The Three Musketeers: The Queen’s Diamonds **** (1973, Michael York, Oliver Reed, Raquel Welch, Richard Chamberlain, Faye Dunaway, Christopher Lee, Frank Finlay, Charlton Heston) – Classic Movie Review 2304

Michael York is at his best as D’Artagnan.

Michael York is at his swashbuckling best in The Three Musketeers: The Queen’s Diamonds, as young, would-be Musketeer D’Artagnan, in director Richard Lester’s breathlessly exuberant, delightfully spoofy 1973 account of the Alexandre Dumas adventure classic.

Lester, who won the 1975 Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Comedy, conceived the film as vehicle for The Beatles, with whom he’d worked on A Hard Day’s Night (1964) and Help! (1965). It is very much a production by the Salkind family, Ilya, Alexander and Michael, the team behind the Superman movies.

In Alexandre Dumas père’s story, D’Artagnan arrives in Paris, and meets Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, who invite him to join them in their quest to oppose the evil Cardinal Richelieu.

Almost all of the action, intrigue and jokes work beautifully, and it’s all great entertainment thanks to the Salkinds’ lavish production, David Watkin’s gorgeous cinematography on Spanish locations, George Macdonald Fraser’s colourful screenplay, Michel Legrand’s music and a score of tremendous and richly varied star turns.

The comedy acting from British funny men Roy Kinnear (as Planchet) and Spike Milligan (as Monsieur de Bonancieux) surprisingly blends in easily with the straight performances from American stars Charlton Heston (as Cardinal Richelieu), Faye Dunaway (as Milady de Winter, the Cardinal’s secret agent) and sexy Raquel Welch (as Constance de Bonancieux). Welch did well to win the 1975 Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical or Comedy.

Other infectiously enjoyable, invigorating turns come from Oliver Reed (Athos), Frank Finlay (Porthos) and Richard Chamberlain (Aramis) as the Musketeers and Christopher Lee who is of course an effortlessly splendid villain, as Rochefort. Reed was nearly killed when he was stabbed in the throat during the windmill duel scene. Finlay also plays O’Reilly, the jeweller tasked by Duke of Buckingham (Simon Ward) to reproduce two missing diamond studs.

Also in the cast that includes Jean-Pierre Cassel (dubbed by Richard Briers, as King Louis XIII), Michael Gothard, Sybil Danning, Rodney Bewes (Spy), Ben Aris, Joss Ackland, Gretchen Franklyn, Geraldine Chaplin and Georges Wilson (dubbed by Michael Hordern) there are even a couple of actual Frenchmen, even if their voices are dubbed so they might as well have been English or American anyway!

Also noteworthy is the splendid production design by Brian Eatwell, art direction by Les Dilley and costume design by Yvonne Blake, too, with a bright and lively sense of the 17th-century French way of life. You’d have thought these might have won awards, Oscars or Golden Globes maybe, Baftas certainly, but no!.

The sequel, The Four Musketeers: Milady’s Revenge, was made in Spain at the same time and released in 1974 in Europe and 1975 in the US and UK. Or to be more accurate, the producers split the one film into two parts, so we had to pay twice and the actors got paid once. The Return of the Musketeers followed belatedly and lamely in 1989.

Oscar nominated Frank Finlay.

Rodney Bewes died on 21 November 2017.

Chubby-cheeked British comedy actor Rodney Bewes died on 21 November 2017 six days before his 80th birthday.

Raquel Welch died at her home in Los Angeles on 15 February 2023 after a brief illness, aged 82.

She is also famed for Fantastic Voyage (1966), One Million Years BC (1966), Bedazzled (1967), Bandolero! (1968), 100 Rifles (1969), Myra Breckinridge (1970), Hannie Caulder (1971) and Fuzz, (1972).

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2304

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