The Three Musketeers Reviews

The oft-told tale by Dumas gets a terrific rendering here. York is a happy rustic youth, a bit of a bumbler, but with such high spirits that he is instantly lovable. He would like to become part of the Musketeers, the leaders of whom are Reed, Chamberlain, and Finlay, a trio more intrigued by cleavage and cash than by any sort of loyalty to their king, Cassel, who is, at best, an idiot. Cassel's wife is Chaplin, a duplicitous queen who is having a royal fling with Ward, a peer of England. Evil cardinal Charlton Heston learns of the affair and plans to use it to destroy the queen, opening the door for him to assume a more influential role with the king. He enlists the aid of the adventurous and ambitious Dunaway in his scheme. Meanwhile, the Musketeers have taken a liking to York, and he has fallen in love with Welch, Chaplin's best friend and lady-in-waiting. She is on to Heston's plot and tells York about it, and the four swordsmen set out to foil Heston's scheme. In the past, the story had been so trifled with by filmmakers that it seldom resembled what Dumas had written. Here, writer Fraser and director Lester went back to the original and hewed closely to the source material, but adding a lot of fun. Some good slapstick combines with moments of real drama and menace to make this movie a winner. The producer, Salkind, paid the cast for one picture but shot two at the same time without telling them. In 1975, Salkind brought out a sequel, THE FOUR MUSKETEERS, and the cast banded together to sue the producer for more wages. They were awarded a considerable sum, though not nearly as much as if they'd been hired to make two movies. Despite glowing reviews, the movie did not knock audiences over at the box office, although it turned a tidy profit after all the receipts were counted.