The Three Musketeers/The Four Musketeers/Return of the Musketeers (1973/1974/1989)

In a coincidental tribute to Raquel Welch following her passing a few weeks back, over the course of a few nights we watched The Three Musketeers, The Four Musketeers, and Return of the Musketeers in The Slaughtered Lamb. 

The first two films were shot as a single feature, and subsequently split and released a year apart (much to the chagrin of cast and crew members who were paid for a single film!), with the third film reuniting the cast and director fifteen years later. Produced by the Salkind's (who would go on to produce the original Superman films a few years later), and directed by Richard Lester (who was responsible for the classic Beatles films A Hard Day's Night and Help!), I will admit that I went in with pretty high expectations. In retrospect, coming from the Salkinds I think I was looking for the tale of the Three Musketeers by way of Richard Donner (director of the original Superman and far too many great films to list here), rather than Richard Lester (who took over Superman II after Donner was fired from the project). Basically I was expecting more of a Dick Donner action piece, and less a Richard Lester comedy. 

Once into the films, I was able to find much to enjoy in them, in large part due to the excellent casting. The Musketeers are Michael York as d'Artagnan, Richard Chamberlain as Aramis, Frank Finaly as Porthos, and the late, great Oliver Reed as Athos. Raquel Welch plays love interest Constance, and Faye Dunaway is their foil, Milady de Winter — a spy for Cardinal Richelieu (Charlton Heston). Christoper Lee chews the scenery as Comte de Rochefort, Richelieu's other main agent. Joining them in the third film is C. Thomas Howell as Raoul, son of Athos, and Kim Cattrall as Justine de Winter, the daughter of Milady.

I must admit the two performances that impressed me the most in the series were Oliver Reed, who I thought was fantastic as Athos, and Kim Cattrall, who despite playing characters I normally dislike, captivated me. (Including her swordplay, during which she managed to keep pace with the Musketeers.)

All in all, the films are lighthearted fun. Vonna preferred The Four Musketeers, and while that probably is the best of the three, I did find that Return of the Musketeers exceeded my expectations, which following the first two films were lower going in, based in large part on the lengthy time gap between the films. It would not have been the same had they been forced to re-cast any of the lead roles, so that fact in and of itself warrants the inclusion of the third film in any marathon screening of this series. 

I have not read the Dumas novels they are based on, so I can't speak to their fidelity to the source material, but I am inspired to pick those up having seen these films. And we may just have to run some additional adaptations of The Three Musketeers in The Slaughtered Lamb!