Today at 11:00 – by Thomas Fourcroy
© screenshot / Arte
On Thursday January 2 at 8:55 p.m., Arte broadcasts The three musketeers. A true classic, long remaining as the reference for adaptations of Alexandre Dumas’ masterpiece.
Classic by Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers is undoubtedly one of the literary works most adapted to cinema. From Fred Niblo in 1921 to Martin Bourboulon in 2023, via Stephen Herek in 1994, many directors have filmed the adventures of Aramis, Athos, and Porthos, but also d’Artagnan. One of its versions also left its mark on the public, that of 1948 by George Sidney. Among the most famous, it counts on a choice cast composed in particular of Gene Kelly, Lana Turner and Vincent Price, but above all with particular care given to the realism of its fights.
The Three Musketeers : Gene Kelly, a superstar in the D’Artagnan costume
George Sidney’s adaptation takes us in the footsteps of D’Artagnan, when the latter arrives in the capital to be made the king’s musketeer. This is where he will cross paths with three other musketeers, Athos, Porthos and Aramis. If at the start, their relationship does not start off under the best auspices, due to a quarrel, everything will quickly get better. Even better, a true friendship will reign among the four fighters. Men who will quickly have a lot to do, the fault of the shenanigans of the Duke of Richelieu, alongside a certain Milady de Winter. Two people apparently united to compromise Queen Anne…
The Three Musketeers from 1948, when realism rhymes with success
Real success, The Three Musketeers was one of the most important feature films from a still young Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Indeed, it is notably thanks to this swashbuckling film that MGM was able to acquire even greater notoriety. Studios which have put in the resources, taking it upon themselves to trust a renowned fencing master, Jean Heremans, for more realism and spectacle on screen. In the press kit for the film, stuntman Noel Howard discusses this process: “To have an effect on screen, you have to exaggerate your movements, cut through a lot of air while jumping. The stuntmen learn the movements tirelessly in pairs. None of them has received any academic training.” Note that for even more realism, Gene Kelly, brilliant in the D’Artagnan costume, was not dubbed in the fight sequences and for his stunts. Known for his dancing skills, he did not want the public to betray the use of any one-liner far from his usual gestures.
