Thanks for the memories!

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The plot for "The Purple Mask" is very much the same as in "The Scarlet Pimpernel" though the story is set in France about a decade later. So, instead of the hero saving aristos from the chopping block of the Reign of Terror, in this case he's saving them from Napoleon...though I never heard anything about Napoleon killing and imprisoning these same folks.Essentially, you have a guy named the Purple Mask (Tony Curtis) and a dedicated soldier is bent on finding and imprisoning him. But he needs to find out WHO he is, since the Purple Mask persona hides the real man. Sounds familiar....right out of "The Scarlet Pimpernel" except for one difference....this version is much more talky and dull. So, while I love the Pimpernel, the Purple Mask did little for me....and it did seem odd hearing that Brooklyn accent coming out of a Frenchman! Easy to skip, but if you do watch it, note the weird jungle bird sound effects you hear in a French forest early in the movie!

As reviewer Mario Grauci points out, the screenplay for this historical drama bears a striking resemblance to that of "The Scarlet Pimpernel", released in 1934,and 1982. The protagonist, ably played by Tony Curtis, does at times wear a purple mask, though through most of the film, he doesn't. Instead he plays his unmasked self, as Rene de Traviere, or an imposter of himself as The Purple Mask. In all of these guises, he is a legendary foe of the Napoleon-led republic, hoping to restore the monarchy 10 years after the height of the Reign of Terror. Napoleon's henchmen are still ferreting out nobilities of the old monarchy. The P.M. is part of a Parisian cell of anti-republicans. Another of them is Laurette de Latour, played by cute Collen Miller. She much admires the work of The Purple Mask, but doesn't realize until near the end that he is also Rene, with whom she has had an up and down relationship. (It's hard to believe that people familiar with both the Purple Mask and Rene don't readily recognize them as the same person, with just a minimal mask to fool them. In the bargaining with Napoleon, at the end, these 2 are allowed to emigrate to England, though Rene doesn't promise he won't be back some day. They were saved from an imminent execution by a group of compatriots, who had entered the barracks housing the royal guards, at night, bound them, dressing themselves in their uniforms, and marching out as a unit when time for the executions. They brandished their rifles, taking the Minister of Police captive, as well as the famous swordsman: Brisquet, after he lost an impromptu rapier duel with Tony.The entry of the compatriots into the dormitory involved descending from an entrance into the underground sewer system, and traversing it until they reached the exit under the guard house, which they were able to pry open. How did they know when they were at the sewer entrance under the barracks? Also, they might have been gassed by toxic sulfurous emissions. This film was shot in Technicolor. However, the copy I saw at YouTube didn't have vibrant colors , like it should have had. This reduced my enjoyment of the film. The main reason for seeing this film is to experience the stars. They are at their peak of beauty. That's not to say the story isn't somewhat interesting. Tony, especially, made a good account of himself: in debonair looks, acting and speaking . His fencing looked quite professional: a good replacement for Errol Flynn. He makes money for the rebels, by kidnaping important people in the republic and ransoming them. He uses most of the money to buy the freedom of royalist rebels and fund other rebel activities

That's the third time I watch it. I have it in a widescreen edition, taped off from french TV in the early nineties. Universal stuff, in the early days of Tony Curtis' career. I will put it on the same scale as BLACK SHIELD OF FALSWORTH or PRINCE WHO WAS A THIEF. Entertaining movie but not for the history buffs; real, actual history events specialists, I mean. I am not a historian myself, but this kind of movie is always filled up with anachronisms. And the most laughable is at the beginning of this picture, when a man on a carriage crosses a forest, in the 1803 France, and when we can hear monkeys squeals in the trees. IN 1803 France !!!, as if we were in the Africa !!! As if we were in a Tarzan adventure.As far as I know, Bruce Humberstone - the director - has never made any more movie for Universal Pictures. But perhaps I am wrong. He was rather a Twentieth Century Fox "yes man". And he made especially comedies and Charlie Chan adventures, except FURY AT FURNACE CREEK, TEN WANTED MEN - westerns - and the famous I WAKE UP SCREAMING, a great film noir, starring Betty Grable, Victore Mature and Laird Cregar.

"The Purple Mask" is a standard swashbuckler with not much pretensions on the line of the masked avengers that fight for what they think right in a hidden personality (tha "Zorro" series, "The Scarlet Pimpernel" or "The Black Tulip" could be clear examples).Most colorful and rather fast in its development (which is good) the film is in the limit of entertainment for fans of the genre. Romance and acceptable swordplay are there too.A young Tony Curtis in the main role is no Errol Flynn, but he reaches the level of the movie. Angela Lansbury, Dan O'Herlihy, Gene Barry and John Hoyt (a usual villain) are there too. Robert Cornthwaite doesn't fit as Napoleon, and it is hard to believe that Bonaparte would take so much trouble with just a lonely masked guy that is against his plans for dominating Europe.Just a watch is enough even if you are a swashbucklers fan.