In 17th century France, young D'Artagnan wants to join the King's Musketeers, but instead befriends three legendary musketeers—Athos, Porthos, and Aramis—and together, they become embroiled in the political intrigue surrounding King Louis XIII and his adversaries, particularly the powerful Cardinal Richelieu.
| Tagline | . . . One for All and All for Fun! |
| Release Date: | Dec 11, 1973 |
| Genres: | Action, Adventure, Romance |
| Production Company: | Film Trust S.A., Alexander, Michael and Ilya Salkind Productions, Este Films, Twickenham Film Studios |
| Production Countries: | Spain, United Kingdom, United States of America |
| Casts: | Michael York, Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain, Frank Finlay, Faye Dunaway, Raquel Welch, Christopher Lee, Geraldine Chaplin, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Spike Milligan, Charlton Heston |
| Status: | Released |
| Budget: | $4500000 |
| Revenue: | 22018000 |
OK, so I never really did understand why Michael York succeeded, but here he makes for quite a decent "D'Artagnan". A country bumpkin who arrives in Paris determined to follow in his father's footsteps and join the king's musketeers. His first day is not auspicious, though. He ends up slated to fight three duels with "Athos" (Oliver Reed), "Porthos" (Frank Finlay) and 'Aramis" (Richard Chamberlain). Luckily the Cardinal's guard intervene and soon the four are "one for all....". "D'Artagnan" ends up lodging with the cowardly "Bonacieux" (Spike Milligan) and his unlikely bride "Constance" (Raquel Welch) who is a dressmaker to the Queen (Geraldine Chaplin) who is treading a dangerous line between her marriage to the King (Jean-Pierre Cassel) and her love of British Prime Minister, the Duke of Buckingham (Simon Ward). None of this is unknown to the shrewd Cardinal Richelieu (Charlton Heston) who uses his two stalwarts "Rochefort" (Christopher Lee) and "Milady" (Faye Dunaway) to lay a trap that will rid him of not just the Queen, but also discredit the musketeers and leave the king squarely in his pocket! Tongues are firmly in cheeks here as this enjoyable adventure picks up pace from the get-go and with loads of characterful contributions from Milligan, the long-suffering "Planchet" (Roy Kinnear) and, personally, the always good value Frank Finlay. There's loads of lighthearted comedy, some pithy dialogue and all-in-all everyone looks like they are having a good time swashing and buckling, manoeuvring, seducing, plotting, swilling copious amounts of wine and... Funnily enough, it's actually Heston who comes across more the Thespian amongst the cast - his being the more earnest role, but Reed and Lee are up for the lark, and I was too. Enjoyable stuff, this!
