The Four Musketeers (1974)

Director:

Richard Lester

Writers:

George MacDonald Fraser (screenplay)
Alexandre Dumas père (novel)

Release Date:

26 February 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | History | Romance

Tagline:

One for all and all for one! (And every man for himself.)

Plot:

The Four Musketeers defend the queen and her dressmaker from Cardinal Richelieu and Milady de Winter.

Plot Keywords:

D'artagnan | Queen | Cardinal | Musketeer | Love

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Oliver Reed	...	Athos
Raquel Welch	...	Constance de Bonancieux
Richard Chamberlain	...	Aramis
Michael York	...	D'Artagnan
Frank Finlay	...	Porthos
Christopher Lee	...	Rochefort
Geraldine Chaplin	...	Queen Anne of Austria
Faye Dunaway	...	Milady
Roy Kinnear	...	Planchet
Michael Gothard	...	Felton
Nicole Calfan	...	Maid Kitty
Ángel del Pozo	...	Jussac (as Angel Del Pozo)
Eduardo Fajardo
Simon Ward	...	Duke of Buckingham
Jean-Pierre Cassel	...	Louis XIII (as Jean Pierre Cassel)
Charlton Heston	...	Cardinal Richelieu
Sybil Danning	...	Eugenie
Gitty Djamal	...	Beatrice
Jack Watson	...	Busigny
Bob Todd	...	Execution Squad Officer
Tom Buchanan	...	Execution Squad Sergeant
Leon Greene	...	Swiss Officer
Lucy Tiller	...	Mother Superior
Norman Chappell	...	Submarine inventor
Richard Adams	...	Tortured thug
Tyrone Cassidy	...	English officer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Richard Briers	...	Louis XIII (voice) (uncredited)
Oliver MacGreevy	...	Headsman (uncredited)

Directed by
Richard Lester

Writing credits
George MacDonald Fraser		(screenplay) (as George Macdonald Fraser)
Alexandre Dumas père		(novel) (as Alexandre Dumas)

Produced by
Alexander Salkind	....	producer
Ilya Salkind	....	executive producer
Ilya Salkind	....	producer
Michael Salkind	....	producer
Wolfdieter von Stein	....	associate producer
Pierre Spengler	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Lalo Schifrin

Cinematography by
David Watkin

Film Editing by
John Victor-Smith		(as John Victor Smith)

Production Design by
Brian Eatwell

Art Direction by
Leslie Dilley		(as Les Dilley)
Fernando Gonzalez

Costume Design by
Yvonne Blake

Makeup Department
Cristóbal Criado	....	makeup artist: Charlton Heston (as Cristobal Criado)
Susan Germaine	....	hairdresser: Miss Faye Dunaway
Kaye Pownall	....	hairdresser: Miss Raquel Welch
Charlene Roberson	....	makeup artist: Miss Raquel Welch
Carmen Sánchez	....	hairdresser (as Carmen Sanchez)
José Antonio Sánchez	....	makeup artist (as Jose Antonio Sanchez)
José Antonio Sánchez	....	wig maker (as Jose Antonio Sanchez)

Production Management
Francisco Bellot	....	general production manager
Enrique Esteban	....	production supervisor
Pierre Spengler	....	executive in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Patricio Beltran Aparicio	....	assistant director
Clive Reed	....	first assistant director
Francisco Rodríguez	....	assistant director (as Francisco Rodriguez)
Dusty Symonds	....	assistant director
Alain Walker	....	assistant director

Art Department
Eddie Fowlie	....	property
John Lanzer	....	property buyer
Rafael Ablanque	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
José María Alarcón	....	assistant art director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Tom Buchanan	....	boom operator
Don Challis	....	sound editor
Roy Charman	....	sound mixer (as Roy J. Charman)
Gerry Humphreys	....	dubbing mixer
Simon Kaye	....	sound mixer
George Rice	....	boom operator (as George B. Rice)
Don Sharpe	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Eddie Fowlie	....	special effects
Pablo Pérez	....	special effects supervisor (as Pablo Perez)

Visual Effects by
Doug Ferris	....	matte artist (uncredited)

