The Four Musketeers (1974)

The Four Musketeers - 1974

Coming up next we have 1974's "The Four Musketeers", the continuing story of a version of "The Three Musketeers" that had been released the previous year.  This second part in the series focuses on the war between France and England and the Musketeers part in helping to stop an evil Cardinal achieve his endgame.

The film's cast includes Michael York, Oliver Reed, Frank Finlay, Richard Chamberlain, Raquel Welch, Christopher Lee, Geraldine Chaplin, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Faye Dunaway, Charlton Heston, and Simon Ward.

Constance, dressmaker to the Queen of France, is kidnapped by the Count de Rochefort under Cardinal Richelieu's orders.

When D'Artagnan tries to intervene, he is rendered unconscious by the Cardinal's guards.  Milady de Winter comes to his rescue and seduces him in order to provide a distraction from Constance's kidnapping, enabling her captors to get away.

When the Queen is told of Constance's disappearance, she immediately suspects the Cardinal's hand at work.

Over drinks one night, Musketeer Athos talks to D'Artagnan about a dangerous lady he was involved with (Milady de Winter) and her eventual downfall because of her being branded a criminal.

During another meeting with Milady, D'Artagnan discovers that all Athos said about her was true when he discovers the mark of a criminal on her shoulder.

The Cardinal offers D'Artagnan a place in his army, but he is refused, as D'Artagnan prefers to remain with his Musketeer friends.

Cardinal Richelieu is overseen giving Milady de Winter a letter which authorizes the bearer of it to do whatever is best in the interest of the state.  It also bears Richelieu's signature.

Richelieu sends Milady de Winter to England, where she threatens the Duke of Buckingham with the exposure of his affair with the Queen.  Unhindered by her threats, Buckingham is murdered after Milady intervenes.

Meanwhile, D'Artagnan and the Musketeers have rescued Constance and placed in her in a convent for safekeeping.  He tells Queen Anne of her safety.  However, a lady-in-waiting hears this information and passes it to the Cardinal.

Count de Rochefort and Milady de Winter make their way to the convent where Constance is hiding, and they post guards at every entrance.  Richelieu has now turned his attentions to killing both D'Artagnan and Constance.

Disguised as a nun, Milady de Winter finds Constance and strangles her with a rosary before escaping.  However, she is caught by the Musketeers.

D'Artagnan duels with the Count de Rochefort and ultimately wins the battle.

Athos, as a nobleman entitled to make such decisions, condemns Milady de Winter to death.  They take the letter from the Cardinal from her, and she is executed.

Immediately afterwards, the Musketeers and D'Artagnan are arrested by the Cardinal's guards.  When D'Artagnan tells the Cardinal that he has a letter authorizing him to act, the Cardinal wants to know from who.  "The Queen couldn't, and the King wouldn't," he says.

Richelieu is surprised when D'Artagnan hands over the letter from Milady de Winter.  The Cardinal mutters something about having to be careful about what one puts in writing.

D'Artagnan is promoted to the rank of lieutenant within the Musketeers, and the four friends walk away as free men.

Cast rundown:

   Michael York...............................D'Artagnan

   Oliver Reed.................................Athos

   Frank Finlay................................Porthos

   Richard Chamberlain....................Aramis

   Raquel Welch..............................Constance de Bonacieux

   Christopher Lee...........................Count de Rochefort

   Geraldine Chaplin........................Queen Anne

   Jean-Pierre Cassel........................King Louis XIII

   Faye Dunaway.............................Milady de Winter

   Charlton Heston..........................Cardinal Richelieu

   Simon Ward................................Duke of Buckingham

And that's it for The Four Musketeers.  The core cast of this film and its predecessor reunited in 1989 for a third film, set 20 years after the events of these films, entitled "The Return Of The Musketeers", which was not very well received.

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The Three Musketeers (1973)

The Three Musketeers - 1973

Our next foray into the world of Alexandre Dumas is 1973's "The Three Musketeers", where we again see D'Artagnan riding to Paris join the King's legendary forces.  In his quest to become a Musketeer, D'Artagnan is recruited to help the Queen of France recover some jewels so war with England can be averted.

The film's cast includes Michael York, Oliver Reed, Frank Finlay, Richard Chamberlain, Raquel Welch, Christopher Lee, Geraldine Chaplin, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Faye Dunaway, Charlton Heston, Joss Ackland, and Simon Ward.

A young man of Gascony, D'Artagnan by name, is making his way to Paris to join the King of France's legendary Musketeers.

On his way, D'Artagnan has the unfortunate luck to meet up with Count de Rochefort, who works for Cardinal Richelieu.  Rochefort makes fun of D'Artagnan's provincial origins.  "If you were a gentleman, I would speak to you.  I was speaking at you, sir," says Rochefort smuggly before having his men knock D'Artagnan down.

While D'Artagnan is down, Rochefort meets with Milady de Winter, who is being charged by Cardinal Richelieu to go to England and keep an eye on the Duke of Buckingham.

D'Artagnan makes it to Paris and his quick temper ensures three duels with Musketeers.  Their names?  Athos, Porthos, and Aramis.

