Alan Hale Jr. And His Dad Played The Same Character - 40 Years Apart

Alan Hale Jr. will forever remain beloved among fans of "Gilligan's Island" for portraying Captain Jonas Grumby, aka The Skipper, on the legendary CBS sitcom. Even Hale Jr.'s appearances opposite Clint Eastwood or Gregory Peck weren't able to outshine his three seasons as Gilligan's perpetually bewildered captain. But what many fans might not realize is that Hale Jr.'s father was also in showbusiness. In fact, he and his son shared a role, though several decades separated their portrayals of Musketeer Porthos.

Like his son, Hale Sr. had a successful career as a character actor. He started out all the way back in 1911 with the silent movie "The Cowboy and the Lady" before going on to direct eight features and appear opposite some of the great performers of his time. Douglas Fairbanks, Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart; Hale Sr. worked with them all. What's more both he and Hale Jr. worked with James Cagney, with the elder Hale appearing in 1940's "The Fighting 69th" and the younger appearing in 1950's "The West Point Story" which was released the same year Hale Sr. passed away.

But the father and son acting duo shared more than esteemed colleagues. Both portrayed Porthos the Musketeer, with Hale Sr. playing the character in the 1939 film "Man in the Iron Mask," and Hale Jr. taking on the role in 1979's "The Fifth Musketeer." Adding to the significance of this casting was the fact that both actors looked extremely similar, lending an air of oddly touching uncanniness to Hale Jr.'s late 70s portrayal.

Shot on location in Vienna, "The Fifth Musketeer" was directed by British filmmaker Ken Annakin who aside from amassing a venerably filmography by the late-'70s had previously overseen the problematic Disney box office smash "Swiss Family Robinson." "The Fifth Musketeer" came 12 years after "Gilligan's Island" wrapped up on CBS and was an adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas novel "The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later," which in turn was based on the mysterious and legendary real-life figure of the Man in the Iron Mask. Specifically, "The Fifth Musketeer" adapted the last part of Dumas' novel, and featured Lloyd Bridges, José Ferrer, and Alan Hale Jr. as the Three Musketeers, Aramis, Athos, and Porthos respectively.

The film's star was actually Beau Bridges, who played Philippe of Gascony, the twin brother of the French King Louis XIV (also played by Bridges). King Louis has Philippe imprisoned in the Bastille to prevent him usurping the throne, and demands that he wear an iron mask to keep his identity a secret. But the Three Musketeers make it their mission to free Philippe. Rex Harrison plays Jean-Baptiste Colbert while a young Ian McShane plays a dastardly Nicolas Fouquet alongside Ursula Andress as King Louis' mistress Louise de La Vallière.

Though the film was based on Dumas' novel, it was also essentially a remake of 1939's "The Man in the Iron Mask." In that sense, it was a real full-circle moment for Hale Jr., whose father had played Porthos in that original film. Long after "Gilligan's Island" Hale Jr. found himself embodying the spirit of his dad in a film that, sadly, wasn't met with the greatest critical response.

"The Fifth Musketeer" was actually the third and final time Alan Hale Jr. portrayed a version of Porthos. He originally played Porthos, Jr. in "At Sword's Point," a reworking of the original Alexandre Dumas story that had been filmed in 1949 but was held back until 1952. That was the same year that Hale Jr. played Porthos proper in "Lady in the Iron Mask," a remake of Allan Dwan's 1929 film "The Iron Mask" in which a princess rather than a prince is placed in the titular face covering.

By the time he portrayed Porthos in "The Fifth Musketeer," then, Alan Hale Jr. had plenty of experience retelling Dumas' tale. What made the 1979 film more significant in terms of its connection to the Alan Hale Sr. film of 1939 was that it was the first time the younger Hale had portrayed Porthos in a more traditional adaptation of "The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later." In that sense, 1939's "The Man in the Iron Mask" and "The Fifth Musketeer" share a more direct lineage than Hale Sr.'s film and "At Sword's Point" or "Lady in the Iron Mask."

Sadly, the critics weren't won over by Hale Jr. following in his father's footsteps. Vincent Canby of the New York Times wrote that the film "revives without quite giving life to Alexander Dumas's story" and his was one of the kinder reviews. Still, as good as Alan Hale Jr. felt about "Gilligan's Island" he was no doubt happy to break away from the role with which he'd become forever associated while simultaneously carrying on his father's legacy.