View source for The Three Musketeers (1973 live-action film)

{{Short description|1973 film by Richard Lester}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2014}}
{{more citations needed|date=October 2010}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = The Three Musketeers
| image          = File:The Three Musketeers 1973 live-action film poster.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Richard Lester]]<ref>{{cite news|title= Lester's Back and the 'Musketeers' Have Got Him|work= The New York Times|date=1973-08-05|url= http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50A11FE3859147A93C7A91783D85F478785F9|access-date=2010-10-10|first=Mark|last=Shivas}}</ref>
| producer       = [[Ilya Salkind]]<ref>{{cite news|title= Obituary: Alexander Salkind|work= Independent|date=1997-03-25|url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-alexander-salkind-1274937.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220620/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-alexander-salkind-1274937.html |archive-date=20 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=2010-10-10|location=London|first=Tony|last=Sloman}}</ref>
| writer         = [[George MacDonald Fraser]]
| based_on       = {{based on|{{nowrap|''[[The Three Musketeers]]''<br>1844 novel}}|{{nowrap|[[Alexandre Dumas père]]}}}}
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Oliver Reed]]
* [[Raquel Welch]]
* [[Richard Chamberlain]]
* [[Michael York]]
* [[Frank Finlay]]
* [[Christopher Lee]]
* [[Geraldine Chaplin]]
* [[Simon Ward]]
* [[Faye Dunaway]]
* [[Charlton Heston]]
}}
| music          = [[Michel Legrand]]
| cinematography = [[David Watkin (cinematographer)|David Watkin]]
| editing        = John Victor Smith
| distributor    = [[20th Century Fox]]
| released       = {{Film date|df=yes|1973|12|11|France|1974|03|26|United Kingdom|1974|3|29|United States}}
| runtime        = 105 minutes
| country        = United Kingdom<br />United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $4.5 million<ref name="back">Lester's Back and the 'Musketeers' Have Got Him
By MARK SHIVAS. New York Times 5 Aug 1973: 105</ref>
| gross          = $10.1 million <small>(rentals)</small><ref>Solomon, Aubrey. ''Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series)''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. {{ISBN|978-0-8108-4244-1}}. p232.</ref>
}}
'''''The Three Musketeers''''' (also known as '''''The Three Musketeers (The Queen's Diamonds)''''') is a 1973 [[swashbuckler film]] based on the [[The Three Musketeers|1844 novel]] by [[Alexandre Dumas]]. It is directed by [[Richard Lester]] from a screenplay by [[George MacDonald Fraser]], and produced by [[Ilya Salkind]]. It stars [[Michael York]], [[Oliver Reed]], [[Frank Finlay]], and [[Richard Chamberlain]] as the musketeers, with [[Raquel Welch]], [[Geraldine Chaplin]], [[Jean-Pierre Cassel]], [[Charlton Heston]], [[Faye Dunaway]], [[Christopher Lee]], [[Simon Ward]], [[Georges Wilson]] and [[Spike Milligan]].
The film adheres closely to the novel, and also injects a fair amount of humor. It was proposed in the 1960s as a vehicle for [[The Beatles]], whom Lester had directed in ''[[A Hard Day's Night (film)|A Hard Day's Night]]'' and ''[[Help! (film)|Help!]]''. It was shot by [[David Watkin (cinematographer)|David Watkin]], with an eye for period detail, in Madrid and Segovia, Spain. The fight scenes were choreographed by master swordsman [[William Hobbs (choreographer)|William Hobbs]]. The musical score was composed by [[Michel Legrand]].
''The Three Musketeers'' premiered in France on 11 December 1973. It was both a critical and commercial success and was nominated for several awards, including five [[BAFTA Awards|BAFTAs]]. Raquel Welch won a [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical|Golden Globe]] for her performance. [[The Four Musketeers (1974 film)|''The Four Musketeers'']], a sequel shot back-to-back with its predecessor, was released the following year.
==Plot==
Having learned [[swordsmanship]] from his father, the young country bumpkin [[d'Artagnan]] arrives in Paris with dreams of becoming a King's Musketeer. Unaccustomed to the city life, he makes a number of clumsy faux pas. First he finds himself insulted, knocked out and robbed by the [[Comte de Rochefort]], an agent of [[Cardinal Richelieu]], and once in Paris comes into conflict with three musketeers, [[Athos (character)|Athos]], [[Porthos]], and [[Aramis]], each of whom challenges him to a duel for some accidental insult or embarrassment. As the first of these duels is about to begin, Jussac arrives with five additional swordsmen of Cardinal Richelieu's guards. In the ensuing fight, d'Artagnan sides with the musketeers and becomes their ally in opposition to the cardinal, who wishes to increase his considerable power over King [[Louis XIII of France|Louis XIII]]. D'Artagnan also begins an affair with his landlord's wife, Constance Bonacieux, who is dressmaker to Queen [[Anne of Austria]].
