The Four Musketeers (1974)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Richard Lester

Writers:

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

Release Date:

26 February 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | History | Romance

Tagline:

One for all and all for one! (And every man for himself.)

Plot:

The Four Musketeers defend the queen and her dressmaker from Cardinal Richelieu and Milady de Winter.

Plot Keywords:

D'artagnan | Queen | Musketeer | Love | Cardinal Richelieu

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Oliver Reed	...	Athos
Raquel Welch	...	Constance de Bonancieux
Richard Chamberlain	...	Aramis
Michael York	...	D'Artagnan
Frank Finlay	...	Porthos
Christopher Lee	...	Rochefort
Geraldine Chaplin	...	Queen Anne of Austria
Faye Dunaway	...	Milady
Roy Kinnear	...	Planchet
Michael Gothard	...	Felton
Nicole Calfan	...	Maid Kitty
Ángel del Pozo	...	Jussac (as Angel Del Pozo)
Eduardo Fajardo
Simon Ward	...	Duke of Buckingham
Jean-Pierre Cassel	...	Louis XIII (as Jean Pierre Cassel)

Also Known As:

Los cuatro mosqueteros (Spain)
The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge (USA)
The Four Musketeers: The Revenge of Milady (UK) (complete title)
The Return of the Three Musketeers (UK) (video title)
The Revenge of Milady
A négy testör (Hungary) [hu]
Czterej muszkieterowie (Poland) [pl]
De fire musketerers hævn (Denmark) [da]
Die vier Halunken der Königin (West Germany) [de]
Die vier Musketiere (West Germany) [de]
Die vier Musketiere - Die Rache der Mylady (West Germany) [de]
I ekdikisis tis mylaidis (Greece) [el]
Koston merkki (Finland) [fi]
Les quatre mousquetaires (Canada: French title) [fr]
Milady (Italy) [it]
On l'appelait Milady (France) [fr]

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

Spain | Panama

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Estudios Cinematografica Roma S.A., Madrid, Spain

Company:

Este Films

Trivia:

Filmed at the same time as The Three Musketeers (1973).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the swordfight on the frozen river, the lumps of broken ice float high in the water like Styrofoam. Real ice would be 9/10 below the surface and water would slosh over the lumps as they were moved around.

Quotes:

Cardinal Richelieu: [Richelieu realizes that D'Artagnan is in possession of the letter he wrote giving Milady de Winter permission to kill Buckingham, d'Artagnan and Constance; reading] "By my order and for the good of the state, the bearer has done what has been done." Hm. One should be careful what one writes
[he tears up the note]
Cardinal Richelieu: and to whom one gives it. I must bear that in mind.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman (2006) (TV)

Oliver Reed makes it a 10

Great movie--one of my favorites. What makes it a 10 is Oliver Reed's heartbreakingly good performance as Athos--particularly two scenes: first, when he tells D'Artagnan "a love story to cure you of love", then his confrontation with Milady DeWinter ("Since when has it been possible to insult YOU, Madame!"). Milady's seduction of Fenton, and the ensuing assassination are chilling. And the whole set piece of the Four at the siege is great comedy, well played by all. The only serious departure from the book is D'Artagnan's duel with Rochefort at the end (but it IS a thrilling swordfight, so I don't mind). I had the good fortune to see this film and Three Musketeers on a double bill back in 1976 (how many of us are old enough to remember double bills at the movies?) when I was 16. Now I've got to buy the videos and watch them together again. "All for one, and one for all!" I wonder: where is the nearest fencing instructor?