The Three Musketeers (1948)

In 1948 Gene Kelly starred as d'Artagnan in the MGM production of The Three Musketeers. It was a non-musical, but Kelly's dancing ability came in handy for the elaborate sword fights, which are extremely well choreographed and exciting, if not a little unrealistic.

The novel by Alexandre Dumas has been filmed scores of times. Of all the versions I've seen, I prefer the two films that Richard Lester made in the 1970s, which include a darker side to the story. But this version, directed by George Sidney, is a perfectly capable entry, with deeply saturated Technicolor, a rompish wit, and some fun, if not hammy, performances.

Sticking somewhat faithfully to the book, the film follows Kelly as he leaves his provincial village for Paris, hoping to be a musketeer (one of the king's guards). On his first day he manages to insult each of three of them, the famed Athos (Van Heflin), Aramis (Robert Coote), and Porthos (Gig Young), and schedules duels with each of them. But they are interrupted by the guards of the king's advisor Richelieu, and combine their efforts to defeat them, bonding in the process: "One for all, and all for one!"

Richelieu (Vincent Price) is scheming to draw France into a war with England, and connives to have jewels stolen that will reveal the queen (Angela Lansbury) as having an adulteress affair with the Duke of Buckingham. But the musketeers ride to the rescue.

Later, there will be more intrigue, as Kelly will fall in love with Constance (June Allyson), lady in waiting to the queen, who is kidnapped by the evil Lady de Winter (Lana Turner), who is working with Richelieu. There are escapes, gunfights, and of course plenty of swordplay, as the musketeers fight for the king.

The film was forced to delay production because Kelly had broken his ankle, but he certainly recovered, shown by his athleticism (one wonders what kind of an athlete he would have made--he once said he wanted to be shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates). Heflin, as the hard-drinking, melancholy Athos, gives the film a different flavor, and Price is at his hammy best as Richelieu, who is not identified as a Cardinal in order to spare the Catholic Decency League. Frank Morgan has a few delightful scenes as King Louis VII.

For all of the fun of this film, it does have a strikingly casual attitude about death. Many of the fights end with someone skewered with a foil, and the musketeers just laugh about it. Life must have been really cheap in 1625.