The Three Musketeers (1973)

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The Three Musketeers (1973)
Topic Started: Aug 4 2009, 05:32 AM (98 Views)
Laughing Gravy	Aug 4 2009, 05:32 AM Post #1
Revered in the UK Posts: 11,070 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	All-star version of the Dumas tale as young D'Artagnan (Michael York) at first pisses off and then is befriended by Athos (Oliver Reed), Porthos (Frank Finlay) and Aramis (Richard Chamberlain) but falls afoul of the evil Cardinal Richelieu (Charlton Heston) and his lieutenant, Rochefort (Christopher Lee) while romancing Mrs. de Bonacieux (Raquel Welch) and not Milady (Faye Dunaway). I think I got nearly everybody into that sentence. Having recently finished the novel, I was anxious to finally see this, generally considered the best film version, directed by Richard Lester and written by George MacDonald Fraser (the "Flashman" author and one of my fave writers). I found it uncomfortably slapsticky, with truly exciting riding and swordplay interrupted with many silly bits of comedy. I will admit, I thought Jean-Pierre Cassel's hilarious Louis XIII steals the show. Roy Kinnear is around as Planchet, but the other servants are sadly missing. As a film, it's fine and highly entertaining, but as a Three Musketeers adaptation, I think I still prefer the Gene Kelly-Lana Turner version. Incidentally, the producers chopped a very long film in half; this was the first segment (subtitled "The Queen's Diamonds") and a year later The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge was released (and in 1989, everybody was back for a very belated sequel, Return of the Musketeers).



Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer	Aug 4 2009, 09:28 AM Post #2
Balconeer Creeper Posts: 14,178 Group: Members Member #244 Joined: July 6, 2007	I haven't seen this film, but I remember when it came out, and I also remember that Ms. Welch and Ms. Dunaway argued about who'd have the lowest cut dress. Everybody wins in that arguement, if'n ya ask me!
	"She's got style, she's got grace She's got long, long legs, she's got... Savoir Faire"


panzer the great & terrible	Aug 4 2009, 11:20 AM Post #3
Mouth Breather Posts: 10,351 Group: Members Member #13 Joined: September 3, 2005	Lana Turner was miscast in Three Musketeers IMO, and Van Heflin ain't Athos either. The 1925 French silent version is more like the book. Trust them to at least get the story right. I got it from Netflix. Mr. G, if you liked The Three Muskies by all means go on to 20 Years After, an absolutely great read and not in the sense that it's good for you either. Just a pip of a story, and Aramis siding with the bad guys makes things interesting.
	We Wear Short Shorts Flying Purple People Eater


CliffClaven	Aug 4 2009, 12:28 PM Post #4
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 231 Group: Members Member #712 Joined: March 30, 2009	We're echoing a bit of the discussion from The Fairbanks Project thread here. Fidelity aside, the Lester version stands as my favorite -- it does tend to silliness, but it generally walks the line between Hollywood fakery and depressing accuracy. The Douglas Fairbanks version is not one of his best -- it felt a bit heavy to me -- but it's an above-average silent adventure. The Gene Kelly version is fun but a little too sanitary. Constance has a father, not a husband, and Richelieu is no longer a cardinal. Disney did two versions -- one with Charlie Sheen and one with Mickey Mouse. The Mickey one is slightly better, although Tim Curry is enjoyable as a frankly horny Cardinal Richelieu. The Ritz Brothers take very emphatically proclaims itself as a "musical comedy" lest swashbuckler fans (and maybe a rival studio?) take umbrage. Not a great film, but enjoyable for Ritz fans. There was a knockoff of the Lester films titled "The Fifth Musketeer," one of those shot-in-Spain-with-a-whole-buncha-stars that feels more like a fancy TV production than a movie. It was basically a remake of some earlier "Man in the Iron Mask" films, with Beau Bridges as the king's twin, Lloyd Bridges as Aramis (cheerfully putting a sword to Beau's throat in one scene), and Alan Hale Jr. playing one of his father's signature roles as Porthos. There are several cartoon version besides Mickey's. "The Famous Tales of Mr. Magoo" cast Magoo as D'Artagnan (I would have liked to see him as a cranky Athos). The British studio Halas & Batchelor (sp?) did a very jokey version that gave D'Artangan a comical owl sidekick and had the musketeers doing the Spirit of '76 at one point. Hanna Barbara included it in a random series of "straight" classics for Saturday mornings. And there's a painful one-hour Australian toon that plays like a failed TV comedy (Milady literally breathes fire to light candles). That's the one you find in the used/clearance bin at every video place -- something about a contest on the cover.



