The Three Musketeers
Tags: good versus evil, action, historical fiction

Plot synopsis:
In Venice, the musketeers Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, with the help of Milady de Winter, steal airship blueprints made by Leonardo da Vinci. However, they are betrayed by Milady, who incapacitates them and sells the blueprints to the Duke of Buckingham.
A year later, d'Artagnan leaves his village in Gascony for Paris in hopes of becoming a musketeer as his father was, only to learn that they were disbanded. At a rural bar, he challenges Captain Rochefort, leader of Cardinal Richelieu's guard, to a duel after being offended by him, but Rochefort merely shoots him while he's distracted. Once in Paris, d'Artagnan separately encounters Athos, Porthos and Aramis and, accidentally offending all three, schedules duels with each. Athos brings Porthos and Aramis to the duel as his seconds and d'Artagnan realizes who they are. Richelieu's guards arrive to arrest them, but, inspired by d'Artagnan, the musketeers fight together and win. All four are summoned before the young King Louis XIII and Richelieu urges him to execute them, but Queen Anne is impressed by their bravery and the king condecorates them instead.
Richelieu instructs Milady, now his accomplice, to plant false love letters among Queen Anne's possessions, steal her diamond necklace, and take it to the Tower of London in order to frame her as having an affair with Buckingham, which would force King Louis to execute her and declare war on England. At this point, the people would demand a more experienced leader: Richelieu himself. In order to secure her own position, Milady demands that Richelieu declare in a written authorization that she is working on behalf of France.
The false letters are found and given to King Louis, who is advised by Richelieu to set up a ball at which Queen Anne would be forced to wear the necklace. If she doesn't, then her affair is real, and there will be war. Queen Anne's lady-in-waiting Constance Bonacieux discovers Richelieu's plan and pleads with the musketeers to stop him. They follow Milady and Buckingham to London, while Constance is captured by Rochefort for helping the musketeers to escape from him.
In London, Milady tells Buckingham the musketeers have arrived to take revenge on him and teaches him all their tendencies in battle. D'Artagnan is captured, but turns out to be a decoy, allowing his associates to steal Buckingham's airship and rescue him. Milady's getaway coachman reveals himself as the musketeers' manservant Planchet and delivers her to his masters, who retrieve the necklace from her. Athos prepares to execute Milady for her treachery, but she leaps off the airship, apparently dying on her own terms.
The musketeers depart back to Paris, only to be intercepted by Rochefort in another airship, as Milady had given Richelieu copies of da Vinci's blueprints. Rochefort offers to exchange Constance for the necklace, but captures d'Artagnan and orders an attack as soon as he retrieves the jewels. His superior airship has the upper hand and severely damages the opposing ship, but the musketeers manage to crash both onto Notre Dame. On the roof, d'Artagnan duels and ultimately kills Rochefort. Constance is sent ahead to quietly return the necklace to Queen Anne.
The musketeers arrive at the ball and, for the sake of King Louis and his people, lie by claiming that Rochefort tried to sabotage an airship that Richelieu built for them, and that they executed him for his treason on Richelieu's permission. To convince the king, Athos presents Milady's authorization, which the former accepts. Richelieu, satisfied, offers the musketeers a place in his army, but they refuse, and Richelieu vows they will come to regret their decision.
Meanwhile, Milady is found alive at the English Channel by Buckingham, who declares his intention to exact revenge. He is then revealed to be advancing towards France with a massive fleet of battleships and airships.

Review: In 1625 an ambitious youth joins forces with THE THREE MUSKETEERS to save the French Queen's honor from the machinations of the cruel Cardinal Richelieu.Douglas Fairbanks had one of his most popular roles as the swashbuckling hero of Alexander Dumas' 1844 novel.
While a bit melodramatic & stagy, Fairbanks is obviously having a wonderful time and he wants his audience to enjoy themselves, too.As producer, as well as star, Fairbanks ensured fine production values & large sets to backdrop his stunts.
Also be mindful of the architectural staging, whether it be walls, rooftops or monumental staircases; they were all built with Fairbanks' physical dimensions in mind, so that he could run, creep or climb along them effortlessly.To such a degree does Doug dominate the drama, that the characters of the three Musketeers themselves remain largely undeliniated.
Coming off rather better are British actor Nigel de Brulier as the rapacious Richelieu, beautiful Barbara La Marr as the Cardinal's evil agent Milady de Winter & Lon Poff as the sepulchral Father Joseph.
Fairbanks would continue the tale - and reprise the role of D'Artagnan - eight years later in THE IRON MASK (1929).*****************************************What were the facts surrounding the historical Richelieu & Buckingham?
