''The Three Musketeers'' is a 1935 film directed by Rowland V. Lee and starring Walter Abel, Heather Angel,

Ian Keith Ian Keith (born Keith Ross; February 27, 1899 – March 26, 1960) was an American actor. Early years Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Keith grew up in Chicago. He was educated at the Francis Parker School there and played Hamlet in a school p ...

, Margot Grahame, and Paul Lukas. It is the first English-language talking picture version of

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...

's 1844 novel ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...

''.

Plot

Callow youth

d'Artagnan Charles de Batz de Castelmore (), also known as d'Artagnan and later Count d'Artagnan ( 1611 – 25 June 1673), was a French Musketeer who served Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard. He died at the siege of Maastricht in the ...

(Walter Abel) sets off from

Gascony Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part ...

for

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, armed with his father's sword, an old horse and a letter of introduction to his godfather, Captain de Treville ( Lumsden Hare), commander of the King's Musketeers. Along the way, he attempts to rescue Milady de Winter (Margot Grahame) from highwaymen, but it turns out she came to meet their leader, the Count de Rochefort (Ian Keith). When Rochefort insults d'Artagnan, the latter insists on a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and ...

. Instead, Rochefort has his men knock out d'Artagnan, while he blackmails Lady de Winter into helping him in his plot to seize power. Upon reaching Paris, d'Artagnan is dismayed to learn from de Treville that he must serve two years as a cadet or perform "extraordinary deeds of valor" before he can become a Musketeer. Then he spots Rochefort on the street. In his haste to confront his enemy, d'Artagnan unintentionally insults three Musketeers: Athos (Paul Lukas), Porthos ( Moroni Olsen), and Aramis ( Onslow Stevens) in turn, agreeing each time to a duel. When his opponents arrive at the appointed place, they are amused to discover they are all engaged to cross swords with the same man. However,

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

's Guards try to arrest the Musketeers for dueling. D'Artagnan joins the outnumbered trio and acquits himself well. His three new friends secure him free lodging by threatening landlord Bernajou ( Murray Kinnell) with an imaginary law and find him a servant named Planchet ( John Qualen). That night, d'Artagnan is pleasantly surprised when Bernajou's ward Constance ( Heather Angel) enters the room. It turns out that it is actually her chamber, though she is rarely there, as she spends most of her time at the palace as

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

to the Queen. Constance has arranged a rendezvous between Queen Anne (

Rosamond Pinchot Rosamond Pinchot (October 26, 1904 – January 24, 1938) was an American socialite, stage and film actress. Early life and career Born in New York City, Pinchot was the daughter of Amos Pinchot, a wealthy lawyer and a key figure in the Progres ...

) and her lover, the English Duke of Buckingham ( Ralph Forbes). Buckingham threatens to wage war to obtain Anne, but she dissuades him by appealing to his love; she gives him her diamonds as a pledge for peace. Bernajou, lusting for Constance and suspicious of her meeting a lover, has hidden in an armoire and witnesses their meeting. He is arrested and reveals the details to Rochefort, who is in league with Richelieu to bring about the Queen's downfall and thus thwart Buckingham. Rochefort lies to Richelieu that the Queen gave her diamonds to start a war between France and England, and they arrange it so that she must appear wearing the diamonds at the King's anniversary ball eight days hence. Margot Grahame in The Three Musketeers

When d'Artagnan finds out from Constance the Queen's danger, he decides to ride to England and retrieve the jewelry. De Treville assigns him help: Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. Alerted by Bernajou, Rochefort sends his men to attack them along the way. One by one, the others remain behind to hold off their enemies, and only d'Artagnan reaches

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

, where he discovers that Lady de Winter has killed Buckingham's valet and stolen the diamonds. She is not fooled by his attempt to gain her confidence and has her men tie him up and throw him in her carriage. She stops at an inn on her journey back to Paris; by chance it is where the Musketeers had agreed to rendezvous. They free d'Artagnan and take Lady de Winter prisoner, after which Athos reveals that she is his wife. At Athos's ancestral home, where Constance is waiting, Lady de Winter throws herself into the river. At the ball, d'Artagnan unmasks Rochefort as a traitor, producing a secret treaty taken from Lady de Winter and offered by Rochefort to Buckingham in which the King and Richelieu would be assassinated. Hearing that d'Artagnan is just a cadet, the King immediately makes him a Musketeer.

Cast

* Walter Abel as

as Count de Rochefort * Margot Grahame as Milady de Winter * Paul Lukas as Athos * Moroni Olsen as Porthos * Onslow Stevens as

Aramis René d'Herblay, alias Aramis, is a fictional character in the novels ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844), '' Twenty Years After'' (1845), and '' The Vicomte de Bragelonne'' (1847-1850) by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the other two musketeers, A ...

* Heather Angel as Constance *

Ralph Faulkner Ralph Faulkner (July 20, 1891 – January 28, 1987) was an American fencer and film actor. He competed in the team sabre event at the 1932 Summer Olympics. Post-college career After graduating from college Faulkner became a forest ranger. T ...

as Jussac *

as Queen Anne * John Qualen as Planchet * Murray Kinnell as Bernajou * Nigel De Brulier as

* Lumsden Hare as Captain de Treville * Miles Mander as King

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crow ...

* Ralph Forbes as Duke of Buckingham * Lionel Belmore as Inn Proprietor (uncredited) Cast notes: *

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Gold ...

is listed as an uncredited extra. * Keith would later reprise his role as Rochefort in the 1948 version.

Critical reception

In his review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', Andre Sennwald wrote "''The Three Musketeers'' in its 1935 edition is a reasonably entertaining picture, but it is not in the same league with the athletic Fairbanks' version of fourteen years ago." Hal Erickson opined, "This is considered the dreariest of the many versions of ''The Three Musketeers''."

Reception

The film made a profit of $55,000.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Three Musketeers, The 1930s historical adventure films 1935 films American historical adventure films American black-and-white films Films based on The Three Musketeers Films directed by Rowland V. Lee Films scored by Max Steiner Films set in the 1620s Films set in France Films set in Paris RKO Pictures films Films with screenplays by Dudley Nichols American swashbuckler films Films produced by Cliff Reid Cultural depictions of Cardinal Richelieu Cultural depictions of Louis XIII 1930s English-language films 1930s American films