The Three Musketeers (1973) | MOVIE REACTION | First Time Watching

[@lawrencewestby9229]

The two films, "The Three Musketeers" and "The Four Musketeers", were originally shot as one movie that was to be three hours long and include an intermission. When the producers realized that the full movie was not going to be ready by the release date they decided to split it into two movies with separate releases without informing the cast and crew. When they did find out, several sued the producers as they were only paid for a single movie (this could be very important if any of them had percentages). After this, SAG has required a clause in all actors contracts that a single production cannot be split into multiple installments without contractual agreement.

[@evilgerman1761]

Fun fact: after these two films 1973+1974 it takes 15 years and a third movie with the same actors was filmed "the return of the musketeers", which ended this triologie.

[@IcarusDrowning-gz8se]

This was my favourite film for several years when I was a young child. There have been so many adaptations of the Three Musketeers but this and the "sequel" have always been my favourites. Incredible cast on display, too. That's something I didn't appreciate as a child. I watch it now and wonder how they got so many big stars of the time all in one project. The casting director must have known about a lot of skeletons in a lot of cupboards!

[@jaykaufman9782]

Richard Lester directed the film. His kinetic style, and the comic asides by unnamed characters, made the Beatles film "A Hard Day's Night" a sensation, a hallmark of the 1960s. George Macdonald Fraser wrote the screenplay; I can't recommend his "Flashman" series more highly; it's historical fiction about a nineteenth-century officer and cad. Robert James Gilbert Anderson was the fight coordinator; he was a legendary swordsman and he emphasized realistic techniques, which Richard Lester turned into the swordsmen using dirty tricks and fighting with whatever came to hand; what looks "clumsy" is supposed to be desperate, men fighting in a near-panic. Everyone involved in this film were at the top of their game.

[@Majoofi]

William Hobbs was the fight director.

[@michaelturton]

Fraser is amazing. I didn't realize he wrote screenplays.

[@jaykaufman9782]

@@Majoofi You're right, but I couldn't learn what the division of labor was between Anderson -- the more famous swordsman, trainer, and fight director -- and Bill Hobbs, who also has an impressive curriculum vitae. I read about Anderson years ago in Richard Cohen's "By the Sword: A History of Gladiators, Musketeers, Samurai, Swashbucklers, and Olympic Champions" (Random House, 2002). I double-checked my copy, and found Hobbs was also discussed in Cohen's section on cinematic sword fighting. Hobbs was born in London; his father died in the RAF during WWII; his mother and he emigrated to Australia, and he just missed out on becoming an Olympian before returning to Britain. Hobbs plays the "drunken" man who duels Porthos. "Bob" Anderson was a Royal Marine, top-flight Olympian (though he never medaled, finishing no higher than fifth), and had a long career in British cinema. He taught everybody, including first-rate swordsmen such as Basil Rathbone and Errol Flynn. Anderson is most famous for putting on the long black cloak, helmet and respirator, and playing Darth Vader in his fight scenes.

[@gibsongirl2100]

This is the best version of the Three Musketeers ever put out, and I'm so thrilled you're reacting to it! I especially loved how you picked up on everything, even the subtlest of dialogue, gestures and comedic undertones - a lot of people miss a lot of the clever quips and that particular brand of humor that the Brits do so well. Thanks for a really enjoyable time!

[@slowerthinker]

The five _Three Muskateers_ books by Dumas are *phenomenally good* . They have a great mix of glamour, grime, intrigue, cool swordfights, and are also full of clumsy humour. This adaptation is easily my favourite and very faithful to the source material (the only real ommision is the three servants of the three muskateers). The main characters are all based on extremely heavily fictionalised real people and Dumas involves them in many events of French and European history that took place between ~1625-1670. Gascony was a rural province of south west France. One of the running jokes of the books is that the majority of the characters are terribly well spoken nobility, and d'Artagnan talks with a thick country accent like a yokel farmer.

[@trada3480]

One very sad thing was Roy Kinnear was in the first 2 films and they made a 3rd one the return of the musketeers but sadly he was thrown from a horse during filming and was killed

[@eddhardy1054]

Very sad. Even now I find watching the third film difficult

[@EPShockley]

According to what I have found online, Mr. Kinnear (Definitely a favorite character actor of mine) actually died of a heart attack, after breaking his pelvis, in the horse incident. Still.. A tragic loss! R. I. P Roy Kinnear 😞

[@redcardinalist]

Great reaction! I LOVE this movie. It looks great, it has just the right combo of seriousness, action and humour, the swordplay is great and the writing and acting is top-notch. Imo, still unequalled as the top "Three Muskateers" movie. Can I also recomend the Richard Lester comedy "A Funny thing happend on the way to the forum"? It's a really good , feel good (and funny!) movie. Please react to that.

