The Four Musketeers

Plot synopsis:
(Sequel to The Three Musketeers)Porthos (Frank Finlay) recaps the events leading to D'Artagnan (Michael York) becoming a musketeer. The original trio, including Porthos' companions Aramis (Richard Chamberlain) and Athos (Oliver Reed) find themselves on a rescue mission behind enemy lines during the battle of La Rochelle. D'Artagnan's enemy Rochefort (Christopher Lee) was caught spying and is enduring a wait before an amateur firing squad learning to load their rifles on the job. While they figure out how to blindfold a condemned man who has only one eye, Athos and Aramis prepare to launch a smoke bomb as cover while Porthos brings the horses for their escape, but the fuse goes out just as the order is given to fire. Fortunately the entire firing squad misses their target, and while they reload the trio manages to extract the spy. He is returned to his master, Cardinal Richelieu (Charlton Heston), then is sent to obtain D'Artagnan's lover Constance (Raquel Welsh). She is the dressmaker and confidante to Queen Anne (Geraldine Chapman) and a valued hostage if they are to deal with Anne's affair with the Protestant sympathizer, the Duke of Buckingham (Simon Ward).Rochefort and his men find D'Artagnan and Constance shopping in the public market. When she picks a melon from a basket, a hand appears from within and seizes her. While she is taken away, D'Artagnan engages his enemy in a duel and manages to deliver a slicing blow to Rochefort's hand; Rochefort upsets a cart of potatoes, which spills and buries D'Artagnan. He is rescued by the mysterious and beautiful spy Milady DeWinter (Faye Dunaway) and taken to her private home. He regains consciousness in her bedroom where she is attending him while attired in revealing lingerie, but despite her charms he departs hastily, promising to come back and "thank her properly." When he leaves, Milady undresses and prepares to step into her bath, but recoils when she sees the water is tinged red. Rochefort was hiding there, letting his injured hand bleed into her bathwater. As they embrace, they agree to deal with D'Artagnan later.Back at the musketeers' training facility, D'Artagnan ponders his problems while Porthos demonstrates a new sword technique. He flings the sword from its scabbard to sail through the air and hit its mark. Aramis is unimpressed and shows him that the sword could easily be deflected, and they leave arguing the finer points of disarming oneself.An inebriated Athos appears to question D'Artagnan about his new lover. He replies the he loves Milady with his head and Constance with his heart. When asked if he has not ever lost his heart, Athos grows reflective and relates a love story about a man who, unlike him, did lose his heart. It becomes apparent that he is speaking of himself in his life before he became a musketeer. As a nobleman he was a man of honor who fell in love with a mysterious woman and married her, bestowing his title and wealth on her. One day when she fell from her horse, the garter she always wore on her upper arm slipped to reveal the brand of the fleur de lis, identifying her as a criminal. In that moment he lost his honor. Though he had throttled her in his anger, he never knew whether or not she had died. He warns D'Artagnan that such women cause trouble, and the young musketeer agrees that he should stay faithful to Constance.Still needing to repay his debt, D'Artagnan returns to Milady's home and is admitted by her attendant Kitty (Nicole Calfan). Her mistress is away and Kitty has her own interests, so they slip into her bedroom. When Milady returns, Kitty stalls for time and D'Artagnan overhears Milady talking to Kitty about Constance while donning her jewels for the evening; D'Artagnan slips out and re-enters by the front door to pay his proper visit to Milady in her bedroom. Afterward, he calmly asks her where she has taken Constance, and when he grabs her arm the garter there pulls away from a brand of the fleur de lis, and Milady produces two glass daggers filled with acid to attack him. He manages to grab his sword and hold her at bay while he leaves the bedroom, clad only in the sheet, and locks the door. Kitty hands him a cloak and he jumps out the window to escape, finding he has Milady's necklace in his hand. Kitty finally releases her mistress from the bedroom and endures her frustrated blows.Later at the bar, Porthos asks D'Artagnan for money and the necklace slips from his pocket. Athos recognizes it at once, confirming that his wife is still alive. D'Artagnan promises to keep it a secret from the others. Later he goes to the palace to see if the Queen can help find Constance, and is instead captured by the Cardinal's men and taken to his private office. Richelieu remarks upon D'Artagnan's continued good luck and offers friendship in return for the musketeer becoming one of his men, but D'Artagnan refuses and Richelieu warns him that his journey into the battlefront at La Rochelle will be a perilous one.Milady and Rochefort discuss Constance, whom the spy has sent to a private estate. Kitty dutifully gives the information to the musketeers, who agree to help rescue her while D'Artagnan