The Man in the Iron Mask (1939 film) and the real Louis XIV are also killed when the driverless coach plunges off a cliff. The mortally wounded d'Artagnan survives long enough to exclaim "God Save the King!" at Philippe's wedding, and then falls dead. Philippe finally assumes the throne. The film was the third movie producer Edward Small made under his new agreement for United Artists. James Whale was signed as director in September 1938. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., whose father had starred as D'Artagnan in the 1929 epic version "The Iron Mask", was originally announced as male star and met with director James Whale. However producer Edward Small
The Man in the Iron Mask (1998 film) told that if he wants the final promotion he was on the point of earning, he had better go and win it on a foreign field: in the later war against Holland, he is finally awarded promotion to the supreme command, only to be killed while reading the notice of his promotion at the siege of Maastricht. In the 1929 silent version, "The Iron Mask" starring Douglas Fairbanks as D'Artagnan, the King is depicted favorably and the twin brother as a pawn in an evil plot whose thwarting by D'Artagnan and his companions seems more appropriate. In the 1998 film,