Meanwhile, the [[George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham|Duke of Buckingham]], former lover of the queen, turns up and asks for something in remembrance of her; she gives him a necklace with 12 settings of diamonds, a gift from her husband. From the queen's treacherous lady-in-waiting, the cardinal learns of the rendezvous and suggests to the none-too-bright king to throw a ball in his wife's honor and request she wear the diamonds he gave her. The cardinal also sends his agent [[Milady de Winter]] to England, who seduces the duke and steals two of the necklace's diamonds.
Meanwhile, the queen has confided her troubles in Constance, who asks d'Artagnan to go to England and retrieve the diamonds. D'Artagnan and the three musketeers set out, but on the way, the cardinal's men attack them. Only d'Artagnan and his servant make it through to Buckingham, where they discover the loss of two of the diamond settings. The duke replaces the two settings, and d'Artagnan races back to Paris. Porthos, Athos, and Aramis, wounded but not dead as d'Artagnan had feared, aid the delivery of the complete necklace to the queen, saving the royal couple from the embarrassment which the cardinal and Milady de Winter had plotted.
Inducted, to Constance's delight, into the Musketeers of the King's Guard, d'Artagnan exchanges meaningful looks with Milady de Winter.
==Cast==
{{castlist|
* [[Michael York]] as [[d'Artagnan]]
* [[Oliver Reed]] as [[Athos (fictional character)|Athos]]
* [[Frank Finlay]] as [[Porthos]]/O'Reilly
* [[Richard Chamberlain]] as [[Aramis]]
* [[Raquel Welch]] as Constance Bonacieux
* [[Jean-Pierre Cassel]] as King [[Louis XIII of France]] {{small|(dubbed by [[Richard Briers]])}}
* [[Geraldine Chaplin]] as [[Anne of Austria]]
* [[Charlton Heston]] as [[Cardinal Richelieu]]
* [[Faye Dunaway]] as [[Milady de Winter]]
* [[Christopher Lee]] as the [[Comte de Rochefort|Count De Rochefort]]
* [[Simon Ward]] as the [[George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham|Duke of Buckingham]]
* [[Spike Milligan]] as M. Bonacieux
* [[Roy Kinnear]] as Planchet
* [[Georges Wilson]] as [[Comte de Troisville|Captain de Tréville]] {{small|(dubbed by [[Michael Hordern]])}}
* [[Nicole Calfan]] as Kitty
* [[Michael Gothard]] as [[John Felton (assassin)|John Felton]]
* [[Sybil Danning]] as Eugenie
* [[Gitty Djamal]] as Beatrice
* [[Joss Ackland]] as d'Artagnan's father
* [[Gretchen Franklin]] as d'Artagnan's mother
* [[Ángel del Pozo]] as Jussac
* [[Francis de Wolff]] as Sea Captain
}}
==Production==
===Development===
According to [[George MacDonald Fraser]], Richard Lester became involved with the project when the producers, the Salkinds (Alexander and Ilya), briefly considered casting [[The Beatles]] as the Musketeers, as Lester had directed two films with the group. The Beatles idea fell by the wayside but Lester stayed.<ref name="fraser"/> Lester says he had "never heard of" the Salkinds when they asked him if he was interested in doing ''The Three Musketeers''.He read "the first 200 pages, got excited and said yes".<ref name="back"/>
It was Lester's first feature film in five years, but he had directed commercials and had sought finance for other projects, including an adaptation of the novel ''[[Flashman (novel)|Flashman]]'' by [[George MacDonald Fraser]].<ref name="back"/>
Lester said the producers "wanted it to be a sexy film and they wanted it to be with big sexy stars" such as [[Leonard Whiting]] and [[Ursula Andress]]. He said "I just didn't say no to anything in the early stages" and that the "die was cast" when he was allowed to hire [[George MacDonald Fraser]] to write the script.<ref>Soderbergh p109</ref>
Fraser had never written a script but Lester thought that ''Flashman'' had the tone he was going for with his version of ''The Three Musketeers'' and the author was offered the job of writing the screenplay in late 1972.<ref name="Soderbergh109">Soderbergh p 109</ref>
According to Fraser, Lester originally said he wanted to make a four-hour film and cast Richard Chamberlain as Aramis, which Fraser felt gave him a strong idea of the tone Lester was looking for. It was later decided to turn the script into two films.<ref name="fraser">George MacDonald Fraser, ''The Light's On at Signpost'', HarperCollins 2002 p1-16</ref> Fraser says he wrote them as two films, but no one told the actors.<ref name="Buckley">At the Movies: Costs of making 'Superman' go up, up and away. Buckley, Tom. New York Times 26 May 1978: C6.</ref>
Lester says Fraser wrote the scripts in five weeks, and they were "perfect... just wonderful."<ref name="Soderbergh109"/> "It's the journalism training," said Fraser.<ref name="Buckley"/>
===Casting===
Lester says the Salkinds left him alone creatively for most of the film apart from insisting that Raquel Welch and Simon Ward be cast.<ref>Soderberg p 110</ref> "Raquel is very big in all the small countries," said Ilya Salkind.<ref name="back"/>
"I did the picture because of Dick Lester," said Charlton Heston.<ref name="back"/>
In August 1973 Welch withdrew from the film due to creative and artistic differences. She announced she instead would make the film ''Decline and Fall of a Very Nice Lady''.<ref>MOVIE CALL SHEET: Bart Signs Paramount Pact, Murphy, Mary. Los Angeles Times 8 Aug 1973: d13.</ref> However Welch rejoined the film.
