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''At Sword's Point'', also known as ''Sons of the Three Musketeers'', is a 1952 American
historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...
action adventure film directed by Lewis Allen and starring
Cornel Wilde Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker. Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited ap ...
and Maureen O'Hara. It was shot in
Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...
by
RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...
. The film was completed in 1949 but was not released until 1952. The sons of Aramis, Porthos and D'Artagan and Claire, the daughter of Athos, are reunited by the aging Queen Anne to halt the villainy of her treacherous nephew, the Duc de Lavalle.


Plot

The sons (and a daughter) of the original Four Musketeers ride to the rescue of besieged Queen Anne in 1648 France. D'Artagnan and his companions are alerted that the terminally ill queen is being pressured by the evil Duc de Lavalle into agreeing to a marriage with Princess Henriette. Unable to respond, the musketeers send their sons (and one daughter) to the royal court to help. The men are imprisoned and betrayed, and a romance forms between D'Artagnan Jr. and Claire.


Cast

*
Cornel Wilde Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker. Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited ap ...
as
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 Fr ...
* Maureen O'Hara as Claire * Robert Douglas as Duc de Lavalle * Gladys Cooper as Queen Anne * June Clayworth as Comtesse Claudine *
Dan O'Herlihy Daniel Peter O'Herlihy (1 May 1919 – 17 February 2005) was an Irish actor. His best-known roles included his Oscar-nominated portrayal of the title character in Luis Buñuel's ''Robinson Crusoe'' (1954), Brigadier General Warren A. Black in ...
as Aramis *
Alan Hale Jr. Alan Hale Jr. (born Alan Hale MacKahan; March 8, 1921 – January 2, 1990) was an American actor and restaurateur. He was the son of actor Alan Hale Sr. His television career spanned four decades, but he was best known for his secondary lead ro ...
as Porthos * Blanche Yurka as Madame Michom * Nancy Gates as Princess Henriette * Edmund Breon as Queen's Chamberlain * Peter Miles as Young
Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...
* George Petrie as Chalais * Moroni Olsen as Porthos *
Lucien Littlefield Lucien Littlefield (August 16, 1895 – June 4, 1960) was an American actor who achieved a long career from silent films to the television era. He was noted for his versatility, playing a wide range of roles and already portraying old men befor ...
as Cpl. Gautier (uncredited)


Production

In 1947,
Republic Pictures Republic Pictures is currently an acquisition-only label owned by Paramount Pictures. Its history dates back to Republic Pictures Corporation, an American film studio that originally operated from 1935 to 1967, based in Los Angeles, California ...
announced the purchase of the script ''Sons of the Musketeers'' by
Aubrey Wisberg Aubrey Lionel Wisberg (October 20, 1909 – March 14, 1990) was a British-American filmmaker. Biography Born in London, Wisberg emigrated to the United States in 1921, attended New York University and Columbia University, and married B ...
and Jack Pollexfen. Eagle Lion also announced a film titled ''Sons of the Musketeers'', a concern for
MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
, which was planning the 1948 film ''The Three Musketeers''. Eventually the project went to RKO where it was devised as a vehicle for
Cornel Wilde Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker. Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited ap ...
. Lewis Allen was announced as director on November 15, 1949. Filming began on December 14, 1949. MGM had some difficulties depicting
Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...
in ''The Three Musketeers'', so the filmmakers decided to not show
Cardinal Mazarin Jules Mazarin (born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino or Mazarini; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), from 1641 known as Cardinal Mazarin, was an Italian Catholic prelate, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Lou ...
in ''At Sword's Point'' although the character was in the original script.


Notes

* Porthos is played by Moroni Olsen, who played the same character in the 1935 film of the original 1844 Alexander Dumas novel, ''
The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...
''.
Alan Hale Jr. Alan Hale Jr. (born Alan Hale MacKahan; March 8, 1921 – January 2, 1990) was an American actor and restaurateur. He was the son of actor Alan Hale Sr. His television career spanned four decades, but he was best known for his secondary lead ro ...
, who plays the son of Porthos, was the son of Alan Hale Sr., who appeared in '' The Man in the Iron Mask'' (1939) as an aging Porthos. * In another Three Musketeers movie, '' The Fifth Musketeer'' (1979), which retells the story of ''The Man in the Iron Mask'', two of the young musketeers from ''At Sword's Point'' reappear in the roles of their own fathers: Cornel Wilde stars as D'Artagnan and Hale Jr. as Porthos.


References


External links

* * * {{Lewis Allen 1952 films 1950s action adventure films 1950s historical action films 1950s historical adventure films American action adventure films American historical films Films directed by Lewis Allen RKO Pictures films Films scored by Roy Webb Films based on Twenty Years After Films set in Paris Films set in France Films set in the 1640s Cultural depictions of Louis XIV Films with screenplays by Aubrey Wisberg 1950s English-language films 1950s American films Cultural depictions of Anne of Austria English-language action adventure films English-language historical films