The Three Musketeers (1973)

A combination adventure/comedy/romance, it is simply superb. It has flair and it moves fast. Everyone is good in it, even, surprisingly, Racquel. There's more than a touch of parody and self-parody. It's like they all watched too many swashbuckling movies. To wit: D'Artagnan (York) tries to extinguish a candle with a flourish of his sword across the flame. It doesn't work; he shakes his head, removes his gauntlet; and puts it out with his finger and thumb. Racquel's husband, Spike Milligan, keeps trying to arrange to have sex with her, but something always goes wrong, including and especially the interference of the Cardinal Richelieu and his henchmen. And Heston is superb as Richelieu. Great turn as villain. Great because he plays it straight. That's what makes him so effective. He and Christopher Lee play off each other brilliantly. (He walks into his torture chamber, talking to either Spike or Chistoperher Lee (I forget which), and one of the victims hanging from within one of the cages says very respectfully, "And how are you, Your grace." The fey king who has his courtyard lawn manicured like a chessboard plays the game with live dogs. He is perfect, too. The swordplay, of which there is plenty, is brilliantly choreographed. They actually had to learn to fight with swords. Lee almost was killed. If there is a hero, it's D'Artagnan's man-servant. When I saw it as a young man when it came out, the audience cheered loudly when the guys came to the rescue at the end.

Michael York's performance as country-boy-gone-to-the-city D'Artagnan in this film is such a touchstone that it allowed him to spend most of his adulthood making only guest appearances in middling films and television shows while remaining a major international star. There have been other 'Musketeers' movies and other 'swashbuckler' films, but this 1973 film sits smack in the middle of the convergence of these two sub- (and sub-sub-) genres as the reigning best of both. Charlton Heston chews scenery as Cardinal Richlieu, the main villain. Christopher Lee is marvelous as his pirate-horseman henchman Roquefort. Raquel Welch and Faye Dunaway are set against each other as the epitomes of female virtue and female enmity, respectively, and both are, it so happens, ravishingly beautiful and beautifully costumed in the production. The soul and the greatest thrum of gravity are supplied by Oliver Reed as the Musketeer "Athos." Reed, a notoriously hard-living, wild-tempered actor, roils seas of pathos and also brotherly bonhomie within his character in this film, and his projected regrets over the impossibility of perfect love and also the encroachment of a soulless government in the person of the Cardinal and his crimson gendarmes add emotional heft. This is a brilliantly and beautifully directed, edited, and shot film that yet does not take itself too seriously. The ethos of a Musketeer, as Dumas hagiographized them, is to find time for both fighting and frolic, and this movie strikes a proper balance in finding both.

Let me begin by expressing how refreshing it feels to watch a series of action scenes without wretched shaky cam! After seeing Guardians of the Galaxy and the new Ninja Turtles movies at the cinema recently, I had almost forgotten what it was like to have a comprehensible fight sequence.This 1973 version of The Three Musketeers is the best version of the story I have ever seen, even better than the over-praised Gene Kelly adaptation. It's athletic, earthy, and light-hearted, paired with one of the most perfect casts ever brought together for a movie and Michel Legrand's amazing score which proves adventurous and heart-achingly romantic in equal turns.If you love action and comedy, then I cannot recommend this enough. I never wanted it to end and cannot wait to watch the sequel.

This is the quintessential telling of this rollicking, adventure tale. Director Richard Lester does a marvelous job of capturing the hilarity and thrills of this swashbuckling story. George MacDonald Fraser's screenplay delivers the essence of Dumas' story and retains many of the key characters and pertinent situations. The production values are top notch with gorgeous scenery and sparkling costumes. The casting is superb with Richard Chamberlain, Oliver Reed and Frank Finlay as the three musketeers. Michael York with his matinée idol good looks does a bang up job as the bumbling country boy D'artagnan who is equal parts daring and chivalrous. The heavy's here are delectable with Christoper Lee at his dastardly best as Rochefort the evil henchman of the equally wicked and cunning Cardinal Richilieu played to the hilt by Charlton Heston. Roy Kinnear is delightfully droll as D'artagnan's servant planchet. Raquel Welch the iconic 70's pin up is both gorgeous and absurdly humorous to boot. This is by far one of the hallmark performances in Ms. Welche's cannon of work. There are numerous beautifully staged sword fighting sequences. There are also many authentic looking scenes of 17th century France both among the peasant class and the nobility that give this films a rousing, full bodied atmosphere and bristle. This is a superb entertainment, with high comedy, deft thrills and top drawer talent, this Three Musketeers is the One for All!