===Filming===
The film was  meant to be shot in Hungary. However, after visiting the country, Lester felt this would not be feasible, in part because of restrictions of the government on filming.<ref>Soderbergh p110</ref>
The movie was shot in Spain<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/t/Three-Musketeers-1973.php|title=Filming Locations for The Three Musketeers (1973), in Spain.|website=The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations}}</ref> over seventeen weeks. Locations included Segovia, where Lester had made [[A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (film)|''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'']].
Lester says the producers assembled 20 minutes of footage and sold the film to [[20th Century Fox]].<ref>Sodeberg p 110</ref>
Lester says Michel Legrand "had about a week and a half" to write the music.<ref>Soderbergh p 113</ref>
==Reception==
===Critical response===
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 89% based on reviews from 18 critics.<ref>{{cite web |title= The Three Musketeers (1973) |url= https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1021340_three_musketeers |website= Rotten Tomatoes |access-date= 24 September 2024 }}</ref>
''Variety'' gave the film a positive review, and wrote, "The Three Musketeers take very well to Richard Lester's provocative version that does not send it up but does add comedy to this adventure tale." They praised the various performances, but noted that although Dunaway is underused she gets to make up for it in the sequel.<ref>{{cite news|title= The Three Musketeers - The Queen's Diamonds |work= Variety|date=1972-12-31|url= https://variety.com/1972/film/reviews/the-three-musketeers-the-queen-s-diamonds-1200422900/ |access-date= 2010-10-11 }}</ref>
[[Vincent Canby]] of ''The New York Times'' observed, "Mr. Lester seems almost exclusively concerned with action, preferably comic, and one gets the impression after a while that he and his fencing masters labored too long in choreographing the elaborate duels. They're interesting to watch, though they are without a great deal of spontaneity."<ref>{{cite news |date= 1974-04-04 |first= Vincent |last= Canby |title= Spirites 'Three Musketeers' (No. 6)|work= The New York Times |url= https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9506E6D8143CE63BBC4C53DFB266838F669EDE |access-date= 2019-11-23 }}</ref>
===Awards and nominations===
{| class="wikitable"
! Award
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| rowspan="5"| [[28th British Academy Film Awards|British Academy Film Awards]]
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Production Design|Best Art Direction]]
| [[Brian Eatwell]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="5"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1975/film |title=BAFTA Awards: Film in 1975 |website=BAFTA |year=1975 |access-date=7 July 2022 |ref={{harvid|BAFTA|1975}}}}</ref>
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]]
| [[David Watkin (cinematographer)|David Watkin]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design]]
| [[Yvonne Blake]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Editing|Best Film Editing]]
| John Victor Smith
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Original Music|Best Original Music]]
| [[Michel Legrand]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Evening Standard British Film Awards]]
| Best Comedy
| [[Richard Lester]]
| {{won}}
| align="center"|
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[32nd Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy|Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="2"| <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/three-musketeers |title=The Three Musketeers – Golden Globes |website=HFPA |access-date=7 July 2022 |ref={{harvid|HFPA|1975}}}}</ref>
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical|Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy]]
| [[Raquel Welch]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[17th Annual Grammy Awards|Grammy Awards]]
| [[Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media|Album of Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special]]
| Michel Legrand
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.grammy.com/awards/17th-annual-grammy-awards |title=17th Annual GRAMMY Awards (1974) |publisher=Grammy Awards |access-date=6 October 2022}}</ref>
|-
| [[National Board of Review Awards 1974|National Board of Review Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[National Board of Review: Top Ten Films|Top Ten Films]]
| {{draw|10th Place}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web|url=https://nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/1974/ |title=1974 Award Winners |website=National Board of Review |access-date=10 July 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[Writers' Guild of Great Britain|Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards]]
| Best British Comedy Screenplay
| [[George MacDonald Fraser]]
| {{won}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web|url=https://writersguild.org.uk/writers-guild-awards-1974/ |title=Writers' Guild Awards 1974 |website=Writers' Guild of Great Britain |access-date=15 February 2023}}</ref>
|}
==Salkind Clause==
The film was intended to be an epic that ran for three hours, including an intermission, but during production, it was determined the film could not make its announced release date in that form, so a decision was made to split the longer film into two shorter features, the second part becoming 1974's ''[[The Four Musketeers (1974 film)|The Four Musketeers]]''.
