the 1929 version. A complete set of Vitaphone disks exists for this picture. However, only a small portion of the original sound from these was synchronized with film footage, namely the two short sequences in which Douglas Fairbanks speaks. The rest of the soundtrack, which contained a Synchronized Score along with sound effects was not used as this would make the DVD public domain. (The copyright has expired on the original 1929 sound version.) For this DVD reissue, therefore, a new score was commissioned from composer Carl Davis. The Kino disc also includes 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. Reception and legacy 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." References Further reading Vance, Jeffrey. Douglas Fairbanks. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2008. . External links – 1929 1929 films 1920s adventure drama films American silent feature films American adventure drama films American black-and-white films 1920s English-language films American swashbuckler films Transitional sound films Films based on The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later Films directed by Allan Dwan Cultural depictions of Cardinal Richelieu Cultural depictions of Louis XIII Cultural depictions of Louis XIV 1920s historical adventure films American historical adventure films 1929 drama films Man in the Iron Mask Twins in fiction 1920s American films Silent American drama films Silent adventure drama films Silent historical adventure films