1921, USA
Adventure, Family
I am a big fan of silent movies. They should be watched and appreciated on their own terms, not as a source of dismissive amusement. When "talkies" -- with their initially static cameras and sound equipment -- came on the scene, more than one thoughtful critic felt that the quality of movies was detrimentally affected, not enhanced. You will find very few, if any, movies made today that match the brilliance of The Passion of Joan of Arc or Napoleon. Want to enjoy a good story well told? Try The Last of the Mohicans or Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
The Three Musketeers, a Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. vehicle, is not a Napoleon or even The Last of the Mohicans. It does not even rank as a great Douglas Fairbanks movie. Fairbanks was one of the first, if not the first, movie super stars. His adoring fans idolized him and made him very wealthy; he gave good value for the money they showered on him. He was very athletic and performed most of his stunts himself. Going to Fairbanks' movies you could expect lots of clever action -- and humor. He was not afraid to turn that humor on himself (or at least, on his character). Fairbanks had the very entertaining Mark of Zorro ('20) behind him, and the classic Thief of Bagdad ('24) to come. So what's wrong with this movie?
For starters, the almost 40-year-old Fairbanks is much too old to portray the teenaged D'Artagnan. His incipient double chin, flab and receding hairline make his juvenile behavior hard to swallow. In The Three Musketeers, much of the humor is aimed at his naïve D'Artagnan. But in this movie, unlike The Mark of Zorro, the humor is too broad and overdone. And the action sequences, underdone. Hey, this is Douglas Fairbanks! I wanted to see him swing from a chandelier! Lots of sword fights, yes, but few if any gasps of surprise. The fight choreography was pretty linear. Fans of the book will notice that much that seemed central to the plot is missing; there is not quite enough there there. On the other hand, it is not as bad as the unintentionally hysterically funny Robin Hood ('22).
On the plus side there is a lovely score, compiled by Louis Gottschalk for the original release. Having seen some sadly deteriorated movies recently, I appreciated the excellent quality of the print. There were no extra features on this DVD.