Eventually wielding absolute authority, the Red Eminence took as his life's mission to thwart Spanish Habsburg hegemony in Europe and to crush all outbreaks of French Protestantism as they arose throughout the kingdom.For his part, George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham (1592-1628), had his extreme physical attractiveness to thank for grabbing the eye of James I - who liked to dance both ends of the ballroom - and later became the favourite of Charles I as well.
And now it was the turn of Douglas Fairbanks to develop his unique brand of adventure comedies into the realm of grand mythmaking.Fairbanks had already reinvented his screen persona with the groundbreaking Mark of Zorro, transferring his over-the-top athleticism and comic timing to the world of romantic adventure.
After the success of Zorro, his confidence bolstered (not to mention his coffers a little fuller), Fairbanks made his follow-up The Three Musketeers a far more lavish production, as well as allowing more time for characterisation and subplot.
In other words, this was an attempt to move beyond simple genre antics and present a swashbuckler that was also a sweeping historical epic.The broader canvas of The Three Musketeers allows for greater freedom of expression for its director Fred Niblo, who had also filmed Zorro.
Here he gets to show off both these abilities, providing a realistic and constantly moving backdrop with the masses of extras at his disposal, yet also allowing the more emotional scenes to play out at a steady pace, giving them dignity and bringing out naturalism in the performances.
This arrangement focuses us on Fairbanks, and the depth of his position also allows him room to do his stunts without having to move the camera or change angle.Like Chaplin, Fairbanks always ensured that he was the star of the show and centre of attention, but in this more generous production he does allow some room for great supporting players, confident that they will make the picture more enjoyable without stealing it.
Of note here are George Siegmann (Porthos), who can mostly be seen playing villains for Griffith, but here gets to show off his comedy skills - check out the casual way he wipes his sword and saunters off after dispatching a guard - and Eugene Palette (Aramis), also a great comedy player, and worth mentioning simply because it's interesting to see him without the huge belly he had acquired by his 30s heyday.
Fairbanks's regular leading lady Marguerite De La Motte is not bad, getting a little more time and space to show her acting range than she did in Mark of Zorro.Still, there is a problem with The Three Musketeers, one which arises from its larger scale and dramatic pretensions - it's a bit slow.
The screenplay goes to lengths to allow Fairbanks's character to gradually emerge, and takes time to set the scene, which is all fair enough, except that this is done at the expense of pacing.
While I agree it's a good idea to keep us in suspense before showing off D'Artagnan's fighting skills, the build-up would work much better if we were treated to a small burst of action at the beginning - a "hook", screenwriters call it.
Also the best fight scenes are weighted to the middle of the story, robbing the picture of a satisfying finale.
Lavish scenarios , spectacular action , court intrigue and exciting swordplay with the great Douglas Fairbanks.
First version based on Alexandre Dumas' classic yarn of intrigue at the 17th century French court .
Entertaining and fun version based on the classic Dumas novel with an intrepid Douglas Fairbanks.
Spectacular swordplay in nifty style , this is the first and superior version of the classic Dumas novel set in 17th Century France .
Alexandre Dumas's source for his novel was a book by 19th-century writer Courtils de Sandraz, which was purporting to be D'Artagnan's biography; the Musketeers were actually real people, not fictional characters created by Dumas .
Producer and actor Douglas Fairbanks presents Dumas' exciting story of love and adventure , ¨The three musketeers¨ .
For this silent rendition is adapted in the greatest splendor , the complete romance , the historical characters, the full novel just as Alexandre Dumas write it .
It is packed with comedy , derring-do , intrigue , a love story , action , drama and moving swordplay .
This is the classic version of the Dumas's novel with a fine cast headed by handsome Douglas Fairbanks as D'Artagnan in a brave role as a young and handsome soldier of fortune , a dashing , audacious lover and nimble athlete .
He is accompanied by Leon Bary as Athos , George Siegmann as Porthos and the notorious secondary actor Eugene Palette as Aramis and of course the nasty Milady Winter compellingly played by Barbara La Marr .
This delightful adaptation based on Alexandre Dumas classic novel starts with the youngster D'Artagnan who arrives in Paris to find Mister Treville , chief of Musketeers.
DÁrtagnan to be aware they are Musketeers and is invited to unite them in their objective to struggle against guards of Cardinal Richelieu well performed by Nigel De Brulier and the astute Milady De Winter who is lovely as a jewel, deadly as a dagger the wickedest woman in all Christendom .
Furthermore , there is developed an intrigue between Luis XIII , the prestigious actor Adolphe Menjou , Queen Anne of Austria : Mary McLaren , dazzling as her gilded palace for her, men dared a thousand perils , and Duke of Buckingham ; and of course the nasty Richelieu , as evil as ever .
Straightforward as well as gallant D'Artagnan and the three musketeers scheme a plan to save her , clashing against a malicious Richelieu .It's a nice rendition from the immortal novel with pretty budget and breathtaking scenarios .
