The Three Musketeers (1935)

Director:

Rowland V. Lee

Writers:

Alexandre Dumas père (novel)
Rowland V. Lee (writer)

Release Date:

1 November 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Plot:

The young Gascon D'Artagnan arrives in Paris, his heart set on joining the king's Musketeers. He is...

Plot Keywords:

Whimsical | Swashbuckler | Mission | Battle | 17th Century

Cast

Walter Abel	...	D'Artagnan
Ian Keith	...	Count de Rochefort
Margot Grahame	...	Milady de Winter
Paul Lukas	...	Athos
Moroni Olsen	...	Porthos
Onslow Stevens	...	Aramis
Heather Angel	...	Constance
Rosamond Pinchot	...	Queen Anne
John Qualen	...	Planchet, d'Artagnan's Servant
Murray Kinnell	...	Bernajou, the landlord
Nigel De Brulier	...	Cardinal Richelieu (as Nigel de Brulier)
Lumsden Hare	...	Captain de Treville
Miles Mander	...	King Louis XIII
Ralph Forbes	...	Duke of Buckingham

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | USA:Approved (PCA #1266) | UK:U

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Movie Connections:

Version of The Three Musketeers (1973)

Soundtrack:

Song of the Musketeers

All for One and One for All

The Three Musketeers was probably RKO Studio's biggest budget item for 1935. It's a condensed version of the classic novel by Alexandre Dumas and casts Walter Abel in the lead role of D'Artagnan.

Walter Abel had a distinguished career as a fine character actor, but from this film he just not have the charisma needed to carry a whole film. Ironic that the three most obvious D'Artagnans all were not available in 1935. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. was in Great Britain, Tyrone Power was a year away from his break out picture, Lloyd's of London and Errol Flynn was just being introduced at Warner Brothers in Captain Blood. Why none of those three ever got to play D'Artagnan is a mystery, especially Flynn who did do a version of The Three Musketeers as a radio play.

The best bit of acting is from Ian Keith as DeRochefort. The novel has DeRochefort as Cardinal Richelieu's chief enforcer, but here he's a loose cannon with very much his own agenda. Paul Lukas makes a brooding Athos although the best portrayal of that role comes from Van Heflin in MGM's version in 1948.

This is a decent version of the classic and far superior to what Darryl Zanuck inflicted on the public in 1939 with the Ritz Brothers as Athos, Porthos, and Aramis.