The Three Musketeers is one of Hollywood's most enduring literary properties: every generation gets their own version of Alexandre Dumas's classic swashbuckler. Douglas Fairbanks inevitably starred in a 1921 silent version, and Gene Kelly headlined a lavish Technicolor adaptation in 1948. More recently, Disney released an anemic, Brat Pack-starring version in 1993, and 2001's The Musketeer bizarrely mixed swordplay with Asian martial arts. I'm informed that a new Musketeer film is due for release later this year, helmed by Paul W.S. Anderson (!) and starring such luminaries as Orlando Bloom, Milla Jovovich and Logan Lerman. Oh, and it's in 3D. Be still, my beating heart.
The most lasting adaptation is probably Richard Lester's duo of films from the mid-70s. Produced by the Salkinds, the flamboyant future producers of Superman, this take on Dumas's saga was conceived as a big epic, until it was chopped into two parts for release: The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers (1974). This infuriated the cast, who promptly sued the Salkinds for an effective breach of contract. Morality aside, this was probably a shrewd financial move, as both films became box-office hits. Viewers won't mind either, as each half stands alone.
The Salkinds couldn't have gathered a richer crop of talent. Richard Lester directed A Hard Day's Night (1964), the zany Beatles vehicle which remains a cornerstone of '60s pop culture. Screenwriting chores went to novelist George Macdonald Fraser, who had just hit it big with his witty, action-packed Flashman series. The excellent cast mixes established stars (Charlton Heston, Raquel Welch, Faye Dunaway), rising talent (Michael York, Richard Chamberlain, Simon Ward) and seasoned character actors (Frank Finlay, Christopher Lee, Roy Kinnear). Lavish production values and beautiful Spanish locations sweeten the deal, making these films a success on all fronts.
These films inject Dumas's story with a healthy dose of humor. Lester supplies an endless array of elaborately-choreographed fights and slapstick pratfalls, varied enough to avoid redundancy. Fraser's trademark mixture of wry cynicism and bawdiness shines through, bosom shots combining with pointed wit. Both films are a treat: cleverly-conceived and exquisitely made, they make for three-and-a-half hours of movie magic.
The Three Musketeers (1973)
The first installment plays as a straight matinee adventure. Light on plot and characters, heavy on elaborate action, it's an excellent throwback to the Douglas Fairbanks/Errol Flynn school of filmmaking.
Young nobleman D'Artagnan (Michael York) arrives in Paris, hoping to join the King's Musketeers. Instead he accidentally insults a trio of Musketeers - Athos (Oliver Reed), Porthos (Frank Finlay) and Aramis (Richard Chamberlain) - who each challenge him to a duel. The trio reluctant take on D'Artagnan as an ally against Cardinal Richelieu (Charlton Heston), who's scheming to manipulate King Louis XIII (Jean-Pierre Cassell) for his own purposes. The plot hinges on an affair between Queen Anne (Geraldine Chaplin) and the Duke of Buckingham (Simon Ward), an English nobleman, and the attempts of Richelieu and his allies, Count De Rochefort (Christopher Lee) and Milady de Winter (Faye Dunaway), to embarrass the Queen. D'Artagnan must prove his worth by foiling Richelieu's plot, all the while courting the Queen's dressmaker, Constance (Rachel Welch).
The Three Musketeers hinges on a fairly slight plot, understandable considering this wasn't planned as a standalone film. To compensate, Lester wisely focuses on the action and humor. There's plenty of swashbuckling, with the story flitting from swordfight to swordfight, with lots of gags (D'Artagnan's bumbling attempts at duelling, the unwitting spectators caught up in the action scenes) in between. Lester provides great variety, from the Musketeer's duels with Rochefort to Milady attacking Constance with a giant hairpin. Bizarre bits of pageantry, like a chess game played with farm animals, add a baroque touch to the proceedings.
Michael York makes a fine hero, naive, headstrong and just this side of goofy. The Musketeers make a strong impression with fairly thin characterization: brooding Oliver Reed, preening Frank Finlay and dashing Richard Chamberlain. Raquel Welch is unusually good, making Constance ditzy but endearing. Charlton Heston's devious Richelieu and Christopher Lee's menacing De Rochefort make a superb pair of villains. Jean-Pierre Cassell (Oh! What a Lovely War), Simon Ward (Young Winston) and Geraldine Chaplin (Doctor Zhivago) land plum ensemble roles, and Roy Kinnear (Help!) is onhand as D'Artagnan's bumbling sidekick.
The Four Musketeers (1974)
The Four Musketeers is bigger and even better than its predecessor. There's no shortage of swashbuckling, but this film is more serious and measured, and also more satisfying.
The plot thickens in this installment, with French troops embroiled in a war against Protestant rebels and England threatening to intervene. Richelieu now tries to dispose of Constance, and uses Milady to come between Buckingham and Queen Anne. Milady convinces Richelieu to be rid of D'Artagnan and Constance, and it's revealed she has a history with Athos.
The Four Musketeers is bigger in every way, with more spectacle (including an impressive set-piece battle), a complex plot and actual character development. The fights and battle scenes achieve truly epic scope, especially the final duel in a convent, one of the best swordfights outside of The Sea Hawk. The slapstick is toned down a bit, though Lester indulges himself periodically with odd bits, like a flock of sheep interrupting an artillery barrage. Fraser keeps the plot's twists and turns comprehensible, the pace is deliberate but absorbing and the film retains its charming tone even in its darker moments.
York successfully transforms D'Artagnan from naive screwball to dashing hero. Oliver Reed gets the meatiest part here, perfectly conveying Athos' regret, anguish and longing in a touching monologue and lots of meaningful glances. Raquel Welch is sublimated in favor of Faye Dunaway, whose scheming Milady makes a memorably nasty femme fatale. Christopher Lee comes into his own, De Rocheford's spidery scheming a perfect counterpoint to the Musketeers's oversized heroics.
Sadly, the Musketeers were Lester's last great success. He reteamed with Fraser and Reed on Royal Flash (1975), a disappointing adaptation of Fraser's second Flashman book, and his glum Robin and Marian (1976) failed to recapture the Musketeer magic. Lester rejoined the Salkinds for two dreadful Superman sequels and his Return of the Musketeers (1989) was marred by Roy Kinnear's tragic death. Fraser toiled in Hollywood for awhile (Octopussy, Red Sonja) but focused mostly on Flashman, turning out twelve volumes before his death in 2008.
Lester need not fret over his legacy though. His '60s work stood the test of time long after his peers faded into anachronism. And in his Three Musketeers films, he created one of the finest, funniest adventures in Hollywood history.
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