Lost, Misplaced, or Unwritten

The movie reviews I post here are a mix of newly written reviews and those I originally posted in one of my earliest blogs, Cuparia a.k.a. Cuplog, which was a Wordpress blog attached to my first domain, Cuparius.com (RIP). I was planning to repost my old movie reviews of The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers (1974), but I discovered I do not have them backed up, I cannot find them using the Wayback Machine, and now I'm not sure if I ever wrote anything on either of them. I know I thought about reviewing them, but is that as far as it went? If I can't unearth them, I'll just have to watch the movies again and then I can review them, back them up, and post them here, because sharing the genius of those movies is my duty to all fellow swashbucklers at heart. Truly, if you seek the ultimate swashbuckling movie experience, watch these two.

Incidentally, if you ever encounter reviews of these movies written by me somewhere on the Internet (or elsewhere?), please let me know in the comments so I can salvage them and share them here.

The Three Musketeers (1921) Reviewed

The Three Musketeers, that quintessential swashbuckling tale, has been adapted for the silver screen many times, and for many the most famous one of all is still the one brought to life by that consummate swashbuckler, Douglas Fairbanks, who starred as the hero, D'Artagnan. A production of his own film company, the 1921 film had impressive sets, excellent outdoor cinematography, and a wealth of period costuming. If I rated a film in terms of production values, I would assess it as Great bordering on Superb.

The quality of the acting is more of a mixed bag, ranging from the weak melodrama of Mary MacLaren's Queen Anne to the convincingly regal bearing of Adolphe Menjou's Louis XIII. Nigel de Brulier successfully captures the innocuous posturing of Cardinal Richelieu, but doesn't quite convey the magnitude of his formidable power. Fairbanks, as might be expected, is a nearly nonstop burst of energy, as befits the character of the impetuous D'Artagnan, pausing from chases, duels, and general mêlées to express his grief at a given misfortune with a brief obligatory swooning (symbolized by the pressing of the back of the hand to the forehead), which would be forgivable if it were not repeated over and over again. But Fairbanks was not a great actor. He was a great swashbuckler; he was only an adequate actor. Nevertheless, he embodies the restless, roguish, courageous, idealistic spirit of his character very well, and the sum of all the film's parts constitute a very good film indeed.

Writing: Good
Directing: Good
Acting: Fair/Good
Cinematography: Good
Stunts: Great
Swordplay: Good
Panache: Great

Overall Rating: Good
Swashbuckling Rank: Great


[Originally posted in Cuparius.com on 30 July 2010.]


Addendum

Written by: Edward Knoblock
Based on: The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
Directed by: Fred Niblo
Performed by: Douglas Fairbanks, Nigel de Brulier, Marguerite de la Motte, Barbara La Marr, et al.

At Sword's Point (1952) Reviewed

The widowed queen of France is dying, the young heir to the throne is in hiding, and the Duc de Lavalle is plotting to seize the throne by forcing the princess to marry him. The queen sends her messengers to Spain for aid, but each is intercepted and murdered by Lavalle's men. Knowing this, the queen realizes she has one hope left: her Musketeers of old. Alas, the Musketeers of yore are infirm or dead, but their children answer the call without hesitation: the son of D'Artagnan (Cornel Wilde), the son of Aramis (Dan O'Herlihy), the son of Porthos (Alan Hale, Jr.), and — not the son, for he is too young — the daughter of Athos, Claire (Maureen O'Hara).

At Sword's Point (1952) is reminiscent of the Republic serials if they were condensed into a feature-length film and lavished with Technicolor. Action is the batter of this particular cake recipe, divided into layers by tricks and traps, and sprinkled with equal amounts of drama and comedy. The pace is brisk with little time for reflection, and it does strain credibility to see almost no horse move at less than a full gallop, but the fight scenes are rich with surprises and beautifully executed stunts.

Although Wilde has top billing, O'Hara is clearly the stealer of every scene and the most natural swashbuckler. She, more than any other, leaves the viewer wanting to know more about her character and wishing to see her further adventures.

The writing and casting are uneven, but At Sword's Point is still a good showcase of the swashbuckling genre and worth watching if for no other reason than to see O'Hara perfectly embody the spirit of a true Musketeer.

(Incidentally, although she plays the daughter of Athos, I could easily imagine her as the daughter of D'Artagnan. That would have been great movie indeed.)

Writing: Mediocre
Directing: Fair
Acting: Fair
Cinematography: Good
Stunts: Great
Swordplay: Good
Panache: Great

Overall Rating: Good
Swashbuckling Rank: Great

Written by: Walter Ferris, Joseph Hoffman, Aubrey Wisberg, and Jack Pollexfen
Directed by: Lewis Allen
Performed by: Cornel Wilde, Maureen O'Hara, Robert Douglas, Gladys Cooper, June Clayworth, Dan O'Herlihy, Alan Hale, Jr., et al.