The Three Musketeers (movie, 1961)

Synopsis

First era – The Ferrets of the Queen

In the xvii ^th century, the young D’Artagnan leaves his Gascogne home for Paris where he will apply to the captain of the Musketeers , Treville , an acquaintance of his father. On his way, he has an altercation with a mysterious individual whom he has seen conversing with a no less mysterious young blonde lady and steals the letter of recommendation intended for M. de Treville. Engaging PlanchetAs a valet to continue his journey, d’Artagnan arrives in Paris, sells his lame horse, and goes to the barracks of the Musketeers. During the interview with the captain, he recognizes his attacker and pursues him for revenge. But in his race, he successively breaks up three musketeers, Athos , Porthos and Aramis . As the custom of the Musketeers requires, although the duels are forbidden by Cardinal Richelieu , they challenge him for reparation. He agrees gracefully, having to fight at noon for an hour and two hours with each one of them at the Pré-aux-Clercs , behind the Luxembourg Gardens. On the scene of their clashes, the four men are surprised by the guards of the cardinal and then agree to fight them. Winners, the three musketeers and D’Artagnan become friends, having recognized themselves as faithful subjects of their king Louis XIII . They will, therefore, be the fierce defenders of the royal couple and, therefore, become the sworn enemies of the cardinal and his many henchmen, including the Count of Rochefort , the captain of the cardinal’s guards, and the very dangerous as much as beautiful spy Milady of Winter …

Second epoch – The Vengeance of Milady

Faced with the affront D’Artagnan had made to them, Milady de Winter and Cardinal Richelieu decided to take revenge. Their task is facilitated by the fact that D’Artagnan has become the lover of Constance Bonacieux, and that the knight must send the Queen a letter from the Duke of Buckingham . In this letter, the English announces his decision to disembark in La Rochelle which is in the hands of Protestantsto tilt them into the kingdom of England. Cardinal Richelieu desires, by all means, to know the contents of this letter. It is to compel her to speak under torture that Constance Bonacieux is kidnapped and then confined in a convent by Count de Rochefort. Milady takes care to make speak D’Artagnan thanks to its charms. The knight lets him believe that he falls in love to know where Constance is locked. After obtaining the information and discovering that Milady is marked with the fleur-de-lys which designates the prostituteshe manages to escape thanks to his musketeer friends. They leave together to deliver Constance. But Milady, mad with rage, manages to get ahead of them to quell her revenge. However, Athos and Milady are bound by a terrible secret …

Technical sheet

• Original title: The Three Musketeers
• Director: Bernard Borderie
• Scenario: Bernard Borderie and Jean-Bernard Luc after Alexandre Dumas ‘ novel The Three Musketeers
• Dialogues: Jean-Bernard Luc
• Sets: René Moulaert
• Costumes: Rosine Delamare
• Photography: Armand Thirard
• Sound: René Sarazin
• Editing: Christian Gaudin
• Music: Paul Misraki
• Cascades: Claude Carliez ; fights set by Henri Cogan ; Equestrian Advisor: François Nadal
• Production: Raymond Borderie ; Henri Jaquillard (Production Manager)
• Production Companies: Les Films Borderie, Modern Films, The Art Film (France), Fonoroma (Italy)
• Distribution Company: SN Prodis (France)
• Country of origin: France / Italy
• Language: French
• Format: color ( Eastmancolor ) – 35 mm – 2.35: 1 (Dyaliscope) – mono sound
• Genre : cloak and sword film
• Duration:
  • The Ferrets of the Queen : 102 minutes
  • The Vengeance of Milady : 91 minutes
• Release dates: France :  October 4 , 1961 (first era), October 25 , 1961 (second era)
• CNC classification : all public (operating visa n ^o 24472 issued October 3 , 1961and n ^o 24473 issued October 24 , 1961)

Distribution

Distinction

• 2013 Perouges Cape and Sword festival: from July 12 to 14 , the city of Pérouges welcomes its medieval city , where many shots were made more than 50 years ago, three members of the team of the film, the actors Mylène Demongeot and Gérard Barray as well as the fencing master Claude Carliez , for a commemoration of the filming with public and free projection of the second epoch of the film, La Vengeance de Milady , artistic fencingnumbers performed by famous French troops, exhibition and conference, street performances, banquet of musketeers, etc. ¹

Production

The interiors were shot at the Joinville studios ( Val-de-Marne ). The exteriors were shot:

• in the 16 ^th arrondissement of Paris : Bois de Boulogne
• in the Ain : medieval city of Pérouges
• in the Côtes-d’Armor : Fort-la-Latte in Plévenon
• in Côte-d’Or : castle of Courcelles-lès-Semur , Castle of Marigny-le-Cahouet , Marmagne , Montbard , Semur-en-Auxois
• in the Oise : Château d’Alincourt in Parnes , Cloister of the old Saint-Corneille abbey in Compiègne
• in Seine-et-Marne : Château de Guermantes , Château de Fleury-en-Bière , domain of Armainvilliers in Ozoir-la-Ferrière , Oval Court of the Château de Fontainebleau

Around the film

“I learn from the newspapers that the brothers Borderie, Charles and Raymond, the producers of the Witches of Salem , will start work with the director Bernard Borderie , son of the second, Les Trois Mousquetaires , by Alexandre Dumas . One of my beloved books and a role I dream of, that of the famous Milady de Winter .
There, I do not lose a second and I go to see them. I still owe them two movies with an extremely low salary, but I do not care. This role, I want it. I make them an obstinate war. They find me too young? I prove to them by A + B that the heroes of Dumas are young … I beg them to trust me and I get the role snatched. Exhausted but delighted. […] But I will, again, be disappointed. By the scenario. Why persist in doing something other than what was written by a wonderful serialist? Nobody can do anything better than him. All adaptations will always be less strong, less visual, less impetuous, less erotic than the original … I remember a scene in the bed of Milady at night, where, taking advantage of the darkness,D’Artagnan replaces Count de Wardes in a hurry … Nobody, to my knowledge, has ever worn it on screen. “

– Mylène Demongeot , Secret Drawers , Éditions Le Pré aux Clercs , 2001 ( ISBN  2-84228-131-4 ) .

Notes and references