The Musketeers accept D'Artagnan as one of them when he joins forces with them in a fight with the Cardinal's guards.  "I may not have the tunic, but I have the heart of a Musketeer!" D'Artagnan exclaims proudly.

Later, at an inn, D'Artagnan meets Constance, who is a dressmaker to the Queen.  The two fall in love.

We are also introduced to Cardinal Richelieu.  A small crowd gathers as his carriage passes.  Richelieu's guards must bribe people to cheer as he passes them.

At the palace, the Queen enjoys fun and games with her ladies-in-waiting, while the King enjoys other types of fun.

He plays a version of chess with dogs and monkeys as the chess pieces.

Cardinal Richelieu visits the King during the chess game and draws him into a plot to get France to go to war with England.  He suggests using the Queen as bait to get the Duke of Buckingham to come calling.  Once he begins to pay attention to and woo her, they have cause to go to war.  The King goes along with the plan.

The plan badly backfires on the King when the Queen falls in love with Buckingham.  When she sends the Duke away because of danger, he begs a token of remembrance from her.  She gives him a necklace with twelve diamond studs that the King gave to her as a present.

Cardinal Richelieu instructs the Count de Rochefort to have Milady de Winter steal two of the jewels in order to implicate the Queen and Buckingham.

While out hawking one day, the King and Richelieu come upon the Queen and invite her to a grand ball, where the King requests she wear the diamond studs he gave her.  The Queen nervously agrees, knowing she no longer possesses the jewels.

Constance goes to D'Artagnan with a letter from the Queen to Buckingham instructing him to return the jewels to save their two countries from going to war.  Wanting to please Constance, D'Artagnan accepts the mission.

He is aided on his journey by Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, who tell him they stand a better chance of succeeding if they set out together.

Meanwhile, Milady de Winter is already hard at work seducing the Duke so she can steal two of the diamond studs.

Separating from the Musketeers at the shore, D'Artagnan travels alone to Buckingham in England.  The Duke discovers the theft of two of the studs and has them replaced by his own jeweler.

Milady de Winter gives the two diamond studs she stole to Count de Rochefort to be handed over to Richelieu.

The Queen is left to worry about what will become of the situation.  Constance tries her best to comfort her.

The Duke has the two studs replaced and asks D'Artagnan to see if he can pick out the two new jewels from their originals.  Satisfied that all is well, D'Artagnan takes his leave of the Duke and returns to France.

At the masked ball, the King asks the Queen why she's not wearing the jewels.  She tells him she was afraid they would be lost in the crowd.  The King tells her to send to the palace for them immediately.  They are watched very closely by Milady de Winter and Cardinal Richelieu.

Cardinal Richelieu takes the King aside and presents him with the two stolen studs.  He tells the King to count the diamonds on the Queen's necklace if she is indeed able to produce it.

Meanwhile, D'Artagnan's servant infiltrates the ball, hoping to cause a distraction.

He is successful, and he opens the gates to allow the Musketeers to rejoin D'Artagnan and aid him in getting the jewels to the Queen.

While the Cardinal and the King wait, the Queen reappears at the ball wearing the necklace with the twelve diamond studs.  When the King presents the Queen with the two studs he thought were missing, he finds he's mistaken and anxiously looks at Richelieu for an explanation.

The Cardinal fumbles a quick excuse which seems to satisfy the King.  Inside, Richelieu is seething.

While taking with Milady de Winter, he comes to realize that D'Artagnan could be a valuable asset to have at his disposal, and he makes plans to have him brought to his side of things.

Later, D'Artagnan is rewarded with a place in the Musketeers and takes up his position with his friends.

When he kisses the Queen's hand, she slips him a diamond ring in gratitude for the service he provided to her.

As D'Artagnan, Constance, and the Musketeers leave the palace courtyard, Milady de Winter crosses their path and holds D'Artagnan's gaze, to the great puzzlement of Constance.

Cardinal Richelieu watches the proceedings from the balcony, knowing that he and D'Artagnan are not done...not by a long shot.

Cast rundown:

   Michael York.....................................D'Artagnan

   Oliver Reed.......................................Athos

   Frank Finlay......................................Porthos

   Richard Chamberlain..........................Aramis

   Raquel Welch....................................Constance de Bonacieux

   Christopher Lee.................................Count de Rochefort

   Geraldine Chaplin...............................Queen Anne

   Jean-Pierre Cassel..............................King Louis XIII

   Faye Dunaway....................................Milady de Winter

   Charlton Heston.................................Cardinal Richelieu

   Joss Ackland......................................D'Artagnan's Father

   Simon Ward.......................................Duke of Buckingham

And that's all for The Three Musketeers.  Originally, this was just supposed to be the first part of the film, with an intermission, followed by the second part, which concerns the war between France and England.  Feeling that the film was too long, the decision was made to cut the film in two, with the second half being prepared as a separate film called "The Four Musketeers", which was released the following year.  This caused big complications with the cast, who had no idea they were working on two films and weren't told until they were at the premier, had finished the film, and saw the trailer for the "sequel".  Lawsuits were instigated which caused the Screen Actors Guild to institute the "Salkind Clause" for all future films, which states that single productions cannot be split into film installments without prior contractual agreement.

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