goes ahead toward the battlefront. Constance is fettered in an upstairs room but manages to land a kick on one of the guards when he brings her food; once she has freed herself she runs to the window and finds the courtyard is filled with vicious attack dogs, preventing her escape. The next time a guard comes, she kicks him in the groin before realizing it is Aramis in disguise and she is being rescued. Porthos uses stilts to cross the courtyard with Constance perched on his shoulders to avoid the dogs. The three take her to the convent at Armentieres.D'Artagnan stops at an inn where he plans to meet his friends and finds a note that they were thrown in jail for drunken behavior and sent on a few bottles of wine to drink their health. He declines, saying they will share the wine when they're together again.On the road D'Artagnan is set upon by Rochefort and his hired men, and when the other three musketeers hear dueling in the frigid weather, they join the fray, fighting on an icy lake with unpredictable footing. Still they manage to defeat the gang and take one with them to the inn to question him. He reveals that a meeting is planned at the Red Dove Cote Inn, begs for a drink and is poured some of the wine. Before the others join him, Aramis holds them back as the man quickly goes into convulsions and dies. Sniffing the wine, Aramis says it has been poisoned, probably by Milady.At the Red Dove Cote Inn, Milady meets with the Cardinal and discusses her agenda to rid herself and Rochefort of D'Artagnan and Constance after she does her duty in handling Buckingham, but the Cardinal is unconcerned with her private affairs. She asks for no money for dealing with the duke; she asks instead for carte blanche to deal with her enemies in her own way, and Richelieu produces a vague and craftily written note with his authorization but no words which can be used against him. She tucks it away after he leaves, but suddenly Athos appears and confronts her for the first time since the fateful day when she robbed him of his honor. He asks her for the note, threatening to shoot her if she refuses. Knowing he is capable of it, she surrenders the note.On the battlefield the musketeers have been sent to lend support and see that La Rochelle falls. Athos makes a bet that the four of them can breach the enemy lines and have breakfast atop the bastion--a place where they can discuss matters without the Cardinal's spies within earshot--and they assign Planchet (Roy Kinnear) to bring the ammunition and provisions. They dodge bullets and manage to set up their meal, and Athos gives the note to D'Artagnan and tells them all of the plot to kill Buckingham. Planchet will be assigned to go warn Buckingham, and when the rebels charge the battlement, Athos finds the wall is weak enough that they can push it over to send its stones toppling down on the charging rebels.Milady travels to England to meet Buckingham but fails to convince him to cease aiding the rebels. Outside she prepares a concealed pistol but is caught and sent to the dungeon under the care of his servant Felton (Michael Gothard), a Puritan whose unbreakable faith and detached demeanor the duke trusts. During one visit to check on his prisoner, Milady asks Felton for a Bible, and during his duties he hears her reciting scripture nonstop. Finally she collapses and tells him that she is being persecuted by the Antichrist--Buckingham--and he yields to his doubts and her passions, and later he helps her escape. He proceeds to purchase a knife, meets Buckingham on the docks and uses the weapon to attack his master, who dies from his wounds while Planchet arrives moments too late to warn him.The battle of La Rochelle ends and Rochefort and Milady race the musketeers to Armentieres to claim Constance. The musketeers reach the town nearby just steps ahead of Rochefort, and when they stop for a rest, he gains the lead. The four men remount and give chase, enter the convent by another route but are met by Rochefort and his men. While D'Artagnan and the others battle, the barn next to the convent catches fire, adding to the urgency. Porthos manages to use his new sword technique to dispatch an opponent but catches fire himself; Athos sustains another arm injury and Rochefort escapes.Milady enters the convent disguised as a nun and goes into Constance's room to sit with her. Constance doesn't recognize her in the vestments, continues praying and starts to cry. Milady tells her she should look her best when D'Artagnan arrives, then throws a rosary around Constance's neck and draws it tight.As D'Artagnan finishes dispatching his enemies, Milady leaves Constance's room and attempts to make her escape but is caught by Athos before she can reach her carriage. D'Artagnan bursts into Constance's room to find her strangled body on the floor. He leaves in profound grief and comes upon Rochefort; assuming him the killer, he charges his arch enemy, attacking violently and taking out his anger and misery on him. Again, they are equally matched swordsmen. Aramis and Porthos see them dueling, but Aramis prevents his partner from interfering; it is D'Artagnan's fight alone.By the time the fighting reaches the