The Three Musketeers (1948): Dir: George Sidney / Cast: Gene Kelly, Lana Turner, Van Heflin, June Allyson, Angela Lansbury: Pure swashbuckling action that is often corny but also entertaining. I never understood the title since Gene Kelly shows up and ends up becoming a fourth Musketeer. Why not call it The Four Musketeers? At any rate he shows up and ends up in confrontation with the original three Musketeers but after they are nearly arrested, they fight the odds and tick off a lot of high rise officials. There are two lovely femme fatales in this film. One of course, he cannot seem to trust, and the other one risks herself while Kelly follows her around in deep suspicion. There is no point to this spectacle but it is entertaining with its sword play and its lame kill scenes where people drop without any puncture wounds. One can say that children would not be able to watch it then. Kelly is in top spirit as the new Musketeer. Van Heflin plays a fellow Musketeer who seems more experienced with the sword. Lana Turner and June Allyson are the two ominous women and there are jewels involved here as well. Angela Lansbury plays Queen Anne who acts as one of the film's symbols of authority, which the Musketeers make little regard for. This is the typical version of the classic story and it represents it effectively right down to the point of the fourth sword. Score: 7 / 10
Review of The Three Musketeers
