Review of The Four Musketeers (1974) by Ola G — 29 Dec 2015

During the Anglo-French War (1627-29), which involved supression of the Protestant rebels of La Rochelle, Cardinal Richelieu (Charlton Heston) continues the machinations he began in The Three Musketeers by ordering the Count de Rochefort (Christopher Lee) to kidnap Constance Bonancieux (Raquel Welch), dressmaker to the Queen of France. The evil Milady de Winter (Faye Dunaway), who wants revenge on junior musketeer d'Artagnan (Michael York), seduces him to keep him occupied. He soon discovers her true nature, however, and also that she was once married to his fellow musketeer Athos (Oliver Reed), who had supposedly killed her after discovering that she was a branded criminal. The trio of musketeers - Athos, Porthos (Frank Finlay), and Aramis (Richard Chamberlain) - rescue Constance from imprisonment in Rochefort's abode of Saint Cloud and take her to safety in the convent of Armentieres. De Winter sends d'Artagnan poisoned wine and a note intended to trick him into thinking that the trio have been imprisoned for drunkenness. On his way to bail them out, d'Artagnan is attacked by Rochefort and his men. The trio join the fight, and Rochefort flees. One of his men is captured and tortured for information, revealing that Richelieu is going to the Dovecote Inn near La Rochelle, but then drinks the poisoned wine and dies, revealing de Winter's trap. The trio then proceed to the inn where they spy on Richelieu. The Cardinal orders de Winter to threaten the Duke of Buckingham with exposure of his affair with the Queen, to discourage him from sending a relief force to aid the rebels; she is to kill the Duke if he does not comply. In return, de Winter asks for a warrant, so she can kill d'Artagnan and Constance. Richelieu reluctantly signs one, wording it in a way that leaves no evidence against himself...

I loved this movie and the first one when I was a kid and I have only fond memories of it. I still see Richard Lester´s films as the best adaptation of Alexandre Dumas novel. I reckon it has that perfect blend of costume drama, lavish sets, action, intrigues, romance, adventure, and comedy captured from the book. But, I must say that I had forgotten that the humour was so very much slap stick, almost a bit too much in my book. Michael York gives life to the young, and at first naive D'Artagnan, while Chamberlain and Finlay adds weight, but the unforgettable one is without no doubt the always intense, mysterious and full on Oliver Reed. He is a tour de force in this one, and from what I have red all the stuntmen were scared shitless do duel with him as he went at it like a crazy man and he had not real idea how he was wielding his sword. The ensemble cast sports so many good names such as Lee, Dunaway, Heston, Welch etc and all puts in performances that sticks and stays. And I still remember the oh so beautiful Nicole Calfan who plays Maid Kitty..."The Three Musketeers" constitutes only the first half of the novel and movie, and the filmmakers decided to end the picture at this point, releasing a sequel, "The Four Musketeers", a year later, which would cover the remainder of the story. While it was a wise decision, no one had informed the cast that they were, in fact, making two movies, and not one, at the time of filming, and the stars quickly filed suit against the Salkinds. After a brief but highly publicized court case, the cast were compensated, and the second film was released. As a result of the producers splitting the film into two parts, Screen Actors' Guild contracts now often feature what is called a "Salkind Clause," which requires producers to state up front how many films are being shot, and that the actors involved must be paid for each. The latter clause applies even, or even especially, when producers make that decision during or after production.