church, both men have exhausted each other and neither will yield. Rochefort injures D'Artagnan's hand and deals a blow which takes the point off his sword. Desperate, D'Artagnan makes a final lunge and drives his sword home, pinning the spy to the lectern before he falls and dies, and the young musketeer collapses from exhaustion.Later the musketeers gather with their prisoner at a riverbank, standing in judgment of Milady's crimes. They decide the punishment should be death. Athos uses his privileges as a nobleman to hire a headsman and order the execution at the cost of five pistoles. She defiantly demands a trial by a proper court and, when nobody speaks up, she turns to D'Artagnan for help. When he steps forward Athos tells him, in no uncertain terms, that if he moves further the two of them will cross swords and Athos will kill him, so he resumes his place. They watch as the headsman takes Milady in a boat to a small jut of land on the other side of the lake and does his duty; when he returns they grant his request to be paid two pistoles extra for oarsman duties.The musketeers are then rounded up and D'Artagnan finds himself in Cardinal Richelieu's office again. Richelieu reminds him that he refused an offer of friendship and now stands accused of a serious crime. D'Artagnan then produces the Cardinal's own document granting the bearer the privilege to do "what has been done." Knowing he has been defeated, the Cardinal casually burns the note and offers his foe a commission as a lieutenant in the musketeers with the name left blank, saying he and his friends are free to go. Perplexed, D'Artagnan leaves and offers the document to all three of his friends, who politely refuse. He worries that as an officer he will lose his friends, but Porthos assures him that they will always remain "All for one and one for all."

Tags: humor, action, murder, historical fiction

Review:
Videos and DVDs should be released only in a double-box.Most "Musketeer" movies are travesties loosely based on Dumas.
It uses little more than the names of characters, and it's woefully inadequate.The script-writer in Lester's "Musketeers" movies was George MacDonald Fraser, author of the "Flashman" series.
Even Cardinal Richelieu, who wasn't really evil, comes off as three-dimensional (compare Heston's subtle performance to Tim Curry's bizarre, anti-historical, one-dimensional inquisitor and fool in the 1993 version).Being "The Three (Four) Musketeers", there are many sword-fights; Lester somehow is not a great action director, but he somehow manages to make each duel unique, and funny.
Fraser's brief script for that movie (about 100 minutes) gives us the gist of "Twenty Years After", and is quite amusing and a good coda for the series (it's a shame Lester didn't get a chance to do "The Man in the Iron Mask" with a G.
I was forced to wait 6 months between watching "The Three Musketeers" and getting an opportunity to watch this "sequel" (shot at the same time) and it was agony, though I was somewhat afraid that the second one would not live up to its predecessor.
The action is just as fast and the characters as endearing (because, as we learn, only Porthos could find "a new way to disarm himself" - and then make it work when it counted!)  But comedy aside (such as our heroes eating breakfast in the middle of a battle), the serious turns that had to be taken in order to stay true to Dumas' novel were very well done also.
Oliver Reed imparts his loathing for Milady DeWinter not only with his words, but also with the expression in his [gorgeous] eyes and when he holds her at gunpoint in order to get the Cardinal's warrant, several seconds go by in which you as a viewer actually believe that he will kill her right there in cold blood.
Kudos also have to go to Faye Dunaway as Milady - she is truly evil and charming at the same time and you can see how her character manages to be so good at what she does.
(And side note to my fellow students - if you don't have time to read the book "The Three Musketeers," rent these two movies and you'll get the gist of what you need to know.).
Not quite as fun as the first movie but true to the classic story writen by Dumas back in 1850.(additional comments are duplicate comments made about the Three Musketeers)This set of films (3 and 4 Musketeers were filmed at the same time and released 8 months apart) ranks right up there with "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Robin Hood" (with Erol Flynn) as one of the best in its genre (action/adventure).
The two films are quite faithful to the classic book by Alexander Dumas given some small and reasonable changes.The sword-play in the film is the greatest!
The battle that takes place early in the second film is hysterically funny as our heroes try to eat lunch in the middle of a war.The actors and actresses are all wonderful, especially Michael York, Oliver Reed, Faye Dunaway, and Charlton Heston.
This led to much litigation and the creation of the "Salkind clause" in movie contracts.Spoliers-The film takes up where the first part left off; D'Artagnan and the Musketeers have saved the Queen from embarassment and confounded the evil Cardinal Richelieu.
