The Corsican Brothers (1941)

Alexander Dumas liked stories about separated twins so this time we find it is brothers “Mario” and “Lucien” (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) who are born conjoined. The doctor manages to separate them but before they can do much more, violence at the hands of the cunning “Baron Colonna” (Akim Tamiroff) robs them of their parents and the boys are split up. “Mario” ends up being well brought up and used to the finer things in life whilst “Lucien” becomes a highwayman but both have a sensation that they are not alone! When they do finally meet, they begin to understand just how connected their spirits actually are and how easily they can feel each other’s pain - and they both determine to avenge their murdered parents. As a team they are chalk and cheese, and so must learn to trust each other - and that’s not made any easier as both of them fall for the “Countess Isabelle” (Ruth Warrick) who is also the object of the desires of their scheming nemesis. With love triangles all over the places and a solid dose of familial vengeance here, too, this is an ideal vehicle for Fairbanks to shine. Somehow, though, he just doesn’t. The photography that puts them both in the same shot regularly is natural but his reconciliation of the two differing characters doesn’t quite come off. Even at it’s most swashbuckling, there’s just a paucity of flare. Not for the first time in his career, it’s really Tamiroff who steals the show with an effort that could easily have inspired the nasty from the “Zorro” adventures from the late 1950s. The production looks great though and when there is action, it mixes the swordplay with a little humour and delivers a perfectly watchable adventure film that though it does disappoint, that’s maybe just because I had higher expectations of this actor in his element. It’s still worth watching.