Review of The Three Musketeers (1948) by Julie A — 15 Nov 2008

I love a swashbuckling adventure, now and then; and also, I as I said many times a million times, I love a literary film too; especially if the film is based on a book I have like The Three Musketeers (I had read the abridged version). There had been many film adaptations based on the classic novel by Alexandre Dumas, and like I said before, I am not one take sides on which is better, so I would say I love this film starring Gene Kelly as the hero D'Artagnan and a young Vincent Price (in his 30s) as Richelieu; and I also love the 1993 version with Chris O'Donnell, Kiefer Sutherland and Tim Curry. The impressive supporting cast features a young Angela Lansbury as Queen Anne, June Allyson as Constance D'Artagnan's love interest, and Lana Turner at the height of her achingly alluring beauty as the evil Lady de Winter (de Winter's like a Black Widow). Gene Kelly's dashing, balletic swordplay and acrobatic leaps,provides the greatest of the many pleasures in this lighthearted,dazzlingly colorful swashbuckler.

A scene I love in the film, is when D'Artagnan was peeking in on Constance (that was funny). When I had read the book, I had found a few things quite different from the film. In the book, Constance is the landlord's wife not God-daughter (O.M.G! another man's wife! hmmm...I kind of like God-daughter better), and in the book, she didn't go to England to be safe from Richelieu, but a convent; and Milady didn't stab Constance, she poisoned her.