[@stpnwlf9]

The novel by Dumas was written in 1844 and was set in a time over a century earlier. While it is filmed by Richard Lester in a very farcical manner, most of the action scenes in the film actually appear in the book. The duel in the convent, the mock fight in the pub, and the duel in the darkness by lantern light are all very much exactly as Dumas wrote them. In many ways, this version of the legendary story is the most accurate relative to the book.

[@Groffili]

Small correction: the time of the story is over TWO centuries before the novel was written. It's set during the reign of King Louis XIII of France, in the first half of the 17th century. But for the rest of your comment: totally spot on. It's the closest and best adaptation of the book ever released as a movie.

[@jenssylvesterwesemann7980]

What an unexpected and pleasant surprise this rection is! A thoroughly enjoyable movie. A little side note: when the musketeers are on their mission, the two-sword guy taking on Porthos is none other than the fight arranger for this movie, William Hobbs. He has done several remarkable fight scenes over his career, the fights in "Monte Christo" from 2002 among them - since you mentioned that film earlier. Cheers!

[@helifanodobezanozi7689]

This movie and the sequel are the BEST adaptation of the novel.

[@chrispittman8854]

Can't wait for your "Four" reaction.

[@leftcoaster67]

Yes that's Christopher Lee as Comte de Rochefort.

[@parissimons6385]

Thank you for reacting to this great period piece! The Three Musketeers is a very popular book written in French about French people by Alexandre Dumas. It has been a wild read in any language since then. And it has been adapted into movies on several occasions, and this one the screenplay was written by comic novelist George MacDonald Fraser. This is the first of two movies, both shot during the same principal filming. The next is called The Four Musketeers. The actors were only hired to make one movie, so after the second was released several sued the producers to get paid for the second one. I've loved both films since seeing them in my teens back in the 1970s. Great cast!! And director Richard Lester also made movies with The Beatles: A Hard Day's Night, and Help!, as well as the musical set in ancient Rome, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (based on the comic plays of the ancient Roman playwright, Plautus). A musket is a type of firearm - a long-barrelled gun. The effects in these movies are practical. The cast had to learn to fight using various weapons, and sometimes got hurt during the production. Btw, the man playing Costance's husband was the great Spike Milligan, principal writer and cast member with Peter Sellers of The Goon Show. That comedy radio program inspired the wild comedy of Beyond The Fringe, and later Monty Python's Flying Circus. In fact, Spike Milligan has a cameo role in Monty Python's Life of Brian. And Richard Lester had directed a short film with the Goons (The Running, Jumping, and Standing Still Film - which was Oscar nominated), part of what persuaded The Beatles to work with him!

[@PrinceofArfon]

Great choice for a reaction! I think this adaptation (and the second part, "The Four Musketeers") reflects the tone of the original book better than other adaptations. Dumas' book is pretty funny and revels in a mix of absurdity and realism, in addition to the cavalier adventure. The movie captures a similar sense of wit and broad humor. I love the fight choreography too; the clumsiness feels real and improvised, but there's still room for skilled stunts. "The Man in the Iron Mask" is not only by the same author, but it's a sequel to "The Three Musketeers" and features older versions of some of the characters.

[@michaelturton]

That movie is so good.

[@rabbitandcrow]

This is one of the sword & adventure greats. Funny, great performances & great action!!

[@rabbitandcrow]

And fight choreography by William Hobbes who did the best swordfighting scenes in movies.

[@666johnco]

The film was actually shot in Spain where a great many buildings from the 1600's survive, rather than France where they are more likely to be crowded in by modern buildings.

[@charlesnewton6956]

Originally, the movie was supposed to cover the entire story of the novel. However, the movie ended up being more than 3 hours long. It was decided to split it into two movies, the Three and the Four Musketeers. The movies were released a few months apart with the trailer for the second movie included at the end of the first movie.

[@Murfie-qe3pp]

Great film, incredible cast, always a fun watch.

[@phj223]

Amazing movie, and very bold and selfless of you to react to it.

[@dudermcdudeface3674]

If you like fencing movies, "The Duellists" (1977) by Ridley Scott and starring Harvey Keitel and Keith Carradine is pretty famous among film fans. Very technically accurate epic. Not funny like this, but a lot of details in it I've never seen anywhere else.

[@chrispittman8854]

Astonishing sword work and very REALITIC. As much as I love the theater fight in "Scaramouche," something about the gritty fighting in this film has always inspired me.

[@magnusstrindboem8988]

Glad you enjoyed it, it's somewhat underrated because a lot of people just didn't like the comedic take on the story especially in the first part. Underneath it's go a great cast, witty dialogue, good script, given they had to adapt a classic. The second part (Four Musketeers) is arguably even better, but in the end it's one movie split in two parts.

