The Corsican Brothers is a 1941 American historical swashbuckler film directed by Gregory Ratoff and starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in a dual role as the titular conjoined twins who are separated at birth and raised in entirely different circumstances.

Both thirst for revenge against the man who killed their parents (played by Akim Tamiroff), both fall in love with the same woman (portrayed by Ruth Warrick).

The story is very loosely based on the 1844 novella Les frères Corses (in English: The Corsican Brothers) by French writer Alexandre Dumas, père.

Count Franchi insists he try to separate them surgically, even after Paoli tells him that it would be a miracle if the babies survived.

All of the Franchis are killed except the babies, who are carried to safety by Paoli and faithful family retainer Lorenzo (J. Carrol Naish).

At a Paris theatre, Mario saves Countess Isabelle Gravini (Ruth Warrick) from being annoyed by a marquis (Henry Brandon).

A confused Lucien consults Dr. Paoli, unsure whether his own love for Isabelle is real or just a reflection of his brother's feelings.

When Paoli is unable to answer, Lucien decides he must kill Mario in order to be truly free to live his own life.

Producer Edward Small had enjoyed success making films based on Dumas novels, such as The Count of Monte Cristo (1934) and The Man in the Iron Mask (1939).

Louis Hayward, who had previously played a dual role for Small in Man in the Iron Mask (1939), was originally announced as star.

[4] Production was delayed when Small had a falling out with United Artists over finances and did not make any films for them for six months.

"[9] Fairbanks said Small "though personally agreeable, had previously made inexpensive, inelegant films that fit his name a physique.

[12][13] Akim Tamrioff was the main villain; Fairbanks called him "an excellent Russian actor" who "was woefully miscast.

Theodore Strauss of The New York Times complained that "the script, like the sets, is rococo and heavily overstuffed, and so are the performances.

"[20] Variety was lukewarm: "Script ... is well set up to display the action qualities, but rather studious on the dialog and story motivation.

[25] Ruth Warwick later claimed the film "holds some sort of record for the number of times it has been shown on television.

"[13] In 1952, it was announced Louis Hayward would star in Return of the Corsican Brothers for director Ray Nazarro and United Artists.