Of late when I want to watch a film I’ve never seen before, I’ve been drawn more toward old movies than toward new ones. That’s why, when browsing on a recent evening, I wound up watching 1973’s The Three Musketeers. Everyone knows the basic shape of Dumas’s tale—the young D’Artagnan goes to Paris to join the king’s musketeers and befriends three of their noblest (or ignoblest, depending on your perspective): Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. So why take the time to talk about an old story, retold in an old film? Well, it evoked a certain “spirit” which I rarely feel while watching recent movies. I want to try understanding that for myself.
The film, by and large, is a romantic adventure. It has its fair share of comedic moments, but these are balanced with romance, action, and menace. Over the course of its two-hour run we see D’Artagnan shift from a prodigal duelist trained by his father into a clever and heroic soldier. His primary motive is romance; tasked with returning the Queen of France’s diamonds—gifted to her secret lover, the English prime minister—by her handmaid Constance, who the musketeer loves. Indeed, he even denies reward when offered by the Queen’s wealthy lover! While each of the titular triad has their own vices, it is D’Artagnan who rises above the rest as a true hero.
Naturally when you’ve got source material as beloved and well-composed as Dumas, a film’s writing need only translate that to the silver screen. The Three Musketeers is well-plotted and well-characterized, but that’s largely because it is quite faithful to Dumas’s novel. Quality source material makes it easier to create a quality movie.
What I admired most in this film, then, is logically its execution. There is some different quality between this film and modern cinema which plucked my heart like a harp.
Modern cinema, above all else, routinely has excellent spectacle. Most new films I see on small or big screen are guaranteed to offer a visual feast. I’d not go so far as to say “modern films only offer spectacle, humbug!” There’s many recent films I enjoy for non-spectacle reasons (such as Dune 2). But when I sit down to watch something new, I’m confident that the film will glitter and shine for much of its runtime. In contrast The Three Musketeers—and most other old films I enjoy—are somewhat lacking. I enjoyed the dueling and action in The Three Musketeers but frankly, on the whole it can’t compare. There’s a quite clever duel between D’Artagnan and the Comte de Rochefort (played by a delightfully menacing Christopher Lee) in the night with lanterns. Yet a good idea for an action sequence doesn’t prevent the sequence from feeling somewhat dated.
(As an aside, I think part of why I’ve lately enjoyed Indian cinema is because its spectacle pulls off what Western doesn’t—it’s the display of titanic emotions above and beyond everyday experience through musical and dramatic elements.)
Yet The Three Musketeers grabbed me emotionally in a way similar modern films have not. I think, in part, it’s because the action and spectacle in the 1973 film are not the center of its emotion. Its emotion is carried in the music and the characters. Modern films carry emotion in these elements as well. But in comparison I think they do so less well.
Music is strongly able to color and characterize a scene. A triumphant theme or an ominous theme can change a scene’s tone despite the same dialogue, expressions, and actions. There’s a bit of survivor bias in this, but most old films which stick out in my memory have strong, impactful music. For example, well, anything composed by John Williams.
The Three Musketeers is accompanied by vibrant and dramatic music. The soundtrack carries the viewer on swells of heroism and danger. It’s often quite loud in the audio mix—not so much that it overpowers the dialogue, but the music is emphatic throughout. It’s central to telling the story as D’Artagnan races to England and back in much the same way that Howard Shore’s soundtrack for The Lord of the Rings dramatizes and colors the Fellowship’s journeys across Middle-Earth. Hell, the music in The Three Musketeers was good enough that I went and listened to it on its own while working the day after I watched the film! It’s not in the same league as Williams or Shore, but the accompaniment did bolster the film in a memorable way I no longer anticipate from the average film.
As mentioned above, the characterization in The Three Musketeers is quite strong due to its high-quality source material. Another important element, I think, is that the film’s comedy never touches the villains. That keeps the film distinct from being a comedy adventure (with buffoonish antagonists) as well as avoiding the modern “Marvel” style of every character having quips. This is, admittedly, also supported by the fabulous work on-screen of Charlton Heston and Christopher Lee. Both actors bolster the film’s villainy and menace. In particular, Heston’s Cardinal Richelieu struck me as a careful and politic schemer worthy of the good seasons of Game of Thrones.
Curious what type of adventures I write myself? They tend to involve half-mad gods, horrific ice demons, and other fun stuff. Go check them out! Picking up any of my RuneQuest works really helps me keep the site running and keep posting new stuff each Friday.
Reflecting over the film and its elements—along with similar older films I’ve been enjoying lately—I think the aspect which has continued to draw me to them is not an actual element of the film as a work of art. It’s a lack of cynicism, the presence of optimism in these movies which encourages a feeling of nostalgia. I grew up watching a lot of this era of movies. I recall things like Davy Crockett and Swiss Family Robinson in fond but foggy memory, and Roger Moore’s Bond films a bit more firmly. In movies of this period bad things can happen, the good guys can even lose, there can be unhappy endings. But the world is often portrayed as basically hopeful.
The good guys win in The Three Musketeers, but the bad guys don’t “lose.” The battle’s won, but not the war. Yet despite the drama and the dangers it’s a happy and optimistic movie. This is carried most of all by the romance. The sincere yearning of D’Artagnan for Constance (who is somewhat less convinced) captures a youthful spirit of eros which enlivens the film. It’s a tale about a boy trying to accomplish great deeds for the sake of a girl—and it’s set in a world where that is possible. It’s a world in which M is trying to earnestly protect British citizens, in which the cops are helping Batman hunt down the bad guys, in which one person in the right place and the right time can really cause change.
Modern cinema’s focus on systems and “-isms” makes this type of world difficult or impossible to portray. If the whole system is the problem, how much does the story of the hero and the bad guy matter? If everyone is equal and identical—or focused on achieving that—how does difference-addicted eros find rose-scented air within which to breathe? The fictions of old film don’t, in my opinion, deny the existence of real-world problems. What they give us is inspiration, a world and a way of living which we ought to strive toward.
(Another aside: I think that’s a piece of why I loved Sanderson’s Tress of the Emerald Sea. It’s a subversion of “boy saves girl” romantic adventure, but it’s still a hopeful and optimistic story.)
The hope which I see in these older stories isn’t merely childhood nostalgia. There is nostalgia, yes, but I think it goes deeper than personal memory. The Three Musketeers inspires a broader feeling of nostalgia in the same way that talking about the classic 1950’s “house, lawn, 2.5 kids and a dog” archetype inspires nostalgia. It’s nostalgia for a world which may never have really existed. But is that emotion bad?
I don’t think so. We need to be hopeful, to believe.
Overall, is The Three Musketeers a perfect film? Nah. I liked it a lot and it gave me plenty of excuse to wax eloquent, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. I heartily recommend it to basically anyone who likes adventure films or romantic stories. It swept me off my feet for a few hours of pleasantly childish wonder but it is indeed an older film, with all the delights and foibles of 70’s cinema. I found The Three Musketeers while browsing Amazon Prime’s offerings, but I have no clue how long it’ll remain there. If you’re reading this after it’s become unavailable, my go-to website for checking where films are available to stream is Justwatch.com. Hopefully that will provide a solution!
Until next week!
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Akhelas 
I’ve watched this at least a dozen times. A great, fun, movie, and I agree with your reasons why. Too many modern films (and TV shows) are cynical nihilism.
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