D'Artagnan is now a full fledged Musketeer (although, in the novel, he was still just a guardsman).Now the Cardinal hatches a new plot to persuade the Duke of Buckingham from joining the protestant Huguenot rebels at the city of La Rochelle.
He learns the true identity of Milady and the mystery behind Athos' melancholy.The Musketeers are sent to fight at La Rochelle and uncover the Cardinal's plot to kill Buckingham.
FINALLY...a DVD release called 'The Complete Musketeers' that does justice to a proper transfer, in widescreen and looking better than when I saw it in the theater.Watching 'The Three Musketeers' without seeing the 'The Four...' is like reading the Alexander Dumas novel; and stopping halfway through.
While Welch was the female focus in the first film, this one belongs to Dunaway, who is excellent as the evil Milady..
The Four Musketeers, along with the first movie, are the only movie versions that are remotely accurate to Alexandre Dumas's masterpiece novel, The Three Musketeers.The action and sword fighting in this film are great.
However, if you hate reading, then you should watch this movie, along with the Three Musketeers, because they are the closest to the book.
Alexandre Dumas's source for his novel was a book by 19th-century writer Courtils Sandraz, which was purporting to be D'Artagnan's biography ; the Musketeers were actually real people, not fictional characters created by Dumas .
This is a luxurious recounting of the Dumas's novel with a fine cast headed by handsome Michael York as hot-headed D'Artagnan in a brave role as a young and handsome soldier of fortune , a dashing , audacious lover and nimble athlete .
This delightful adaptation based on Alexandre Dumas classic novel deals with the youngster D'Artagnan and his three friends , the three two-fisted Musketeers , rollicking adventurers , fighting to live and living to love .
All of them join in their objective to struggle against guards of Cardinal Richelieu well performed by Charlton Heston and the astute Milady De Winter , Faye Dunaway , who is lovely as a jewel, deadly as a dagger the wickedest woman in all Christendom .
Straightforward as well as gallant D'Artagnan and the three musketeers scheme a plan to save her , clashing against a malicious Milady De Winter .It's a nice rendition from the immortal novel with pretty budget and attractive scenarios .
Raquel Welch, Richard Chamberlain, Michael York, Geraldine Chaplin, Faye Dunaway, Charlton Heston, boy oh boy what a shining list of major stars of the 70's.
THE THREE MUSKETEERS and THE FOUR MUSKETEERS: MILADY'S REVENGE were shot back-to-back by Richard Lester and I think this is the better film of the two.
Michael York has gone from a dumb rookie to a slightly-less-dumb newcomer to the Musketeers and is all the better for it.The entire cast return for a story that somehow feels fresher and more dangerous, with the stakes raised considerably.
What makes it a 10 is Oliver Reed's heartbreakingly good performance as Athos--particularly two scenes: first, when he tells D'Artagnan "a love story to cure you of love", then his confrontation with Milady DeWinter ("Since when has it been possible to insult YOU, Madame!").
I had the good fortune to see this film and Three Musketeers on a double bill back in 1976 (how many of us are old enough to remember double bills at the movies?) when I was 16.
I've never read the novel, so I don't know how faithful Richard Lester's movies are, but I can say that they're really fun.
Why Tyrone Power, Errol Flynn, or Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. did not play D'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers is a mystery to me.The Four Musketeers is the second of the film that Richard Lester originally shot.
But the second half of Alexander Dumas novel gets down to some serious business with the deaths of several of the characters.
Heston is a pleasantly malevolent Richelieu, Christopher Lee is a scheming blackguard (perhaps the role he was born to play), and Michael York is the seminal Luke Skywalker, three years too early.Though some consider the storyline misogynistic, and I am somewhat inclined to agree, the story is after all a product of the time it was written in, and makes no excuses for its policies, correct or incorrect.See it for the action, romance and swordplay.
A distinct lack of coverage cuts into this film's otherwise fine pedigree, and instead of a fun, adventurous and humorous swashbuckler with dramatic overtones, we're given a film that, in spite of its great technical achievements, feels like it came out of the oven too soon.Most of us know the story of why, so I won't repeat it here in this review, but it's regrettable that the short sighted economics dictated the final cut of a film.
A lack of cutaways, a new music director whose style is distinctly different from the original score, and some uncorrected shots, leaves "The Four Musketeers" falling a notch or two below its older brother.But, even so, the film is still entertaining.
