The Four Musketeers (1975) Richard Lester Remarkably, this film was actually cut together from unused footage shot for The Three Musketeers, a film which had originally been planned as a large epic. But with so much story material invested into the screenplay, the producers decided when editing the Three Musketeers that there was enough footage to make two films. This caused no small consternation among the film's cast, who were rightly chagrined at their work being used in two films when they had only been paid for one. In any case, The Four Musketeers is a terrifically entertaining adventure, almost as vibrant as the first. Obviously the same cast is back, this time to face the vengeful Milady de Winter who is bent on revenge at having been outsmarted in the first film. The Four Musketeers offers a surprisingly coherent plot and proves to be far more than a mere cobbling together of the leftovers from The Three Musketeers (though admittedly there are a few continuity holes here and there). The tone of this film, however, is decidedly darker than its predecessor. The religious wars are addressed, as the Musketeers are called upon to serve in battle against the Huguenots. And D'Artagnan proves less likeable in this film (especially owing to his infidelity to Constance). Regardless, great fight scenes are in abundance, particularly in the frigid winter sequence where the Musketeers alternately duel and fall on their backsides as they battle on a slippery frozen lake. And the climax is harrowing as D'Artagnan and Rochefort duel to the death in a burning convent which is collapsing around them. Screening both this film and The Three Musketeers makes for a great double feature and is highly recommended as some of the best adventure and romance ever put on the silver screen. —Paul Andrew MacLean

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