Stunts
Joaquim Parra	....	stunt arranger

Camera and Electrical Department
Ronald Anscombe	....	camera assistant (as Ronnie Anscombe)
Antonio Colmenar	....	head grip
Enrique de la Jara	....	best boy (as Enrique De La Jara)
Alejandro Diges	....	still photographer
Frank Elliott	....	camera assistant
Peter Ewens	....	camera operator
Francisco Gallardo	....	gaffer
Federico G. Grau	....	still photographer (as Federico Grau)
Luis Peña	....	camera assistant (as Luis Pena)
Vincent Rossell	....	still photographer
Paul Wilson	....	additional photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Manuela Iglesias	....	wardrobe assistant: Miss Raquel Welch
Ron Talsky	....	costume designer: Miss Raquel Welch
Jean Zay	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Peter Boyle	....	assistant editor
Peter Holt	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Aaron Schröder	....	music published under the direction of (as Aaron Schroeder)
Peter Watson	....	music editor

Other crew
Christina Bracht	....	production secretary
Antonio Del Toro	....	production assistant
Quinn Donoghue	....	unit publicist
Norman Enfield	....	publicity assistant
Louis Diaz Gonzalez	....	production assistant
Norma Gorcey	....	production secretary
William Hobbs	....	fight director
Jennie McLean	....	production secretary (as Jennie McClean)
Jean-Philippe Mérand	....	production coordinator (as Jean Philippe Merand)
Juan Jose Molina	....	production assistant
Maria Monreal	....	producers' secretary
John Ornstein	....	production assistant
Armand Rubin	....	world wide representation: for Europex-Paris
Alexander Salkind	....	presenter
Ann Skinner	....	continuity
Mike Hoare	....	sailing coordinator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Este Films
• Film Trust S.A.

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1975) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1977) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Fox Lorber Home Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Fox Lorber (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Adams Filmi (1975) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV) (1984) (Finland) (TV)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2005) (Finland) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1991) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Berman's and Nathan's  costumes manufactured by
• Camera Effects  main titles
• Cornejo  costumes manufactured by
• Decoraciones Generales  sets built by
• El Patrimonio Nacional De Espana  the producers are grateful to, without whose co-operation the making of this film would not have been possible
• January Music Corporation  music published by
• Mayflower Recording  adr recording (uncredited)
• Mole Richardson  electrical equipment
• Panavision  cameras from
• Twickenham Film Studios  completed and recorded at

Also Known As:

Los cuatro mosqueteros (Spain)
The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge (USA)
The Four Musketeers: The Revenge of Milady (UK) (complete title)
The Return of the Three Musketeers (UK) (video title)
The Revenge of Milady

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

Spain | Panama

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Estudios Cinematografica Roma S.A., Madrid, Spain

Company:

Este Films

Trivia:

Filmed at the same time as The Three Musketeers (1973).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the bomb attached to the bread is thrown back at La Rochelle, it is the bread which explodes as the bomb is still clearly intact after the explosion

Quotes:

Porthos: [a bullet shatters his wine glass] This wine does not travel well.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Troldspejlet: (#33.6)" (2005)

Part two of a great action/adventure film

This film is part two of the movie "Three and Four Musketeers".

This film is somewhat more serious in tone as is warranted by the events described in the book. Not quite as fun as the first movie but true to the classic story writen by Dumas back in 1850.

(additional comments are duplicate comments made about the Three Musketeers)

This set of films (3 and 4 Musketeers were filmed at the same time and released 8 months apart) ranks right up there with "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Robin Hood" (with Erol Flynn) as one of the best in its genre (action/adventure). As an historian, I enjoyed the small touches of historical accuracy in the film. As far as I can tell, everything is just about bang-on: the costumes, the settings, the weapons, the street life, and the musketeers themselves (and yes I know the story is not "true"). The two films are quite faithful to the classic book by Alexander Dumas given some small and reasonable changes.

The sword-play in the film is the greatest! The initial duel against the Cardinal's men in the Convent is a masterpiece of choreographed combat. The battle that takes place early in the second film is hysterically funny as our heroes try to eat lunch in the middle of a war.

The actors and actresses are all wonderful, especially Michael York, Oliver Reed, Faye Dunaway, and Charlton Heston. One small weakness in the film is that it does not have the time or interest in describing how Milady de Winter seduces her jailor. I suggest reading the book to get a full understanding of that sequence of events.

Be warned, prolonged exposure to this film is likely to result in a desire for fencing lessons and historical reenactments.

Bottom line: A great film.