Exciting Dumas tale, which has some basis in fact, brought to the screen with great gusto on the part of Fairbanks whose dashing feats rival the acrobatic antics of his illustrious father. It is the tale of Siamese-twin boys born in Corsica and separated by brilliant doctor Warner just
before their parents and relatives are killed by Tamiroff's henchmen in a blood feud. One child is sent to Paris to be raised, the other into the mountains with family retainer Naish. When both grow to manhood they are reunited--Fairbanks skillfully playing both roles--and launch a revenge plan
against Tamiroff.
Fairbanks excels in showing how the emotional/intellectual telepathy works on each twin, particularly the agony one feels whenever the other is emotionally upset or physically wounded, and the jealousy one feels when the other falls in love with Warrick. Ratoff's direction is eccentric, but he
provides great pace and the script is excellent. The superb Tamiroff plays his evil role with the usual guttural relish, almost as if practicing for his fun bad guy, Pablo, in FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS. leave a comment