Monday, March 9, 2015

The Three Musketeers are Back



There are just some stories that deserve be told and retold with every generation and sometimes more than once a generation. Stories like Robin Hood, Sherlock and Alexander Dumas’ Three Musketeers. It has everything you need for a great story - love, lust, corruption, sword and pistol fights, murder, honor, duty, swashbuckling, cloaks with hoods, bromance, royalty, greed, jewels, duplicity, and gold. 



I'm sure there a many who call themselves experts on the Musketeers. I make no such claim. 

My first film interaction with the musketeers was the 1948 movie version starring Gene Kelly (above with Lana Turner as Lady de Winter). So many of my favorite actors in the movie - Gene, June Allyson as Constance, Vincent Price as Richelieu and even Angela Lansbury playing the Queen. I still watch it sometimes on a rainy day with a roaring fire in the fireplace. 




One of our family favorites is the 1993 Disney version starring Charlie Sheen (Aramis), Keifer Sutherland (Athos), Chris O'Donnell (D'Artagnan), Oliver Platt (Porthos), Tim Curry (Cardinal Richelieu) and Rebecca DeMornay (Lady DeWinter). This one is not surprisingly a little more campy than the others, but still a lot of fun. 


This brings me to my latest musketeer addiction - the BBC series that is currently in it's second season

This TV version treads along the basic high-level story we all know and love, while delving into newer stories each episode that take us on a ride with the musketeers and the lovely Constance.

This Three Musketeers delivers on all of the crucial Musketeer elements and even mixes in some women's liberation. Constance learns to sword fight and shoot. She fights men and wins. She even goes on undercover missions. I have to say that I love that about this series.

The costumes and the set are beautiful and there's lots of great eye candy. You can watch current episodes on BBC America on Saturday nights at 9pm. But since it's in the middle of its second season, you might want to head over to iTunes or Netflix to start at season one, episode one. 









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