The Fifth Musketeer (1979)

When French King Louis XIV (Beau Bridges) learns that his twin brother, Philippe (Beau Bridges), could usurp his crown, he sets out to imprison him in the Bastille prison but four loyal musketeers are protecting Philippe.

Director:

Ken Annakin

Writers:

Alexandre Dumas (novel) (as Alexandre Dumas père), David Ambrose

Stars:

Sylvia Kristel, Ursula Andress, Beau Bridges

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sylvia Kristel	...	Maria Theresa
Ursula Andress	...	Louise de la Vallière
Beau Bridges	...	Louis XIV / Philippe of Gascony
Cornel Wilde	...	D'Artagnan
Ian McShane	...	Fouquet
Alan Hale Jr.	...	Porthos
Lloyd Bridges	...	Aramis
José Ferrer	...	Athos
Olivia de Havilland	...	Queen Mother
Helmut Dantine	...	Spanish Ambassador
Rex Harrison	...	Colbert
Román Ariznavarreta
Bernard Bresslaw	...	Bernard
Stephan Bastian
Victor Couzyn	...	(as Victor Couzin)

Storyline

King Louis XIV (Beau Bridges) has without his knowledge a twin brother, Philippe (Beau Bridges), but when he is told, he immediately locks up his brother in the Bastille. The King wants to increase his popularity and stages an assassination against himself where Philippe is dressed as King Louis. But Philippe manages to escape the assassination and everybody believes him to be the real King.

---

Plot Keywords:

lust | breasts | female full frontal nudity | bathing | assassination attempt | 

---

Taglines:

Duelling, dashing heroes ... from the bedroom to the battlefield!

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Romance

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

Austria West Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 November 1979 (Argentina)

Also Known As:

The 5th Musketeer

Filming Locations:

Wien Film Studios, Sievering, Vienna, Austria

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

S&T-Film Berlin, Sascha Filmverleih

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Mono (Westrex Sound System) Dolby (recorded on)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Some scenes were shot in Schloss Laxenburg, a castle situated twenty-four kilometers (fifteen miles) south of Vienna, Austria; Burg Liechenstein, a medieval fortress built in 1165; Burg Kreuzenstein, a fortress of Roman origin; and Vienna's Votivkirche, an elaborate gothic church built on the site of an attempted assassination against Emperor Franz Josef in 1853, and was presently, at the time this movie was made, an Austrian Hall of Fame.

---

Quotes

Louis XIV: I may be getting married, but I'll be damned if I'll miss a full day's hunting just for that.

---

Crazy Credits

The longer version, titled Behind the Iron Mask, ends with a fadeout and no end credits at all. All of the film's credits are at the beginning.

---

Alternate Versions

The US release, running 1 hour and 44 minutes, was cut from an original version released overseas, running 1 hour and 56 minutes. Scenes excised from the US release: -An extended scene of Louise de la Valliere's striptease for Louis XIV, exposing her full nudity. -A scene of the Four Musketeers in their prison cell. They play a game of dice, tricking their jailers by inviting them into their game, then restraining them and grabbing their keys for release. Their escape is short-lived, as they see a party of rifle-aiming guards awaiting them. The Captain flatters their ingenuity, but urges them to return to their cell. -An intro to the Musketeers and Philippe in the wine cellar of Bernard's Inn. They come out of hiding in empty wine casks. -An extended scene of the Spanish Ambassador being fatally assaulted by the horse in the stable. -A love scene of Philippe and Marie Theresa in bed together. -A dressed Philippe seeing Marie Theresa sleeping in bed. She awakes. -An extended scene of Marie Theresa dressing, exposing her breasts. -A love scene of Louis and Louise in bed together. The exposed Louise questions Louis' decision to let Philippe live. Louis argues that he is his brother, but assures her that he will eventually die in the Iron Mask, perhaps strangling in the long beard he will grow inside it. -An extended scene to Fouquet watching Colbert and Marie Theresa's Spanish-language conversion. He brings out a spy. -An extended scene of Colbert heading to Bernard's Inn. Fouquet's spy follows Colbert. Bernard plays dumb to the spy's questions. -An extended scene of Louis trying to rape Marie Theresa. The two fall off the bed with Marie Theresa moving away from his grasp (to drug Louis' goblet) -An extended scene of Louise being stood up in her dinner date with Louis. She shouts at the musicians to stop. -An extended scene of the Musketeers meeting with Marie Theresa. D'Artagnan throws his cloak around the breast-exposed princess. -Fouquet shows Colbert the rack, demonstrating its work by pulling a stuffed dummy apart. -An extended scene of Aramis' death. He is able to throw his Parrying Dagger at his assailant, killing him. -An extended scene of Philippe's duel with Louis. Philippe is able to wound Louis in the thigh.

