The Three Musketeers (1953 film)
6.4 /10 1 Votes
Director Andre Hunebelle Country FranceItaly | 6.2/10 Duration | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date October 7, 1953 (1953-10-07) (France)December 8, 1953 (1953-12-08) (Italy) Based on Les trois mousquetaires by Alexandre Dumas pere |
The Three Musketeers (French: Les Trois Mousquetaires) is a 1953 film based on the French novel of the same name. This adaptation is one of five films director André Hunebelle and screen writer Michel Audiard achieved together. Georges Marchal portrayed d'Artagnan. In real life he was clearly older (born in 1920) than this character, but Marchal happened to be one of the most famous actors of European cinema in these days. With hindsight this adaptation might be regarded as one of his lesser important appearances because later on he even starred for Luis Buñuel.
Contents

Plot

Young d'Artagnan leaves his parents and travels from his native Gascony to the capital of France because he wants to prove himself an excellent fencer and to become a musketeer. He is told by his father he must not avoid any duel. On his way to Paris, d'Artagnan feels that his honour is besmirched because he overhears how his horse is derided by a sinister nobleman. He can't help but demand immediate satisfaction. Unfortunately, of all men he finds he has challenged the Count de Rochefort, a shifty character to whom Cardinal Richelieu frequently entrusts covert operations. Rochefort's henchmen take care of d'Artagnan and steal from him. The enraged d'Artagnan is determined to take revenge and will eventually have the chance to do so, for the Queen has given a present to her secret admirer the Duke of Buckingham, and d'Artagnan must retrieve it from him, although he is now already back in England. If he fails her, Cardinal Richelieu is going to disclose Queen Anne's infidelity to King Louis XIII, in order to force a war against England upon him. The Cardinal and Count de Rochefort will do everything in their power if only they can put paid to d'Artagnan's mission. But with help from his three new friends d'Artagnan prevails.
Production

The film was shot in the Studios de Saint-Maurice, on the premises of castle Fontainebleau and in the Forest of Fontainebleau. In 1966 André Hunebelle returned to Fontainebleau for his film Fantômas contre Scotland Yard.
Reception

It was the sixth most successful film at the French box office in 1953, after The Greatest Show on Earth, The Return of Don Camillo, Peter Pan, The Wages of Fear and Quo Vadis.
Due to the film's success André Hunebelle directed three more swashbuckler films (Le Bossu, Captain Blood and Le Miracle des loups) and hereby established Jean Marais as a fixture for this genre.
References
The Three Musketeers (1953 film) WikipediaThe Three Musketeers (1953 film) IMDb The Three Musketeers (1953 film) themoviedb.org