fairbanks conjures up his most multi-dimensional and moving screen portrayal in a film that is perhaps the supreme achievement of its genre.” The Iron Mask The Iron Mask