Only one swashbuckling man of mystery can deliver Royalist rebels from Napoleon's clutches! Paris, 1803: as Napoleon is set to declare himself as leader of the freshly instituted French Empire, an underground movement of Royalist rebels is fired up by the daring deeds of the mysterious Purple Mask. The unknown swordsman boldly rescues noblemen from the guillotine and kidnaps Napoleon's cronies to extort ransom money for the Royalist cause. Laurette de Latour (Colleen Miller), the niece of a jailed marquis, hatches a scheme in which the foppish Count Rene de Traviere (Tony Curtis) imitates the Purple Mask and allows himself to be captured to encourage the release of her uncle. Little does Laurette realise she has engaged the Purple Mask himself! Continuing the charade, and attracting amused ridicule, Rene is swiftly imprisoned alongside the marquis. But the intrepid one has a trick or two up his lacey sleeve, and as the two men are marched towards the guillotine, at an agreed signal rebels spring from the Paris sewers, swords at the ready.
A smoulderingly laconic Rory Calhoun stars as Cully, charismatic leader of a gang of outlaws on the run after a bank robbery. Their dash for the border is brought to an abrupt halt by a chance meeting with an old compadre and his beautiful young daughter. Taking refuge from a storm in a barn, it's lust at first sight for Cully and the luscious Lolly Bhumer (Colleen Miller) but her trigger-happy father (Walter Brennan) soon puts a stop to that. Fate soon brings them back together when Cully and his men find the father and daughter being attacked by a band of renegade apaches.Heroically, Cully sacrifices his escape from the Sheriff's posse in order to rescue them. This is former actor Richard Carlson's second film and his first Western and perhaps that's why this adaptation of Louis L'Amour's novel is so exceptionally original for its genre. With a terrific supporting cast, including Walter Brennan, John McIntire and Charles Drake, this is a thoughtful and character-driven film. It's also sumptuously shot and thanks to the powerful sexual chemistry between Cully and Lolly, it exudes a steamy sensuality you wouldn't expect to find in a fifties Western!
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