The Three Musketeers (1948)

Intro.
In one of my earlier posts, I had written about the 1921 version of The Three Musketeers, which had starred Douglas Fairbanks.  I had commented about Gene Kelly seeing that version and wanting to someday play d'Artagnan.  I finally got the chance to see the 1948 remake with Gene Kelly, and I have to say you can definitely see Fairbanks's influence.

Overview
The plot of the first hour of this film follows the original pretty closely (see the prior post).  However, where the first film ended with the safe return of the jewels, this one extended the storyline to include the whole of the original novel.  D'Artagnan returns to find each of his fellow musketeers where he had left them en route to London, and once reunited they have to find a way to earn some money.  D'Artagnan runs into the Lady de Winter and that's where things get interesting.  He pretends to be her lover in order to get her ring, and he discovers that on her shoulder is the brand of a convict.  We then learn that she is the wife of Athos and has been using men and leading them to their deaths.  She heads to London, where the Musketeers have warned the Duke of Buckingham.  He jails her and has Constance (the innocent seamstress and D'Artagnan's wife) act as jailer.  Lady de Winter feigns a serious illness and when Constance tries to help her, she kills Constance and a guard and flees back to France to seek out D'Artagnan and kill him too.  D'Artagnan, however, is in London and finds Constance.  He vows revenge, so with the help of his friends they find Lady de Winter and execute her in a very troubling, disturbing ending.  At the end D'Artagnan gets what he's always wanted - a commission with the King's Musketeers.

Highlights
One of the things Gene Kelly does so well in this film is his sword fighting.  Already an athlete and light on his feet as a dancer, he effortlessly goes from sword fight to sword fight in an almost comical manner.  It does get a bit ridiculous when he fights the captain of Richelieu's guards, but his seemingly boundless energy keeps the film going.  You do have to remember that d'Artagnan is only supposed to be 21, so it makes sense that he's a bit of a ham.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the other actors and actresses in this film.  I didn't realize it until I started watching, but this film also stars Angela Lansbury, Vincent Price (as a fantastic Richelieu!!), Lana Turner, Frank Morgan and June Allyson.  It also stars Van Heflin as Athos - he's an actor I hadn't seen much of previously, but I really enjoyed him in this role.  He adds a certain vulnerability to his character which sets him apart from the other Musketeers.

Comparison
It puzzled me that this film ran 2 hours and the 1921 version ran 2 hours but the stories were so different.  This version told in 1 hour what the 1921 version had done in 2 hours.  It made the story much harder to follow, and if I hadn't seen the 1921 version, I wouldn't have understood any of what was happening.  I missed the subtlety and development of character that was in the 1921 version.  We hardly get to see or understand Angela Lansbury as the Queen, and Vincent Price as Richelieu doesn't get nearly enough screen time.  I did enjoy seeing the entire story, though.  And I can understand why the storyline of Lady de Winter may have been a concern.  It is handled well in the remake and certainly toned down from the way the book was written.       

Review
All in all, an entertaining film.  I wouldn't recommend it as highly as other period films, mainly because the plot is hard to follow without previously knowing the story.  Gene Kelly's stunts and sword fighting are great, but his acting is too over-the-top.  I actually preferred the 1921 version, so if you like the book, start there.  I hope to see one of the newer remakes as well; who knows, maybe I'll have a series.  Meanwhile, if you're in the mood to watch some Gene Kelly, I'd recommend An American in Paris, Singin' in the Rain, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, It's Always Fair Weather (tap dancing on roller skates!!) and Inherit the Wind. 

To read more, check out IMDb.  There's also a brief write-up about the book here.