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Absolutely amazing

It always amazes me that some critics will give a movie a rave review and then reward it with a score of seven out of ten. When I went to school, seven was the lowest mark you could achieve without being punished. It is not a good mark at all. But I would give this movie only five. Despite good acting and pleasing photography, it's something of a bore - thanks mostly to Gregory Ratoff's plodding direction of an equally uninspired script by George Bruce that was worked up by Bruce himself and Howard Estabrook from the once-very-popular Dumas novel. Drastic cutting would have helped considerably, but neither the supervising editor, Grant Whytock, nor his offsider, William Claxton, took that measure. A disappointingly banal music score by Dimitri Tiomkin doesn't help either.

The Corsican Brothers" is a 1941 black and white adventure films from the Alexander Dumas novel (1844) of the same name. It was the 8th adaptation of the book to film, and would continue to be adapted including "Cheech and Chong's The Corsican Brothers" (1984) and "Start the Revolution without Me" (1970). This is probably the best of the serious adaptations, but that's not saying much. The acting, photography, and music are all very ordinary, with nothing noteworthy to remark on. The special effects (using Fairbanks as his own brother) are relatively poor, even given the date of the film.If you like films about France in the pre-industrial age, my favorites are Marat/Sade (1967), Napoleon (1927), A Tale of Two Cities (1935), The Count of Monte Cristo (1934) and The Three Musketeers (1921, 1935).

As their parents are murdered by a ferocious Akim Tamiroff, twin boys are separated at birth and grow up separately only to reunite to extract revenge in this 1941 thriller.As young adults, the boys, each played by Douglas Fairbanks, are able to feel each other's pain.When reunited, not only do they seek revenge but of course they fall for the same woman.The film becomes one of love, extracting revenge and the brothers becoming almost foes as they vie for the love of a woman.Tamiroff steals the show here for his performance as the irascible tyrant, ready to kill all to gain his objectives.

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. are "The Corsican Brothers" in this 1941 film also starring Ruth Warrick, H.B. Warner, Akim Tamiroff, Henry Wilcoxin and Gloria Holden. Based on the Dumas novel, it's the story of Siamese twins born to the Franchi family (incorrectly pronounced frahnchee instead of frahnkey throughout the movie) just as the Baron Colonna arrives to wipe out the family and take over Corsica. He believes the twins perished in the fire that destroyed their home and the rest of their family; however, the doctor who delivered them (Warner) escapes with them. He is able to separate them, and it is decided that for their own safety, he will raise one, Lucien, and the other boy, Mario, will be raised in Paris. Lucien, however, is the empathic twin, experiencing all of his brother's emotions before he even learns he has one. They meet when they are 21 and vow to get revenge on Baron Colonna (Tamiroff).This is a very good movie, but the beginning scenes at Colonna's house contain some of the worst acting ever put on film. Apparently the guests at Colonna's house were extras found wandering the set that day and were given lines. Pretty appalling.Fortunately, the rest of the film isn't like that. It's fast-moving, exciting, and brilliantly acted by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. who should today be regarded as a much bigger star. Unfortunately, unlike his father, he was working at a time when there was just too much competition, and, like Brian Aherne, he just didn't get to appear in enough of the films remembered today. Handsome, athletic, with magnificent acting technique, Fairbanks creates two completely different characters in Mario and Lucien and has, of course, genetic ability with a sword. Whenever one reads about swordfights, the Tyrone Power-Basil Rathbone swordfight at the end of "The Mark of Zorro" is said to be the best. It's dear to my heart also, but Fairbanks and Tamiroff do a bang-up swordfight in this film. Tamiroff is a real buffoon as the villain - it's a great characterization - he doesn't seem to know he's an idiot. Ruth Warrick, Phoebe Tyler of "All My Children" is lovely as Isabelle, the object of Mario, Lucien and the Baron's affections.Very enjoyable, if a little awkwardly filmed with dated effects.