The action scenes are what they are; good in some areas, adequate in others.Anchor Bay's DVD, for some reason, doesn't include the French opening credits, but the extras and color corrected and digitally mastered DVD for both musketeer films is a welcome addition to anyone's library.In short, the second film is not quite as good as the first film, but is still very entertaining, and, in this way, still a very magnificent piece of cinema.
Under Richard Lester's direction, the mood is darker now that the wicked plans of Cardinal Richileu and Lady de Winter (CHARLTON HESTON and FAYE DUNAWAY) are about to be executed.The plot thickens as the lives of D'Artagnan (MICHAEL YORK) and Constance (RAQUEL WELCH) become affected by the scheming Heston and Dunaway.
Meanwhile, York and OLIVER REED, RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN and FRANK FINLEY, as The Three Musketeers, get caught up in a number of fast moving, boisterous and action-filled adventures that follow the Dumas tale pretty accurately.Even so, watching this film I still have fond memories of the LANA TURNER, VAN HEFLIN, GENE KELLY version of "The Three Musketeers" when I see the plot zooming in on Lady de Winter and her plans for D'Artagnan and Constance.
This continuation of the Musketeers saga from "The Three Musketeers"(73) brings back essentially all the characters (tho they never really left, as this was filmed at the same time) and piles up the intrigue.
Plots combine with counter plots as the puppeteer Cardinal (Heston) sends his two emissaries of evil, Milady & Rochefort (Lee, good casting if ever there was), against the heroes, who defend the queen's honor.
The Milady character (Dunaway) becomes the central focus of the story; she proves to be so dangerous that dashing D'Artagnan (York) barely escapes her deadly designs on a couple of occasions despite his abilities.
Reed lends a pathos to the character of Athos, heh.Though this continues Director Lester's penchant for comical timing and near-slapstick action, the story itself has a more plot-driven narrative and, by necessity, more dramatic, even tragic, elements.
Since this was filmed at the same time, the film has none of the apparent weaknesses of the usual sequels.Many years later, in '89, most of the cast and the director returned for another sequel, "Return of the Musketeers." Some of the magic wasn't there, but it was interesting to see them all again, older and perhaps wiser.
'The Four Musketeers-The Revenge Of Milady' Is a cracking sequel to the 1973 Classic The Queen's Diamond's) This Picks up where the predecessor left off, The seductive but evil Milday De Winter,(Faye Dunaway, is out for revenge,After her elaborate plot was foiled by the Swashbuckling Foursome, Aided by her equally evil lover, and accomplice Rochfort (Christopher Lee) The pair plot to murder the duke of Buckingham,Charlton Heston,Returns As the menacing Cardinal, who gives the pair his full blessing to carry out their wicked vendetta's The Four who are now blades for hire, soon get wind of this wicked plot and together seek out to stop the villainous pair, 'The Four Musketeer's) is a superb companion piece to the original, Lalo Schifrin, who fills in for Michel Le Grand,contributes a excellent And rousing score,.
The only chance of advancement, fortune and glory most younger sons had was to hang it all out and prove their worthiness in battle.Please note that this is the only Musketeer film that ever showed Athos, Aramis, D'Artagnan and Porthos exercising their trade as soldiers.
Oliver Reed and Faye Dunaway play their story out quite remarkably, and the transformation Michael York goes through from head-strong foolishly brave farm boy with a broken sword to the battle weary Musketeer who is strong enough to stand up to Richelieu and beat him at his own game is really a delight to watch.
Lester brings most of the wonderful cast back, but this time Dumas' story ("Twenty Years After") just isn't as fun, and unfortunately Lester is only given 100 minutes to tell it this time, where he falls into the same cram-it-all-in traps as other filmmakers adapting "The Three Musketeers".
The script is witty, the story is compelling and maintains the 1973 film's spirit and the sword-play and action while slightly more slapsticky is exciting.
The cast also give it their all- Michael York is spirited and likable, Oliver Reed once again comes very close to stealing the film, Fay Dunnaway is still beautiful and haunting, Charlton Heston is calculated and imposing and Christopher Lee is simply brilliant as Rochefort.
Watched The Four Musketeers:Milady's Revenge an amazing Performance by Michael York(Romeo And Juliet) as d'Artagnan, Oliver Reed(Revolver) as Athos , Frank Finlay(Othello) as Porthos,Richard Chamberlain(Dr.Kildare) as Aramis, Simon Ward(Young Winston) as The Duke Of Buckingham , Raquel Welch(One Million Years B.C.
