Two comments: 1) There may be other dvd renderings of this 1939 version of Dumas pere's adventure, but the one pictured with this review (two faces, one masked, against a black background claims to be "digitally restored to its 1939 splendor." Beware: It is not. The print is muddy and often out of focus. Indeed, it is such a poor copy that the manufacturer didn't dare print its name--inside or outside the packaging. Shame on whomever is responsible.
2) Then there is the matter of the artistic quality of the film itself. I've awarded the film three stars solely because I have enjoyed many of the actors in other movies and because they bravely struggled through Man in the Iron Mask's banal dialogue and awkward plotting (neither of which is a stain on the author (Alexandre Dumas (pere) but on screenwriter George Bruce who hashed Dumas' novel into a flacid screenplay. More sadly I must admit that director James Whale is also responsible for this dud. Whale (who directed great films in the first half of the 1930s (Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Old Dark House, Invisible Man and the best version ever of the musical drama Showboat, had either lost his interest or his skill by the later 1930s. Possibly one (Great Garrick) of Whales' last nine films (Including Man in the Iron Mask) following Showboat was well done and interesting. Or, perhaps, taking a cue from the script of Man in the Iron Mask, an unknown Whale twin took over on the set. Or, maybe, James Whale simply didn't simply care anymore.