Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Gene Kelly (D'Artagnan) sets out on his journey to become a musketeer and encounters the 3 musketeers - Van Heflin (Athos), Gig Young (Porthos) and Robert Coote (Aramis). They become friends and so begins the adventure to recover some stolen jewels. Vincent Price (Richelieu) and his soldiers and Lana Turner (Lady de Winter) are the evils to avoid.The cast are all good in this version although there was no need to make Keenan Wynn (Planchet) a comedy, dumb-ass servant and friend to Kelly. We already get comedy with the interplay between the musketeers and Gene Kelly's over-acting. My favourites in the cast are Turner and Heflin. Turner oozes badness and her costumes are colourful and memorable. In fact, all costumes are great. The film is a little long so the whole plot may get forgotten if you drift off a couple of times, but just go with it and the film makes sense somehow. One thing I don't understand is why Dumas called the film what he did. I haven't read the book - I don't need to now that I've seen the film - but the title suggests a book with the lives of the three musketeers at the centre. The story centres around D'Artagnon who becomes a musketeer in the end so why not just call it "The Four Musketeers"? It's a much more relevant title. Just a tip for Dumas if he is reading this.

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

I really liked this version of the Three Musketeers. Then again I have liked a vast majority of the adaptations of the novel, even the 1993 version which is admittedly my least favourite of the ones I liked, but it still entertained me. The novel itself by Alexandre Dumas is superbly written and a truly entertaining read. This adaptation does deviate from it, but considering how beautiful it looked and how entertaining it was I am past caring.I only have two real complaints of this movie. The film does suffer from being overlong at over two hours, consequently I did feel some scenes dragged but only slightly. My other complaint was that I wished Angela Lansbury and Vincent Price had more screen time. Lansbury is a fine actress, but because she is given very little to do, she failed to make an impression. Price is another fine actor, chiefly remembered for his performances in films like Pit and the Pendulum, Great Mouse Detective, Witchfinder General and Fall of the House of Usher. Sadly, as Cardinal Richelieu he is only in three or four scenes, but he was still good.On the whole, this 1948 film has its good points. The music score is superb, and the cinematography magnificent. The scenery is splendid and I thought the costumes were truly lavish especially Milady's dresses. The film is shot in dazzling Technicolour that still looks amazing even by today's standards. The sword fights are constantly energetic and lively, and don't feel clumsy at all. The script is on the whole good, same with the acting. Although I did worry that Gene Kelly would be out of character, as I associate him mainly with musicals, he was wonderfully athletic as D'Artagnan. Van Heflin, Gig Toung and Robert Coote all gives spirited turns as Athos, Porthos and Aramis. But who impressed me most were Lana Turner who was both beautiful and haunting as Milady and June Allyson as the lovely Constance.Overall, this 1948 film does have its flaws, but what mattered to me was who stunning it looked, it was energetic and entertaining. In these areas, that's where the film succeeded. It isn't completely faithful to the book, but I do think despite its length it is one of the better adaptations of the book out there though the 1973 film gets my vote as the definitive one. 8.5/10 Bethany Cox

"The Three Musketeers" is an adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' novel of the same name. The film features sweeping scenes, bright costumes and classical themes. Gene Kelly does well in an energetic performance as D'Artagnan. The rest of the cast is solid as well, particularly Lana Turner and Vincent Price as the scheming villains.The film features a number of sword fights which are well staged, but become repetitive. The filmmakers tried to balance the action scenes with the intrigue of Dumas' novel. This was welcome, but I found the film had tedious stretches and didn't completely capture the excitement of the novel.