The picture contains rousing action , plenty of crashing , intrigue , romantic adventure , romance , treachery mayhem and a lot of fence .
Charming Douglas Fairbanks steals the show when he bounds and leaps , hits and run ; in addition he is the screenwriter of this rollicking adventure .
Fairbanks executes athletic feats , moving sword-play and spectacular acrobatics similarly he demonstrated in other classics such as The Mark of Zorro (1920), Robin Hood (1922), Three musketeers , Don Q Son of Zorro , The gaucho , The Taming of the Shrew , among others .
It's followed by a second part : ¨The iron mask¨ (1929) by Allan Dwan and again with Douglas Fairbanks , Margueritte De La Motta and Nigel De Brulier who plays Cardinal Richelieu,he would also play the role in the 1935 film of the same name ; in addition, the 1939 film "The Man in the Iron Mask." This classy story is subsequently remade on several versions , firstly take on about this classic is the following : 1935 adaptation by Rowland V.
Decent but not among Douglas Fairbanks' best.
I think how much you'll enjoy the film will be impacted on how closely you want the film to follow the book (which it doesn't) as well as whether or not you've seen many of Douglas Fairbanks' films.
What I mean by the latter is that I think my expectations were way too high for this movie because I expected a VERY physical and athletic film--but it wasn't.
Enjoyable but not among the actor's best films--though the costumes and sets were pretty amazing for 1921.By the way, the version I saw was the one in the public domain that is linked to IMDb. Oddly, this version has reversed the last two reels of the film!!
This light but enjoyable version of the often-filmed story of "The Three Musketeers" also offers Douglas Fairbanks plenty of material that plays to his best strengths.
While he made several other movies that had more substance to them than this one does, the role of D'Artagnan is one of the roles that was best suited to his talents.The adaptation of the Dumas novel considerably abridges both the story and the characters.
But to enjoy it, you do have to set aside any expectation that the movie might come up to the book's standard (which in any case would be a difficult goal for a normal-length film feature to accomplish).Fairbanks revels both in his early scenes as the ambitious young Gascon and in the rest of his sequences as the companion of the Musketeers.
Nigel De Brulier has probably his best role as Cardinal Richelieu (a role he would also play in several later movies), with the austere, reserved Cardinal providing an ideal match for De Brulier's style.
Marguerite De La Motte is appealing as Constance, and Barbara La Marr makes Milady de Winter a worthy adversary.Everything fits together pretty well, and while this film version is much lighter than the novel, it succeeds at what it intended to do..
Douglas Fairbanks was the screen's greatest swashbuckler, and in his second film of this genre, he's really great.
This film requires very little thinking on the viewer's part, and the various stunts and action scenes add to the fun.
Fun, entertaining silent swashbuckler gives us a skeleton of the Musketeer novel..
D'Artangan (Douglas Fairbanks) goes up against his rival Richelieu (Adolphe Menjou), with the help of his Musketeer friends.
There is a plot, something to do with the Queen, but don't ask me what it was.Like most film adaptations of long (in this case about as long as War and Peace, like all other Dumas books) novels, a lot has been simplified and left out, yet the plot is still hard to follow!
In this case, the appeal of the swordplay and romance is a well justified reason for putting these characters onscreen.Like many entertainment-driven silents, it is impossible to delve too deeply into character, let alone themes - so what we have feels like a fairly empty and superficial version of an epic story.Enjoyable Fairbanks vehicle is just a piece of fluff, the silent era equivalent of Pirates of the Caribbean - which is no small achievement.
It has genuine sword-swishing action, and the dashing and charismatic Fairbanks - who makes for both great comic relief, and a great hero.Highlight: there is some sparkling little samples of dialogue (title cards), which were unexpectedly hilarious.
Another great Douglas Fairbanks film, not one of his best but still hugely entertaining.
As an adaptation it is rather abridged, the details and spirit are there but there are versions since that have had much more depth to characterisation and such, the musketeers here are still very fun to watch but can feel like window-dressing.
Adolphe Menjou is appropriately cruel and the Musketeers are well-played, but aside from Fairbanks the standout in the acting department was Nigel De Brulier as a sly and malevolent Richelieu.
After admiring Douglas Fairbank's smashing looks in the later THIEF OF BAGDAD, I have to say he looks extremely unattractive in these pseudo-historical French costumes and a wig you wonder where he got it from.
(I very much doubt it.) Still, some of the scenes are fun to watch, even at epic length (more than two hours running time.) I guess with the right symphonic live music it must have been impressive back then.
Filmed entirely in the USA, using a studio for its sets, it strikingly, consistently captures the atmosphere and feeling of Paris and other places in France, indoors and out, that one would expect for the 17th century times during which the story takes place.
