| The Three Musketeers (1973) | |
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Rating: 7.1/10 (20,073 votes) Director: Richard Lester Writer: George MacDonald Fraser, Alexandre Dumas Stars: Oliver Reed, Raquel Welch, Richard Chamberlain Runtime: 106 min Rated: PG Genre: Action, Adventure, Romance Released: 29 Mar 1974 |
| Plot: A young swordsman comes to Paris and faces villains, romance, adventure and intrigue with three Musketeer friends. | |
Dumas’ tale of swashbuckling adventure in France during the 1600s has seen many adaptations to the big, and small, screen since the early 1900s. Whilst the book is semi-historical, with a fair injection of social commentary and political wrangling, the films have more focus on the adventure as a young man named d’Artagnan seeks to become a Musketeer, one of the elite Royal guards. Encountering the three Musketeers, Pathos, Athos and Aramis, he finds himself embroiled in an adventure to save the honour of the Queen, and prevent a political disaster which could catapult the country into war. This adaptation from 1973 is quite faithful to the source material, more so than many other interpretations, albeit split into two parts (the sequel followed in 1974, concluding the story from the novel – but don’t worry, this film serves well as a solo adventure). It also injected a fair bit of humour to the events, from some scenes of slapstick comedy, to the smattering of wry comments uttered by random extras in each scene.
Directing is Richard Lester, a man who worked with The Beatles on their outings in film in the 60s, and who would go on to work on the Superman franchise later in the decade. Whilst you wouldn’t be alone in pondering whether the level of japery he used in those films (after all, Superman 3 is a mess because of the farcical moments) would damage the potential of such a classic tale, the surprise is that it actually benefits the film. Watching this film when I was a child, I found the whole thing hilarious and thrilling to watch. As an adult, the social commentary and politics are balanced out by the humour to allow the film to tell a tale of intrigue and adventure without feeling too heavy in its approach. Skilful choreography of fights, making them seem skilled, yet somehow clumsily inept at times, ensures that every time a sword is unsheathed, the next few minutes will be a thrill to watch.
Mention must also be made of the fantastic costume design for the film, from the simple to the exuberant.
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But more than anything else it is the cast who truly make this film. Michael York is charmingly excitable in he role of the ambitious d’Artagnan and he is ably supported by some of the greats of the time, Charlton Heston, Raquel Welch, Faye Dunaway, Richard Chamberlain, Frank Finlay, Christopher Lee to name a few. A cast list like that is akin to the line-up for one of the Oceans films of recent years. In addition, comic support in smaller roles come from Spike Milligan as a bumbling landlord, and Roy Kinnear as d’Artagnan’s servant, Planchard. The pair offer their own brand of humour to the film, and steal the scenes in which they appear. However, taking the scene stealing to perfection is Oliver Reed as Athos. His presence in scenes commands he be the focus, and this is one of those films that remind you of why the actor was considered such a versatile performer (something his latter years sadly diminished).
All in all, amongst all the varied adaptations through the years, this is the one that instantly springs to mind when asked to name a Musketeer film, and it is still a joy to watch four decades on from when it was released.
