Sunday, February 8, 2009

Richard Lester's Musketeers



I wonder if you knew that Alexandre Dumas + Richard Lester + Michael York + Oliver Reed + Christopher Lee + Raquel Welch + Geraldine Chaplin + Faye Dunaway + Richard Chamberlain + Charlton Heston + Jean Pierre Cassell + Spike Milligan = the grooviest movie ever set in the 17th Century?

Originally conceived as one huge film, the movie was split into two 
and released one year apart. (Most of the cast was angry at this as they were paid for one film.)

Richard Lester's Three/Four Musketeers is an amazing and humorously swashbuckling movie that adheres fairly strictly to the great novel by Alexandre Dumas. 

I can't tell you how much I loved these movies as a kid, and they still hold up great today. The attention to detail is outstanding, from the sets to the costumes, this is a great looking movie. 
The cast is great. The musketeers, Reed (Athos), Frank Finlay (Porthos), and Chamberlain (Aramis) are fantastic, as are York, as the naive but forthright D'Artagnan, and Christopher Lee as the evil Count de Rochefort.

The cast also boasts three divine beauties: Faye Dunaway as the Lady De Winter, Geraldine Chaplin as Anne of Austria, and Raquel Welch in a comic role as Constance Bonacieux.

This film was originally conceived as another project for Lester and The Beatles.

One of my all time faves, here is a great scene where D'Artagnan, having just arrived in Paris, has managed to get himself into duels with each of the three musketeers, and faithfully arrives to fulfill his duty as a gentleman, only to have their duel interrupted by the arrival of the Cardinal's Guard.

4 comments:

  1. Thanks Paul, it's obvious your acumen is unparalleled.

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  2. Great flick. I can't see the name "D'Artagnan" without thinking of Corky St.Clair in "Waiting for Guffman".

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  3. Another great flick. Thanks for posting Floyd.

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