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The Three
Musketeers was made with exquisite attention to historic detail and sparkles
with humor, both ironic and slapstick. Richard gives a perfect performance
as Aramis. His serene, priestly yet dandified mien conceals the heart
of a vicious swordsman and a dedicated womanizer. He and the other actors,
Michael York, the late Oliver Reed and the underrated Frank Finley (try
to find his performance as Van Helsing in a BBC production of Dracula)
play off each other magnificently. Roy Kinnear (who was later killed during
the making of the Return of the Musketeers) is the bumbling but surprisingly
effective servant Planchet. The Four Musketeers is more serious as befits the story line, but packed full of action. The sword fights are pretty realistic and look like hard work went into them. Oh, and Christopher Lee provides a superbly villainous performance as Rochefort, the Cardinal’s “living blade.” (Watch for him at Saruman in Lord of the Rings). One of my favorite bits of trivia is that in the book Aramis and the Duke of Buckingham resemble one another. Richard and Simon Ward (who plays the Duke of Buckingham) do indeed look a bit alike! By Geri Maisano
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When
I was in school The Three Musketeers played at the dollar movie (those
were the days) around the corner. My girlfriend ( who was in
love with Michael York) and I attended every performance while it was
there. We would recite lines along with the actors and shout encouragement
to them. Needless to say, we were not the most popular audience members.
This
is the very best Musketeer movie ever made, and not just because Richard
is in it. Originally destined to be one movie, it was divided into two
by the producers the Salkinds, who paid the actors for one movie. The
resulting lawsuit led to the “Salkind” cause that now appears
in actor contracts. 