It actually would, I think, appear to any reasonable eye to have been filmed in real time.
Fairbanks Fences In. Impoverished nobleman Douglas Fairbanks (as D'Artagnan)'s greatest ambition is to join the King's royal swordsmen, "The Three Musketeers".
Nigel de Brulier (as Cardinal Richelieu) makes life particularly irksome, involving Fairbanks and friends in schemes against weak a King Adolphe Menjou (as Louis XIII), and his unfaithful Queen Mary MacLaren (as Anne).Alexandre Dumas' classic is a perfect vehicle for Fairbanks; who, after the success of his "Zorro", struck box office gold with a series of classy audience pleasing productions.
While this is not the best "Musketeers" movie, it's certainly true that Fairbanks' 1920s films had an indelible impact upon subsequent adaptations.
Fairbanks, through the force of his personality, didn't so much "play" characters like "D'Artagnan" as much as he made the characters play him.Fred Niblo (director) and Arthur Edeson (photographer) create a great swashbuckling atmosphere.
Nigel de Brulier steals the acting honors, with his cunning, cat-stroking "Richelieu"; the best supporting player will reprise his role in a trio of additional "Musketeers" films, including the superior Fairbanks sequel "The Iron Mask" (1929).
"All for one and one for all." ******* The Three Musketeers (8/28/21) Fred Niblo ~ Douglas Fairbanks, Nigel de Brulier, Marguerite De La Motte.
Douglas Fairbanks knew how to be in the middle of the action.
Fairbanks was very athletic and he shows those skills in the movie.
When he is in a scene there is always going to be plenty of action.The basic plot is that Fairbanks wants to become one of the King's musketeers and in the process finds himself involved in protecting the Queen's honor.
The film comes alive during the scenes involving sword play and when Fairbanks is trying to get back to the Queen from England.
And when all is said and done Fairbanks gets his wish and becomes (as you know he will) a Musketeer!.
Miss De La Motte shares some wonderful scenes not only with Fairbanks but with Mary MacLaren and Nigel de Brulier (whose study of the ruthless Richelieu is so compelling, he was hired to repeat his impersonation in three more swashbucklers).Fairbanks, of course, is suitably dashing as D'Artagnan, and his swordplay is certainly impressive throughout an action-full two hours.
As producer he has made sure to bring his hero into conflict with many worthy opponents, including de Brulier's cardinal, Boyd Irwin's black count, Lon Poff's gray eminence, and even Adolphe Menjou's weak but self-important Louis.Three players who do receive short shrift, however, even though they share much footage with our hero, are Palette, Siegmann and Bary, who play the titular musketeers.
This is the best Fairbanks costume drama I've seen in terms of his agility, the dialogue, quality of action scenes and acting, and set.
It is said Fairbanks was a huge fan of Dumas, and indeed he showed deep enough acquaintance with the original "Three Musketeers" to successfully keep the original feel of the book (particularly the last section) while neatly cleaning it to be acceptable to 1920s morals (the Twenties may have roared, but they weren't yet ready for the Executioner of Lille; the darker side of Milady and Athos; Constance's infidelity and tragic end; the anti-Puritan stereotyping; D'Artagnan's becoming not just the talk of Paris but that city's most popular and busy lover of high-society ladies, including just about everybody but the Queen), and so forth.The original three musketeers did much to keep all that subplot going, and this may be why Fairbanks gives them relatively little to do in the movie.
Too, he seems to be focusing on the latter part of the book where D'Artagnan does come to the fore, though if anything, he toned down D'Artagnan's role, too (if you haven't read the book, you're in an over-the-top tour de force, believe me!).Anyway, the physical performances by Fairbanks that stand out here include, of course, the famous left-handed handspring during the duel (in which we learn what happens when the bad guy, not Indiana Jones, brings a gun to a sword fight); the horsemanship Doug displays; the skill shown in the fencing scenes (he had come a long way from "Mark Of Zorro," which was not bad either); and the general agility he shows whether he's leaping into a cupboard or through a window or tiptoeing across the tip of a rooftop with a damsel in distress on his shoulder.
Two sword-fights that stand out, besides the duel, are the one in the apothecary's shop, where not a single jar or bottle is broken in spite of the general mayhem going on between D'Artagnan and the Cardinal's best swordsman, and the scene where Fairbanks squares off against Milady (is this the only scene where Douglas Fairbanks fought a woman?)..
Douglas Fairbanks version of the classic Dumas tale is an okay but long winded tale.
Most of the sword fights seem to be a little flat, which is odd since this follows the spectacular Mark of Zorro.
It's a good version of the tale (or half the tale since it ends with the saving of the reputation of the queen and dispense with the nastiness that follows) but it doesn't have the spectacle one thinks of in a Fairbanks Swashbuckler.