Three Musketeers, The (1948)
Directed by George Sidney, with a screenplay by Robert Ardrey that was based on the Alexandre Dumas novel, this particular screen adaptation of the famous story earned an Academy Award nomination for its Color Cinematography (Robert H. Planck's second of four unrewarded Oscar nominations in that category) and is notable for lead Gene Kelly's acrobatic portrayal of D'Artagnan, the fourth musketeer. Otherwise, it's an average action adventure romance drama (swashbuckler) with a highly recognizable cast that seems less than what it could have been. Top billed Lana Turner plays the wicked Lady de Winter, M'lady, June Allyson plays Constance Bonacieux (the role that Raquel Welch so deliciously made her own in the 1973 remake), Van Heflin (Johnny Eager (1942)) seems particularly well-suited to play Athos, the king's musketeer who has reason to drink heavily per his past with M'lady, Angela Lansbury plays Queen Anne, who relies on Constance to use beau D’Artagnan to retrieve her jewels from England's Duke of Buckingham (John Sutton) to keep secret their love from her husband King Louis XIII (Frank Morgan) of France when Prime Minister Richelieu (Vincent Price), who would love to have war between the countries, contrives to expose the clandestine relationship. Keenan Wynn plays D'Artagnan's trusty servant Planchet. Gig Young appears the least among the musketeers as Porthos, who receives a wound to his tush, and Robert Coote plays the dandy ladies man musketeer, Aramis. Reginald Owen plays the King's Captain of the Musketeers, de Treville. After brash young D'Artagnan, at his father's (Robert Warwick, uncredited) urging, goes to Paris to become a musketeer and soon finds himself scheduled to fight duels with the three titled characters, Ian Keith plays his first real sword opponent, de Rochefort, Richelieu's primary swordsman. Patricia Medina plays M'lady's assistant and spy, Kitty. Byron Foulger appears uncredited as Bonacieux, D'Artagnan's landlord and Constance's father.
Purchase this DVD now at
Most Recent Additions:
Casanova Brown (1944) - full review!
I Want You (1951) - full review!
A Bill of Divorcement (1932) - full review!
Patterns (1956) - full review!
Last Train from Gun Hill (1959) - full review!
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) - full review!
Hour of the Gun (1967) - full review!
To Sir, with Love (1967) - full review!
You'll Never Get Rich (1941) - full review!
The Actress (1953) - full review!
Mannequin (1937) - full review!
All My Sons (1948) - full review!
Mourning Becomes Electra (1947) - full review!
State Fair (1945) - full review!
Billy Budd (1962) - full review!
Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951) - full review!
The Bachelor Party (1957) - full review!
The Glenn Miller Story (1954) - full review!
The Southerner (1945) - full review!
The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966)
Never on Sunday (1960) - full review!
The Arrangement (1969) - full review!
A Summer Place (1959) - full review!
Miracle in the Rain (1956) - full review!
Love Letters (1945) - full review!
The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944) - full review!
The Absent Minded Professor (1961)
20000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
Come and Get It (1936) - full review!
The Prize (1963) - full review!
This Is the Army (1943) - full review!
Home from the Hill (1960) - full review!
Hangmen Also Die (1943) - full review!
The Shop on Main Street (1965) - full review!
The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (1969) - full review!
A Gathering of Eagles (1963) - full review!
This Happy Breed (1944) - full review!
Red-Headed Woman (1932) - full review!
Waterloo Bridge (1931) - full review!
Baby Face (1933) - full review!
Titanic (1943) - full review!
Cover Girl (1944) - full review!
Saratoga Trunk (1945) - full review!
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
The Young Philadelphians (1959) - full review!
Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)
Pocket Money (1972) - full review!
[Home] [Hitchcock] [Oscar's Best] [Essays] [Essential Films] [TCM Picks] [Obscure Films] [Links] [Other Reviews] [Academy Awards] [Silent Films] [Movie Index]
