After getting We Joined the Navy and One Way Out ,I started looking for a final title that me and my dad could watch over the Easter holiday. Talking to a DVD seller,I got directed to a very unique- sounding movie,which led to me joining the masquerade.
The plot:
Returning to London for the first time in years,actor John Loder sees his cousin Sir John Chilcote fail to deliver a major speech in parliament, due to fainting over having had so many drink and drugs. Ending up a complete mess,Chilcote's staff,wife and mistress fear the effect his vices will have on parliament. Learning of Loder (who has a distinctive scar on one of his wrists) a servant of Chilcote comes up with the idea of getting Loder to hide his scar and pretend to be Chilcote,whilst the real one dries up. Agreeing to the plan,Loder joins in the masquerade.
View on the film:
Seeing double four years before he would go to Hollywood for a similar plot in The Prisoner of Zenda, Ronald Colman gives not one,but two magnetic performances. Stumbling out of parliament,Colman sends Chilcote walking across the screen with a visible whiff of booze,as Chilcote huffs and puffs round everyone who gets in the way of his hands being filled with drink and drugs. Looking rather dashing in his London fog intro,Colman gives Loder an enticing,heroic stride,shining from Loder delivering the perfect off the cuff one-liner,to charming any girl in his sight. Trying to hide his scar, Colman gives Loder an awareness that his fake identity could be unmasked at any time.
Despite there being some muffled moments making the troubles "talkies" had easy to hear, director Richard Wallace and cinematographer Gregg Toland giving this tale a stylised elegance,via Toland'd dazzling depth of field making Chilcote's broken state stand out in the shadows of his house. Backed by a sweeping score from Alfred Newman,Wallace gives the flick a sweet romantic mood in soft focus close-up witnessing everyone fall for Loder.
Going to the masquerade based on John Hunter Booth's book and Katherine Cecil Thurston's play,the screenplay by Howard Estabrook and Moss Hart crosses Chilcote and Loder with a whimsical Prince and the Pauper quality,that becomes increasingly prominent as Loder finds himself criss-crossing paths with a drunk Chilcote. Wisely not going to hard on the satirical offerings,the writers give a witty, underlying theme of Loder's skills gained from the entertainment industry helping him become the masquerade.
The plot:
Returning to London for the first time in years,actor John Loder sees his cousin Sir John Chilcote fail to deliver a major speech in parliament, due to fainting over having had so many drink and drugs. Ending up a complete mess,Chilcote's staff,wife and mistress fear the effect his vices will have on parliament. Learning of Loder (who has a distinctive scar on one of his wrists) a servant of Chilcote comes up with the idea of getting Loder to hide his scar and pretend to be Chilcote,whilst the real one dries up. Agreeing to the plan,Loder joins in the masquerade.
View on the film:
Seeing double four years before he would go to Hollywood for a similar plot in The Prisoner of Zenda, Ronald Colman gives not one,but two magnetic performances. Stumbling out of parliament,Colman sends Chilcote walking across the screen with a visible whiff of booze,as Chilcote huffs and puffs round everyone who gets in the way of his hands being filled with drink and drugs. Looking rather dashing in his London fog intro,Colman gives Loder an enticing,heroic stride,shining from Loder delivering the perfect off the cuff one-liner,to charming any girl in his sight. Trying to hide his scar, Colman gives Loder an awareness that his fake identity could be unmasked at any time.
Despite there being some muffled moments making the troubles "talkies" had easy to hear, director Richard Wallace and cinematographer Gregg Toland giving this tale a stylised elegance,via Toland'd dazzling depth of field making Chilcote's broken state stand out in the shadows of his house. Backed by a sweeping score from Alfred Newman,Wallace gives the flick a sweet romantic mood in soft focus close-up witnessing everyone fall for Loder.
Going to the masquerade based on John Hunter Booth's book and Katherine Cecil Thurston's play,the screenplay by Howard Estabrook and Moss Hart crosses Chilcote and Loder with a whimsical Prince and the Pauper quality,that becomes increasingly prominent as Loder finds himself criss-crossing paths with a drunk Chilcote. Wisely not going to hard on the satirical offerings,the writers give a witty, underlying theme of Loder's skills gained from the entertainment industry helping him become the masquerade.