Man in the Iron Mask Dumas also presented a review of the popular theories about the prisoner extant in his time in the chapter "L'homme au masque de fer" in the sixth volume of his non-fiction "Crimes Célèbres". The earliest surviving records of the masked prisoner are from late July 1669, when Louis XIV's minister, the Marquis de Louvois, sent a letter to Bénigne Dauvergne de Saint-Mars, governor of the prison of Pignerol, which at the time was part of France. In his letter, Louvois informed Saint-Mars that a prisoner named "Eustache Dauger" was due to arrive in the next month or so. Louvois instructed
The Man in the Iron Mask (1939 film) desperate escapes seem to demand him. Louis Hayward can give a modern effete touch when that is needed in the double role he has, but he can't compete with his rapier or his acrobatics." The first film adaptation of Dumas' novel to allow for the lasting triumph of the good twin over the evil twin was Douglas Fairbanks' 1929 version of the tale, "The Iron Mask" (although in this case the good twin was the one already on the throne, raised under the tutelage of D'Artagnan, and it was he who had to be rescued when the evil twin was