The Four Musketeers(1974 film)

The Four Musketeers(also known asThe Four Musketeers (The Revenge of Milady)) is a 1974 Britishswashbuckler filmthat serves as a sequel to the 1973 filmThe Three Musketeers,and covers the second half ofDumas' 1844 novelThe Three Musketeers.

The Four Musketeers
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Richard Lester
Written by	George MacDonald Fraser
Based on	The Three Musketeers 1844 novel byAlexandre Dumas père
Produced by	Alexander Salkind Ilya Salkind Michael Salkind
Starring	Oliver Reed Raquel Welch Richard Chamberlain Michael York Frank Finlay Christopher Lee Geraldine Chaplin Jean-Pierre Cassel Simon Ward Faye Dunaway Charlton Heston
Cinematography	David Watkin
Edited by	John Victor Smith
Music by	Lalo Schifrin
Distributed by	Fox-Rank
Release dates	31 October 1974(1974-10-31)(West Germany) 1 September 1975(1975-09-01)(United Kingdom)
Running time	108 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	$8,760,000 (US/ Canada)

Fifteen years after completion ofThe Four Musketeers,much of the cast and crew reassembled to filmThe Return of the Musketeers(1989), loosely based on Dumas'Twenty Years After(1845).

Plot

During theAnglo-French War (1627–29),which involved suppression of theProtestantrebels ofLa Rochelle,Cardinal Richelieucontinues the machinations he began inThe Three Musketeersby ordering theCount de Rochefortto kidnap Constance Bonacieux, dressmaker toQueen Anne of France.The evilMilady de Winter,who wants revenge on junior musketeerd'Artagnan,seduces him to keep him occupied. He soon discovers her true nature, however, and also that she was once married to his fellow musketeerAthos,who had supposedly killed her after discovering that she was a branded criminal.

The trio of musketeers —Athos,Porthos,andAramis— rescue Constance from imprisonment in Rochefort's abode of Saint Cloud and take her to safety in the convent of Armentières. De Winter sends d'Artagnan poisoned wine and a note intended to trick him into thinking that the trio have been imprisoned for drunkenness. On his way to bail them out, d'Artagnan is attacked by Rochefort and his men. The trio join the fight, and Rochefort flees. One of his men is captured and tortured for information, revealing that Richelieu is going to the Dovecote Inn near La Rochelle, but then drinks the poisoned wine and dies, revealing de Winter's trap. The trio then proceed to the inn where they spy on Richelieu. The Cardinal orders de Winter to threaten theDuke of Buckinghamwith exposure of his affair with the Queen, to discourage him from sending a relief force to aid the rebels; she is to kill the Duke if he does not comply. In return, de Winter asks for a warrant, so she can kill d'Artagnan and Constance. Richelieu reluctantly signs one, wording it in a way that leaves no evidence against himself: "By my order and for the good of the state, the bearer has done what has been done."

After revealing himself to de Winter, Athos takes the death warrant from her and later tells d'Artagnan of the plot. D'Artagnan sends his servant Planchet to warn the Duke. In England, de Winter asks Buckingham not to help the rebels, but he refuses. De Winter tries to assassinate him, but she is captured. Buckingham has his servantJohn Feltonlock her away in theTower of London,but she seduces Felton and convinces him that Buckingham is his enemy. Felton helps her to escape and return to France, then murders Buckingham before Planchet can warn him. Soon after, La Rochelle surrenders.

Rochefort and de Winter are still intent on killing d'Artagnan and Constance. With a force of guards, they occupy the convent at Armentières and battle all four musketeers when they arrive. While Rochefort and his men hold the musketeers at bay, de Winter strangles Constance. Athos captures de Winter; D'Artagnan duels Rochefort and apparently kills him with a lunge through the chest (though it is revealed in the sequelThe Return of the Musketeersthat he actually survived the wound). The four musketeers sentence de Winter to death by beheading, and they hire an executioner to carry out the punishment. Afterward, they are arrested by the Cardinal's guards.

Richelieu charges d'Artagnan with murder for killing a valuable servant of the State, but d'Artagnan shows him the signed death warrant which, due to its ambiguous phrasing, appears to authorize d'Artagnan's actions. Defeated and quite impressed at d'Artagnan's achievement, the Cardinal offers him a commission for either him or one of his three friends to become an officer. Athos, Porthos, and Aramis all reject it, and d'Artagnan is promoted to Lieutenant of the Musketeers.

Cast

• Michael Yorkasd'Artagnan
• Oliver ReedasAthos
• Frank FinlayasPorthos
• Richard ChamberlainasAramis
• Jean-Pierre CasselasLouis XIII
• Geraldine ChaplinasAnne of Austria
• Charlton HestonasCardinal Richelieu
• Faye DunawayasMilady de Winter
• Christopher Leeas theCount de Rochefort
• Simon Wardas theDuke of Buckingham
• Raquel WelchasConstance Bonacieux
• Roy KinnearasPlanchet
• Michael GothardasFelton
• Sybil DanningasEugenie
• Nicole Calfanas Kitty

Production

During production onThe Three Musketeers,the producers realized that the project was too lengthy to complete as intended — as a roadshow epic with intermission — and still achieve their announced release date. They split the project into two films, released asThe Three MusketeersandThe Four Musketeerssix months apart. The actors were incensed that their work was being used to make a separate film, while they were only being paid for one. Lawsuits were filed to gain the salaries and benefits associated with a second film that was not mentioned in the original contracts. AllSAGactors' contracts now have what is known as the "Salkind clause", which stipulates how many films are being made.

Reception and awards

The film received mostly positive reviews.

It was also nominated at the48th Academy AwardsforBest Costumes(Yvonne BlakeandRon Talsky).

External links

• The Four MusketeersatIMDb
• The Four MusketeersatAllMovie
• The Four Musketeersat theTCM Movie Database
• The Four Musketeersat theAFI Catalog of Feature Films
• The Four MusketeersatRotten Tomatoes