Some actors knew of this decision earlier than others, and by the time of the Paris premiere, all had been informed. Screenwriter George MacDonald Fraser records the evening: "That not all the actors knew about this I didn't discover until the Paris premiere, which began with a dinner for the company at Fouquet's and concluded in the small hours with a deafening concert in what appeared to be the cellar of some ancient Parisian structure (the Hotel de Ville, I think). Charlton Heston knew, for when we discussed it before dinner he shrugged philosophically and remarked: 'Two for the price of one.'"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fraser |first1=George MacDonald |title=The Light's on at Signpost |date=2002 |publisher=HarperCollins |location=London |isbn=0007136463 |page=8 |edition=First }}</ref> This change incensed the actors and crew because they were being paid for one film, and their original contracts made no mention of a second feature, resulting in lawsuits being filed to receive compensation for salaries associated with the sequel.
This led to the [[Screen Actors Guild]] requiring all future actors' contracts to include what has become known as the "Salkind clause" (named after producers [[Alexander Salkind|Alexander]] and [[Ilya Salkind]]), which stipulates that single productions cannot be split into film installments without prior contractual agreement.<ref>{{cite magazine|title= Franchise This|magazine= Entertainment Weekly|date=2004-04-09|url= https://ew.com/article/2004/04/09/whats-secret-franchise-films-success/|access-date=2010-10-10|first=Tom|last=Russo}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title= FILM VIEW; THE SALKIND HEROES WEAR RED AND FLY HIGH|work= The New York Times|date=1983-07-17|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/17/movies/film-view-the-salkind-heroes-wear-red-and-fly-high.html|access-date=2010-10-10|first=Sandra|last=Salmans}}</ref>
==Sequels==
''[[The Four Musketeers (1974 film)|The Four Musketeers]]'' was released the following year, with footage intended to combine with this film's to be part of a much longer film.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}
In 1989, much of the cast and crew of the original returned to film ''[[The Return of the Musketeers]]'', loosely based on Dumas' 1845 novel ''[[Twenty Years After]]''.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
===Bibliography===
* {{cite book |title= Getting away with it : or, The further adventures of the luckiest bastard you ever saw |url= https://archive.org/details/gettingawaywithi00sode |url-access= registration |last1= Soderbergh |first1= Steven |last2= Lester |first2= Richard |year= 1999 |publisher= Faber and Faber |isbn= 9780571190256 }}
==External links==
{{Wikiquote|The Three Musketeers (1973 film)}}
* {{IMDb title|0072281}}
* {{AllMovie title|49690}}
* {{TCMDb title|id=22501}}
* {{AFI film|55291}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|1021340_three_musketeers}}
{{Richard Lester}}
{{George MacDonald Fraser}}
{{The Three Musketeers}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Three Musketeers 1973 Live-action Film}}
[[Category:1973 films]]
[[Category:1970s American films]]
[[Category:1970s British films]]
[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
[[Category:1970s historical adventure films]]
[[Category:American historical adventure films]]
[[Category:American swashbuckler films]]
[[Category:British historical adventure films]]
[[Category:British swashbuckler films]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Anne of Austria]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Cardinal Richelieu]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Louis XIII]]
[[Category:Films based on The Three Musketeers]]
[[Category:Films directed by Richard Lester]]
[[Category:Films featuring a Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe winning performance]]
[[Category:Films scored by Michel Legrand]]
[[Category:Films set in France]]
[[Category:Films set in Paris]]
[[Category:Films set in the 17th century]]
[[Category:Films shot in Madrid]]
[[Category:Films shot in Segovia]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by George MacDonald Fraser]]
[[Category:English-language historical adventure films]]