When most of us hear the name Cardinal Richelieu, we think of the evil bad guy from The Three Musketeers. Vincent Price, Tim Curry, and Christoph Waltz have portrayed him - and they always play bad guys! However, in this 1935 biopic, he's supposed to be a good guy. George Arliss plays the cardinal, and he spends the whole movie making master plans for the greater good: protecting King Louis XIII from assassination and betrayal. George Arliss was very famous in the early silver screen, but if you don't like his style, you probably won't like this movie.
I watched it for Cesar Romero, who plays the young, handsome romantic lead. In full "musketeer gear", armed with a wig and a sword, he falls madly in love with the equally beautiful Maureen O'Sullivan in one evening. It's a whirlwind courtship, and they vow to marry - but they haven't even learned each others' names! When George Arliss orders Cesar to marry a woman of his choice, even threatening him with an execution order if he refuses, Cesar does refuse. He loves Maureen and won't marry anyone else. It turns out Maureen is George's daughter, and he was playing a little joke on the couple. It's a very cute scene, but the rest of the movie is a little boring by comparison. And Edward Arnold's thick New York accent feels out of place as the French king, especially when everyone else is trying to hard to be in a period piece.