[@cwdkidman2266]

This is one of my favorite films. It is hilarious and brutal, and one can see the seeds of the French Revolution in the desperate lives of the poor. Oliver Reed and Faye Dunawaye personify not to be messed with and the French aristocracy is in marked contrast to the more robust English aristocracy. What is the Duke of Buckingham doing? Wrestling stags. And Simon Ward, like the late Alain Delon and like Matt Damon, prove a man can be physically beautiful and very macho at the same time. I love the fact that Richard Lester makes no attempt to have the "French" characters sound French. Oliver Reed says of Buckingham, "who was that fellow? He sounded a touch foreign." No! He sounded just like you! London born and bred! The movie is true to the way people lived then. Look at the Duke of Buckingham who was the Prime Minister, and his friends. Then look at the French king, and see.how they live. And again, look at Simon Ward. God, he was good looking. The Four Musketeers1974 was really the same movie. Lester filmed a four hour movie then cut it in half to make two movies.

[@somthingbrutal]

Oliver Reed was actually stabbed in the throat in the fight at the water wheel and Michael York almost lost an eye in another incident

[@colinwilson4609]

The Man in the Iron Mask might be a good one to react to. Like the Three Musketeers, it's based on a novel by Alexendre Dumas pere, it's got a hella swashbuckling, and it features a young Leo di Caprio as the legitimate king of France.

[@brucewilliams4152]

Brilliant version

[@gerhardadler3418]

A lot of those "cloak and sword" movies back than had comedic elements. I loved them as i was a child. Another one i remember pretty well is "Cartouche" with Jean Paul Belmondo and Claudia Cardinale. A "newer" one which is worth watching is "Le Bossu" (On Guard) from 1997.

[@vincentsaia6545]

All for one and one for all!

[@leoda_lion4107]

This version of The Three Musketeers, (there are several of them, including one with Gene Kelly), is the more accurate of the bunch. It follows most of the plot points from the book fairly accurately, where others take cinematic liberties. I realize unless you are familiar with the book, and the plot this will be a hard movie to follow at times, because there are so many characters, and intrigue going on.

[@epicsam2000]

what a cast

[@EPShockley]

Love these Musketeer flicks! I recall seeing them in theatre, when they released, & they still hold a great place in my heart! (Even got to briefly chat with Michael York, about 15-ish years ago, as I made a delivery to a management company, & he was standing outside, waiting for his car.) Kinnear was amazing in everything he did, & if I may suggest, he is fantastic as “Dutch” in “Roman Polanski’s Pirates”! (Not a sensationalized pirate flick like the amazing Disney flicks, but definitely worth a watch! ) Enjoy! 😁🏴‍☠️😉

[@leegodsar]

Great film. Have a look at Tucker and Dale Vs Evil and Duel a thriller about bissness man who is pursued in his car by a deranged truck driver. From 1971

[@leftcoaster67]

It was filmed in Spain.

[@calcecini]

Thanks for the reaction! In my view, “Four Musketeers” is the better movie ( much darker) - I hope you’ll react to that one too! Many thanks.

[@leftcoaster67]

The producers were notorious for this. They said they were filming one long movie but they split it in two (To avoid paying for two films.) The cast got wind of this. So the Screen Actors Guild created "The Salkind Clause". Preventing the producers from splitting the movies unless it's agreed by the contract.

[@MH-jx1hc]

The first of my two favourite films. Not the closest adaptation of Dumas, but a stunning blend of period drama and action comedy. Deeply serious and deeply silly in parts. A period drama, action , comedy with a star studded cast putting in some of the best performances of their careers. Olly Read is simply magnificent.

[@matthiasschulz3569]

"Not the closest adaption if Dumas," are you sure? Every other Musketeer adaption I've heard of seems to be a lot farther from Dumas than this one.

[@MH-jx1hc]

@matthiasschulz3569 Not the best phrasing on my part. I certainly haven't watched every adaptation and many of them stray far further, but it isn't the closest possible adaptation. Going from watching the film to reading the books, I was surprised by the changes to the denouement with Rochefort and by the sensibilities of the age in which the book was written. The musketeers of the book are a much harsher experience than I imagined beforehand. The d'Artagnan of the book felt like a different person to me.

[@matthiasschulz3569]

@@MH-jx1hc Fair enough. I was just wondering if you actually knew a more faithful adaptation ;-)

[@somthingbrutal]

"is that tennis ?" not quite its the earlier form of the sport known as Real Tennis or Royal Tennis

[@zvimur]

Hope you realize this covers about half of the book. "The Four Musketeers" sequel was shot either right after, or in combination.

[@EPShockley]

May I also suggest that you react to “The Last Remake of Beau Geste”? Another Michael York flick, costarring & directed by Marty (Igor of Young Frankenstein) Feldman! Terrific & fun stuff, for sure!

[@Pamtroy]

The irreverent humor running through this is similar to Dumas' novel.