THE THREE MUSKETEERS (THE QUEEN'S DIAMONDS)
(PG)
D: Richard Lester
20th Century Fox/Film Trust (Alexander
Salkind)
UK/Panama 1973
107 mins
Adventure
W: George MacDonald Fraser [based on the novel by
Alexandre Dumas]
DP: David Watkin
Ed: John Victor Smith
Mus: Michel Legrand
PD: Brian Eatwell
Cos: Yvonne Blake & Ron
Talsky
Michael York (d'Artagnan), Oliver Reed (Athos), Richard
Chamberlain (Aramis), Frank Finlay (Porthos), Geraldine Chaplin (Anne of Austria), Jean-Pierre Cassel (King Louis XIII), Charlton Heston (Cardinal Richelieu), Faye Dunaway (Milady de
Winter)
Not the first film based on Alexandre Dumas' classic novel
and it certainly won't be the last, but probably the most lavishly produced with no expense held back in recreating the period with huge sets, garish costumes and an all-star
cast.
This treatment is mostly for jokes, without much plot, but
all the loose ends come together for The Four Musketeers, released a year later.
6/10