---

Connections

Version of The Man in the Iron Mask (1998)

User Reviews

Luxurious and glamorous production with all-star -cast , though really wasted

¨The fifth Musketeer¨ is packed with derring-do , intrigue , romance, action and exciting swordplay . An excellent casting and lavish production partially shot in Vienna make for a fairly amusement swashbuckler , however it drags in some places . This is a new version of the Dumas's novel with a handsome Beau Bridges in a dual role . This is a slight and simple retelling about the durable Alexandre Dumas's novel and is set in 17th century French court where two twins brothers (Beau Bridges playing a double role) , separated at birth , one nasty become Louis XIV of France compromised to marry to Mª Teresa of Spain (Silvia Kristel) and another , Phillippe who is unjustly imprisoned in the Bastilla . Both of whom are sons of the Queen mother Anna of Austria , turned nun (Olivia De Havilland) . Later on , Phillippe is jailed in prison and hidden his identity wearing an iron mask but his existence threatens the kingdom . But D'Artagnan (Cornel Wilde), Athos (Alan Hale) , Aramis (Jose Ferrer) and the Minister named Colbert (Rex Harrison) scheme an intelligent plan to free Phillippe , clashing a malicious Fouquet (Ian McShane) , the Louis XIV's favorite . They join forces for royal vengeance with the shout : ¨One for all and all for one¨. They are planning a plot involving substitution by the lookalike brother .

It's a mediocre rendition from the immortal novel with quite but wasted budget . The picture contains rousing action , intrigue , exciting swordplay , romantic adventure , and mayhem . Marvelous main actors completed by stellar cast full of classical and veteran players as Cornel Wilde , Rex Harrison , Olivia De Havilland and several others. And being final film of Helmut Dantine and last cinematic intervention of Olivia Havilland . And starred by agreeable Beau Bridges as suffering prisoner turning a valiant swashbuckler and selfish king . It contains some nudism , of course being in charge of expert actresses as Silvia Kristel and Ursula Andress ; nevertheless , in some versions it is cut . Acceptable cinematography by classic cameraman Jack Cardiff , recently passed away , who had a distinguished and long career crowned with some Oscars . Evocative musical score by the Italian composer named Riz Ortalani . Lush production design is well reflected on the glamorous interiors and exteriors filmed at Austrian palaces .

The motion picture was regularly realized by Ken Annakin . Based on Alexandre Dumas's novel, 'The Vicomte of Bragellone', which is often filmed under the title of its final section, 'The Man in the Iron Mask'. This classy story is subsequently remade on several versions , firstly is shot with Douglas Fairbanks (silent rendition, 1929), by James Whale (1939) with Louis Hayward and Joan Bennet , finally in 1998 by Randall Wallace with Leonardo DiCaprio , Jeremy Irons , John Malkovich and featured Gérard Depardieu as Porthos ; furthermore TV version by Mike Newell with Richard Chamberlain and Ralph Richardson . ¨The Fifth Musketeer¨ is an inferior and silly adaptation of the classy that will appeal to the costumer genre buffs and it results to be an average adaptation with big budget based on the immortal tale .