Boy's Cinema (1939-40)

Every Tuesday BOY'S CINEMA 13 Fouquet read the words on the plate, then suddenly made up his mind and ladies, I beg your indulgence to deal with an enemy of France." Then he went to Maria and took her hands in his. " For- give me, my dear. I find that I must dis- pose of another—technicality before you can become Queen of France." He kissed her, then turned and hunied awa.y. D'Artagnan and his musketeers hurried after him. They leapt on to their horses and disappeared in a cloud of dust. Ten minutes later they rode to the top of a hill and looked down. Far below them, coming towards them, was a coach. "Fouquei and his King," said D'Artag- nan, pointing with his sword. "Good!" said Philippe. "Then as we have to fight, we may as well fight on the top of this hill. Then their horses will be tired after their climb." " And we fight on foot," said D'Artagnan. "Aramis, take the horses and conceal them. Porthos, you and Athos go with Aramis and take that side of the road. Philippe and I will take this." " And the devil take the hindmost," mut- tered Porthos, and clumped away. The coach slowly climbed the hill, while a. short distance away rode half a troop of horsemen—Fouquet's personal guards. The coach reached the top of the hill at last. As it came into view, D'Artagnan whispered to Philippe: "You deal with the coachman and then take the coach away. Louis and Fouquet are youi' affair. I and the others will stampede the troop." "Right," Philippe answered. "You give the word." A few tense seconds ticked by. Then D'Artagnan sprang to his feet. "Now!" he roared. The five of them closed in on the coach. Philippe leapt on to the coachman's box and toppled the coachman to the ground. D'Artagnan led the attack on the troop. Two horsemen rode to the side of the coach and tried to bring Philippe down. Philippe fought back, his sword flashing wickedly in the sunlight. The clash of eel and the shouts of men shattered the silence of the countryside. Suddenly D'Artagnan, turning to help Philippe, saw Fouquet leaning out of the window, a pistol in his hand. He was aim- ing it at Philippe, and his finger was already whitening on the trigger. Quickly D'Artagnan lunged. His sword- point found its mark, and Fouquet toppled through the window, dead. His pistol ex- ploded as it fell. The terrified horses, startled by the additional noise of the shot, bolted, and the coach rattled and swayed down the hill, Philippe still on the box and his brother Louis inside. Philippe climbed out on to the back of one of the leading horses in an attempt to check their headlong flight. Louis did not realise that it was his brother who was on the horse. He thought that his coachman had got away from the attackers and was driving on. "Faster!" he screamed through his mask. "Faster!" Then he tugged and tore at his mask. " Let me out of here!" The coach crashed over boulders at the side of the road, and all but overturned. Philippe, looking back, saw a sight which made him let out an exclamation of horror. The shaft to which the horseb were harnessed had broken away from the coach, and the coach was careering along on its own. It crashed into more boulders at the siie of the road, and for a second time almost overturned. Then it righted itself and tore past Philippe on its way down the hill. Philippe managed to stop the frightened tean, and unharnessed one from the others. He leapt on to its back and raced down after the coach. He was just in time to see the coach leave the road. It shot across a narrow grass verge and disappeared over the edge of a precipice. Philippe could hear it crashing downwards to destruction. He reached the edge of the precipice a few seconds later, and let out a cry. The coach had fallen into a deep pool, and he saw that Louis was trapped inside. There was no saving him. The heavy iron mask that he had mvented with such fiendish glee would drag him down—down Philippe turned away. A minute later the hoofs of a horse drummed on the road, and D'Artagnan appeared. He was leaning heavily in the saddle, but he straightened himself as he approached. "Where are the others?" Philippe asked. D'Artagnan shook his head sadly. "They have fought their last fight," he said. "We were too much outnumbered." He pointed down at the coach. The faint outline of it could just be seen below the surface of the water. "Poor devil!" Philippe nodded. "I find myself feeling sorry for him when he has given me cause to do nothing but hate him." Half an hour later Philippe stood once more at the altar by the side of Maria. D'Artagnan leaned against a pillar, mustering liis ftist-falling strength. "Who gives this woman unto this man?" the Cardinal asked. "I claim that privilege," D'Artagnan said. The Cardinal continued with the service. At last he came to the end with the words: "I join you in marriage—in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." A deeply murmured "Amen!" sounded through the church. Hardly had it died away than D'Artagnan crumpled and fell. Philippe imelt quickly by his £ide, and for the first time saw the blood from his wounds. D'Artagnan smiled up at him. "Congratulations, my son!" he whispered. "Now you are the greatest swordsman in France." His head fell back and his eyes closed. Maria knelt down by Philippe's side. "He was a brave man," she whispered. "And Prance always has need of brave men." Philippe nodded and took her hands in his. 'And brave women to remind men of their duty," he answered. "God save France!" I'he organ began to play, and the voices of the choir rose gently in a hymn. Philippe and Maria bowed their heads. By permission of United Artists Cor- poration, Ltd. Based on the film "The Man in the Iron Mask, " which has the following cast: Louis Hayward Joan Bennett Warren William Joseph Schildkraut Alan Hale Miles Mander Bert Roach Walter Kingsford Marian Martin Montagu Love Doris Kenyon Albert Dekker Howard Brooks „_ f Louis XrV ^ \ Philippe as Maria Theresa as D'Artagnan as Fouquet as Porthos as Aramis as Athos as Colbert as Mile, de la Valliere as Spanish Ambassador as The Queen-Mother as Louis XIII as The Cardinal November 18th, 1930