The Four Musketeers (1974)

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 | Cardinal | Musketeer | Love

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]
Hämndens tecken (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
I ekdikisis tis mylaidis (Greece) [el]
Koston merkki (Finland) [fi]
Les quatre mousquetaires (Canada: French title) [fr]
Milady (Italy) [it]
Neljä muskettisoturia (Finland) (DVD title) [fi]
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:

Director Richard Lester was sued by the actors who claimed they were tricked into thinking the film was to be part of The Three Musketeers (1973). They won their case in court, but did not receive as much money as they would have if they were paid separately for both films.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the bomb attached to the bread is thrown back at La Rochelle, it is the bread which explodes as the bomb is still clearly intact after the explosion

Quotes:

Cardinal Richelieu: Spy? It is a foul word.
Rochefort: It is a familiar word to me, Eminence, in your service.
Cardinal Richelieu: To your knees, little man, before your master!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Jeopardy!: (#26.34)" (2009)

"By my order, and for the good of the state, the bearer has done what has been done."

Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnan are back; or more precisely, are still here; for the second half of the Dumas novel. As I'm sure most fans know, this was meant to be part of the complete Three Musketeers, before the Salkinds split it into two films. This led to much litigation and the creation of the "Salkind clause" in movie contracts.

Spoliers-The film takes up where the first part left off; D'Artagnan and the Musketeers have saved the Queen from embarassment and confounded the evil Cardinal Richelieu. D'Artagnan is now a full fledged Musketeer (although, in the novel, he was still just a guardsman).

Now the Cardinal hatches a new plot to persuade the Duke of Buckingham from joining the protestant Huguenot rebels at the city of La Rochelle. Milady is sent to persuade him to change his mind or kill him. Although Buckingham imprisons her, he underestimates the power of her charms. The Duke meets a tragic end and Milady returns to France to seek her revenge on D'Artagnan.

Meanwhile, D'Artagnan rescues his mistress Constance and places her in safekeeping. He learns the true identity of Milady and the mystery behind Athos' melancholy.

The Musketeers are sent to fight at La Rochelle and uncover the Cardinal's plot to kill Buckingham. Although the other Musketeers care little, D'Artagnan owes a debt to Buckingham and tries to stop the plot.

D'Artagnan pays a terrible price for his efforts, but emerges as a lieutenant of the Musketeers. He has taken his place as the leader of the group, but will find little solace in his promotion.

As with the first film, the performances are spot on. Everything is the same, as it was filmed at the same time. It is best viewed as a whole with the Three Musketeers.