The Three Musketeers (1973)

Director:

Richard Lester

Writers:

Alexandre Dumas père (novel)
George MacDonald Fraser (screenplay)

Release Date:

29 March 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy

Tagline:

. . . One for All and All for Fun!

Plot:

A young swordsman comes to Paris and faces villains, romance, adventure and intrigue with three Musketeer friends.

Plot Keywords:

Necklace | 17th Century | Bumbling Henchmen | Courage | Social Climber

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Oliver Reed	...	Athos
Raquel Welch	...	Constance de Bonancieux
Richard Chamberlain	...	Aramis
Michael York	...	D'Artagnan
Frank Finlay	...	Porthos
Christopher Lee	...	Rochefort
Geraldine Chaplin	...	Anna of Austria
Jean-Pierre Cassel	...	Louis XIII
Spike Milligan	...	M. Bonacieux
Roy Kinnear	...	Planchet
Georges Wilson	...	Treville
Simon Ward	...	Duke of Buckingham
Faye Dunaway	...	Lady de Winter
Charlton Heston	...	Cardinal Richelieu
Joss Ackland	...	D'Artagnan's Father

Also Known As:

The Three Musketeers: The Queen's Diamonds (USA)
Trois mousquetaires, Les (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Üç silahsorlar (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
A Három testör (Hungary) [hu]
Drei Musketiere, Die (West Germany) [de]
Kolme muskettisoturia (Finland) [fi]
Muskettisoturien seikkailut (Finland) [fi]
Tre moschettieri, I (Italy) [it]
Tre musketörerna, De (Sweden) [sv]
Tres mosqueteros, Los (Spain) [es]

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:All | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | Netherlands:12 | Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1975) | Sweden:11 | UK:U | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Aranjuez, Madrid, Spain

Company:

Alexander Salkind

Trivia:

Shot at the same time as The Four Musketeers (1974), and resulted in a lawsuit. See The Four Musketeers (1974).

Goofs:

Factual errors: When M. Bonancieux is using his periscope in the palace gardens, his view is shown as being upside-down. In fact a periscope does not invert the image.

Quotes:

Captain of Cardinal's Guard: We have a duty to suppress disorder and arrest brawlers. Put up your swords and come along with us.
Athos: Impossible.
Porthos: Unthinkable.
Aramis: Unlikely.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in History of the World: Part I (1981)

Quintessential Lester.

Richard Lester has to be one of the greatest directors of comedy there ever was. There are dozens of slapstick gags and situations in this movie and almost 100% of them work. And what an opulent setting they are placed in! Lester and his cohorts have created a film in which almost every frame resembles a museum painting come to life (and gone berserk.)

Lester is better with style than relating a narrative. I found it impossible to completely comprehend the story line here, and I think if you asked most people what the movie was about, they'd tell you there was a lot of swashbuckling and general mayhem and lunacy, but I doubt they'd give you much of Dumas' story. When the style is this good, however, a little fuzziness on the substance is not a fatal flaw. Still, it might keep this picture from being an all-time classic rather than "just" a most enjoyable film.

Lester is such an auteur that his direction is the main focus of this film even with such an all-star cast. It was a wise decision (actually it seems like a no-brainer) to divide what was originally shot at one time into two films, this one and 'The Four Musketeers.' There really can be too much of a good thing, and even at under two hours, 'The Three Musketeers' threatens to be overwhelming. But on balance this film is great entertainment.