)as Constance Bonacieux ,Faye Dunaway(Bonnie And Clyde) as Milady De Winter, Christopher Lee(Dracula) as Count De Rochefort and Oscar Winner Charlton Heston(Ben-Hur) as Cardinal Richelieu .
I really enjoyed The Characters this time around as they where also this was much Darker than the first and certain characters bit it but it was good higher stakes.Great Costume Design By Yvonne Blake(The Last Valley) , Score By Lalo Schifrin( Charley Varrick),Cinematography By David Watkin(The Homecoming) and Direction By Richard Lester(The Mouse On The Moon) A Great but Darker Sequel The Musketeers 8/10.
I just love Lester's Musketeers movies - they were so very original when first released in his treatment and the way the swordplay was executed.
I would have liked to have seen a 3 or four hour movie telling the whole story as I could never get enough of the films as they are.
THE FOUR MUSKETEERS, the second half of Richard Lester's brilliant adaptation of Dumas' THE THREE MUSKETEERS, carries on the manic adventures of D'Artagnan (Michael York), and his comrades (Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain, and Frank Finley), and offers deliriously comic moments (a picnic in the midst of a siege is a comic highlight), but in being faithful to the novel, a necessary but tragic thread runs through the plot, with the deaths of key characters tempering the joy of the ultimate resolution.Because the film wasn't intended to 'stand on it's own', certain elements had to be added, to make the story more cohesive.
The choice of Finley is a wise one, as he was the most accessible of the characters in the first film, and his "blissfully ignorant" attitude keeps his opening and closing monologues a 'tongue-in-cheek' joy.Politics and intrigue are the order of the day, as Cardinal Richelieu (Charlton Heston, still sleekly villainous) continues his machinations to eliminate French Protestants, and his major opponent, England's Prime Minister, the Duke of Buckingham (Simon Ward).
A key player in 'the game' is Milady de Winter (Faye Dunaway, in one of her best roles), who agrees to eliminate Buckingham, if Richelieu will pardon 'in advance' her plans to murder D'Artagnan and his ladylove, Constance (Raquel Welch).
The news of de Winter's brand exposes Athos' aristocratic past, and reason for his alcoholism.Just as Van Heflin's interpretation of Athos during this key scene in the 1948 THREE MUSKETEERS was the film highlight, the flashback to a younger, clean-shaven, and dashing Oliver Reed, and his betrayal by Faye Dunaway, who would be branded for her crime, is a high point in the 1974 production.
THE THREE and FOUR MUSKETEERS are a crowning achievement in Richard Lester's remarkable career, capturing a 'feel' that no other Dumas' adaptation has ever come close to.
This "sequel" (actually filmed along with "The Three Musketeers" but released separately later--much to the consternation of its cast who had intended to do one film and were paid for one, but who later sued for compensation!
Still, this is quite effective and a more thorough fleshing out of the second tier of the story than what has ever been shown before (even though many elements and even characters have been eliminated.) Rising to the forefront this time around is the fiendish, dangerous, glamorous Dunaway as Milady de Winter.
Producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind and director Richard Lester originally intended to turn Alexandre Dumas's "The Three Musketeers" into a single epic lasting well over three hours, but this option was rejected as impractical and the filmed material was eventually turned into two separate films (much to the surprise and displeasure of many of the cast and crew, who had only been paid for one film).
The title "The Four Musketeers" was not a particularly original one as it had already been used for other filmed sequels to the novel; it reflects the fact that D'Artagnan is not actually a musketeer to begin with and fights alongside Athos, Porthos, and Aramis out of friendship, not because he is a member of the same military unit."The Four Musketeers" takes up the story where "The Three Musketeers" left off.
Cardinal Richelieu continues with his scheming and orders his sidekick the Count de Rochefort to kidnap the lovely Constance Bonacieux, the Queen's dressmaker and D'Artagnan's mistress.
Rochefort and the Cardinal's other sidekick, the beautiful but evil Milady de Winter- a splendidly poisonous Faye Dunaway- both play a rather larger part in this film than they did in its predecessor.
(The film is also known as "The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge").
Keeping Dumas' ending in which Milady murders Constance and is then herself executed by the Musketeers does not fit with the generally comic, light-hearted tone of this particular adaptation.
The result is a film which is faithful to the letter of Dumas's novel but not to its spirit.