The Three Musketeers (1933)

Directors:

Colbert Clark
Armand Schaefer

Writers:

Colbert Clark (story)
Bennett Cohen (screenplay)

Release Date:

7 April 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

A Story of the Modern Escapades of the Most Famous Adventurers in all Fiction!

Plot:

Tom Wayne rescues Clancy, Renard and Schmidt in the Arabian desert and they join him in going after El Shaitan...

Plot Keywords:

Desert | Arabian | Foreign Legion | 12 Chapters | Serial

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Jack Mulhall	...	Clancy
Raymond Hatton	...	Renard
Ralph Bushman	...	Dutch Schmidt (as Francis X. Bushman Jr.)
John Wayne	...	Lt. Tom Wayne
Ruth Hall	...	Elaine Corday
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Lt. Armand Corday [Chs. 1, 10] (as Creighton Chaney)
Hooper Atchley	...	El Kadur
Gordon De Main	...	Col. Duval
Robert Frazer	...	Major Booth, USA
Noah Beery Jr.	...	Noah Stubbs [Chs. 1-2, 10]
Al Ferguson	...	Ali
Edward Peil Sr.	...	Leon Ratkin (as Edward Piel)
William Desmond	...	Capt. Boncour
George Magrill	...	El Maghreb
Robert Warwick	...	Col. Brent, USA [Ch. 1]

Runtime:

210 min | USA:210 min (12 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (International Film Recording Co.)

Certification:

UK:U

Filming Locations:

Bronson Caves, Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Mascot Pictures

Trivia:

Retitled, re-edited and re-released in 1946 as a feature, Desert Command (1946).

Movie Connections:

Edited into Desert Command (1946)

Be warned: the DVD from Digiview has only four chapters!

Alas, this is more interesting than enjoyable.

The script is rather muddled, and, despite a high-quality cast, the acting is ... well, to be polite, lacking.

Some of those good ol' country boys just do not make very convincing Arabs. (But they sure are good cowboys.)

John Wayne is today usually billed as the star, but he was listed fourth in the credits and was still relatively new in Hollywood at the time of the release. Even then he was showing the charm that would make him a star.

A tighter script and better directing should have made this a classic serial, but they are missing.

Still, this is one to see if only for the historical value.

Let me warn you: The DVD sold by the apparently dishonest and dishonorable Digiview company is more advertising for the company's other wares than a good presentation of this serial. There are only four of the 12 chapters, and I think the company is guilty of theft and fraud.

The picture seems to be ninth or tenth generation, and the sound is equally bad.

I urge everyone not to buy any product from Digiview.

(((This is an added note: After reading my comments here, a person wrote me that Digiview usually provides a buyer with value for the money. I was told "The Three Musketeers" is not typical fare from the company. I will leave my comment, above, but am happy to make this notation that Digiview, http://www.digiviewus.com, apparently is a company to buy from.)))