JazzGuyy	Aug 4 2009, 01:14 PM Post #5
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 2,178 Group: Members Member #110 Joined: June 1, 2006	I think the problem with trying to turn 19th century novels into movies is that there is just too much detail in those massive tomes to crowd into two or three hours of film. I recently saw the 1930s "David Copperfield" and everything that was charming about Dickens' novel got compressed so much that it was lost. The '70s Musketeer films are fun though.



Black Tiger	Aug 4 2009, 01:23 PM Post #6
Charter Member Posts: 1,814 Group: Members Member #50 Joined: September 15, 2005	The Rachel Welch Musketeers was okay, but my favs are still Douglas Fairbanks Sr.'s "Three Musketeers" and it's follow-up, "The Iron Mask". Great swashbuckling and good comedy on occasion. Edited by Black Tiger, Aug 4 2009, 01:24 PM.



panzer the great & terrible	Aug 4 2009, 03:47 PM Post #7
Mouth Breather Posts: 10,351 Group: Members Member #13 Joined: September 3, 2005	I like the Iron Mask, but the costumes in the 3 Muskies turned me off. Doug looks like he's waddling in all that haberdashery.
	We Wear Short Shorts Flying Purple People Eater


Ignatz Ratzkywatzky	Aug 4 2009, 07:06 PM Post #8
Charter Member Posts: 750 Group: Members Member #28 Joined: September 5, 2005	panzer the great & terrible Aug 4 2009, 11:20 AM Lana Turner was miscast in Three Musketeers IMO, and Van Heflin ain't Athos either. The 1925 French silent version is more like the book. Trust them to at least get the story right. I got it from Netflix. Mr. G, if you liked The Three Muskies by all means go on to 20 Years After, an absolutely great read and not in the sense that it's good for you either. Just a pip of a story, and Aramis siding with the bad guys makes things interesting. Mr. Panzer, I see on IMDB that there was a 1921 French version that is available on Region 2 DVD. Is that the version you meant? I didn't see any silent version (with the exception of the Fairbanks version) available on NETFLIX. Does the version you saw go by another title? By the way, I'm also a big fan of 20 Years After. I've never made it through Dumas' second sequel, but that isn't due to the writing. I've just not found time to sit down and go through a book that is as long as the first two novels combined. Maybe it will be a project for my retirement years. As for Lester's Three Musketeers/Four Musketeers, it is my favorite film version of the book. I see Mr. Gravy was put off by the slapstick, but I didn't find that out of line at all with the story or the characters. For me, Oliver Reed is Athos. I also like the rest of the casting, especially Heston (an actor I usually hate) and Dunaway. Frank Finlay is too small of build to be the Porthos of the book, but the four lead actors have such good chemistry I don't mind much. I hope Gravy checks out The Four Musketeers. Since it depicts the darker half of the story, he may enjoy it more than the first film.
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Laughing Gravy	Aug 4 2009, 07:25 PM Post #9
Revered in the UK Posts: 11,070 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	Oh, Gravy has every intention of seeing the sequel. Had I not just finished the book, I may well have liked the Lester film more than I did; I was just let down, is all. Maybe there IS no really good version of The Three Musketeers on film, although they're ALL masterpieces compared to the version with the Ritz Friggin' Brothers. I agree that Oliver Reed (and Richard Chamberlain and the rest of the cast) was good. I wish this had been a truer adaptation. Oh, it took me a while to get used to Michael York. He was not my picture of D'Artagnan at all. Raquel? Beautiful, but her oafish character didn't do much for me.


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