The Three Musketeers

The Three Musketeers - 1974 | 105 mins | Action, Adventure | Colour

The Production Team

Director: Richard Lester.
Producer: Alexander Salkind.
Associate Producer: Ilya Salkind and Wolfdieter von Stein.
Script: George MacDonald Fraser. (from the novel by Alexandre Dumas)
Cinematography: David Watkin.
Editing: John Victor-Smith.
Production Designer: Brian Eatwell.
Art Direction: Leslie Dilley and Fernando Gonzalez.
Costume Design: Yvonne Blake and Ron Talsky.
Makeup Department: Cristóbal Criado, Ziggy Geike, Susan Germaine, Kaye Pownall, Charlene Roberson, Carmen Sánchez and José Antonio Sánchez.
Sound Department: Don Challis, Roy Charman, Gerry Humphreys, Simon Kaye, Don Sharpe and Peter Watson.
Original Music: Michel Legrand.

The Cast

Oliver Reed - Athos
Raquel Welch - Constance de Bonancieux
Richard Chamberlain - Aramis
Michael York - D'Artagnan
Frank Finlay - Porthos/O'Reilly
Christopher Lee - Rochefort
Geraldine Chaplin - Anna of Austria
Jean-Pierre Cassel - Louis XIII
Spike Milligan - M. Bonancieux
Roy Kinnear - Planchet
Georges Wilson - Treville
Faye Dunaway - Milady de Winter
Charlton Heston - Cardinal Richelieu
Joss Ackland - D'Artagnan's Father

Plot Synopsis

Originally envisaged by director Richard Lester as a vehicle for the Beatles, instead he produced an extravagant comic adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas classic that remained faithful to the original novel. Featuring a stellar cast including Michael York, Oliver Reed, Charlton Heston, Faye Dunaway and Christopher Lee, this arguably definitive version of the The Three Musketeers is a highly energetic story of swashbuckling adventure, romance and villainous intrigue. Lester shot the film in conjunction with its sequel, The Four Musketeers (1975), much to the annoyance of the film’s stars who believed they were only making one picture, and promptly filed a successful lawsuit demanding payment for both films.

Set in 17th Century Paris, The Three Musketeers are in the service of King Louis XIII when naive young yokel D'Artagnan (Michael York) arrives on the Parisian scene to make his name as a swordsman. He encounters the eponymous heroes of the title: the shadowy Athos (Oliver Reed), priestly Aramis (Richard Chamberlain), and high-spirited Porthos (Frank Finlay), and manages to offend each of the Musketeers and gets challenged to fight three individual duels. However, the Cardinal's guards show up, and having outlawed duelling they attempt to arrest all involved, and D'Artagnan soon shows his mettle during a magnificent swordfight. Although the wicked schemer Cardinal Richelieu (Charlton Heston), his one-eyed henchmen, Rochefort (Christopher Lee), and devious Milady attempt to discredit the duplicitous Queen of France, the loyal D'Artagnan and his Musketeers retrieve her diamonds, which the King insists she must wear to the ball.