Excellent example of an unpretentious, medium-budget swashbuckler that Hollywood used to churn out. Technically a sequel to The Count of Monte Cristo (1934), this is more of a follow up to The Man in the Iron Mask (1939), with Louis Hayward and Joan Bennett again starring and George Bruce again scripting.Hayward is the son of the famous count who gets involved in a dictatorial Balkan country - mainly because he takes a shine to Bennett, as the local duchess (who is democratically minded). The show is stolen by George Sanders as the local dictator - although a brute he is a smart one, willing to get his own hands dirty, he seems to genuinely love Bennett and at least he's worked his way up himself the hard way (the film is pro-aristocracy, but very anti-Nazi).
Brisk pace helps it not matter so much the story rips off Zorro - Hayward pretends to be a fop and also dons a black mask to become "The Torch". Well directed from Rowland Lee - Sanders has an especially spectacular death. If two of the support cast seem vaguely familiar, its because they are Clayton Moore (later the Lone Ranger) and Dick Byrd (later Dick Tracy).
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