Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Oliver Reed | ... | Athos | |
Raquel Welch | ... | Constance de Bonacieux | |
Richard Chamberlain | ... | Aramis | |
Michael York | ... | D'Artagnan | |
Frank Finlay | ... | Porthos / O'Reilly | |
Christopher Lee | ... | Rochefort | |
Geraldine Chaplin | ... | Queen Anna | |
Jean-Pierre Cassel | ... | King Louis XIII (as Jean Pierre Cassel) | |
Spike Milligan | ... | M. Bonacieux | |
Roy Kinnear | ... | Planchet | |
Georges Wilson | ... | Treville | |
Simon Ward | ... | Duke of Buckingham | |
Faye Dunaway | ... | Milady | |
Charlton Heston | ... | Cardinal Richelieu | |
Joss Ackland | ... | D'Artagnan's Father |
The young D'Artagnan (Michael York) arrives in Paris with dreams of becoming a King's Musketeer. He meets and quarrels with three men, Athos (Oliver Reed), Porthos (Frank Finlay), and Aramis (Richard Chamberlain), each of whom challenges him to a duel. D'Artagnan finds out they are Musketeers and is invited to join them in their efforts to oppose Cardinal Richelieu (Charlton Heston), who wishes to increase his already considerable power over King Louis XIII (Jean-Pierre Cassel). D'Artagnan must also juggle affairs with the charming Constance Bonancieux (Raquel Welch) and the passionate Lady De Winter (Faye Dunaway), a secret agent for the Cardinal. Written by Eric Sorensen <Eric_Sorensen@fc.mcps.k12.md.us>
This film, and its sequel (filmed concurrently) is by far the best movie version of the Dumas novel ever produced. The cast is excellent. The sets and costumes are marvelous. The swordplay (and there is much) is possible some of the most realistic ever filmed. And it's the only Musketeer movie I am aware of in which the Musketeers actually use muskets. Authenticity seems to have been very important to the producers, as well as staying true to the novel.
Sadly a film like this wouldn't be made these days. First off the fighting would be "punched-up" with a lot of wire work. And of course Hollywood would change the story to eliminate much of the "sleeping around" characters do (today's movie heroes in this type of movie aren't usually sexually active). They would also provide some creative story editing so that a certain character who dies in the novel would survive so as to supply the requisite happy ending. Fortunately for us this version does not suffer that kind of revisionism.
If you're a fan of Dumas or just looking for a fun film with lots of realistic sword fighting then you won't want to miss this.