Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Sorry, this movie sucks

Memorable, crazy movie

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

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.

There's no shortage a Musketeers adaptions; this one is a success even if there are some shortcomings. What does work: The overall plot is made very clear, and during confrontations the costumes serve to distinguish the players - so it's easy to follow, even for children. There are some good outdoor shots, and most of the interior sets serve their purpose, too. As to acting, Gene Kelly brings his roguish charms and athletics to d'Artagnan, and he also carries himself well after tragedy strikes. Lana Turner as Charlotte de Winter is equally good, overacting just like warranted by the broad melodram and exhaling just the right amount of menace.What does not work so good: The other actors pale a bit besides the starring duo, especially Vincent Price as Richelieu is not very menacing, nor do we believe in his intellectual schemer. The music is very in-your-face (just my opinion, of course) and rarely lets the actors work their magic. But the biggest problem is the pace: We hurry from key scene to key scene without a chance to catch some breath, it's so jumpy the plot is in constant danger of getting whiplash syndrome. And said key scenes are also often extremely short - d'Artagnan marries Constance in 5 seconds and gets widowed in 20.Despite those shortcomings, a hearty recommendation - it's a fun adaption with not a single boring moment.

D'artagnan (Gene Kelly) is a feisty country bumpkin who manages to join the company of three devil-may-care musketeers (Van Heflin, Gig Young, and Robert Coote). The four find themselves up to their feather plumes in intrigue, romance, and action. Madame de Winter (Lana Turner) is a treacherous murderer. Constance (June Allyson) is a virginal Queen's maid. The King is supposed to rule France but Richelieu (Vincent Price) is the eminence rouge behind the throne -- nasty, power-hungry, and manipulative. Both ladies are killed, but France is saved from something-or-other and the four musketeers get what they want.I managed to follow the business about the diamond studs well enough, I think, but I got lost later on. There's never much doubt about who is good and who is evil, though. Richelieu, by this time, was a Cardinal in the Catholic church but he's identified only as a politician -- I guess for obvious reasons. He's obviously on the bad side because he wants to go to war. It must be the Thirty Years War. I've forgotten whatever I learned in high school about the Thirty Years War. It had to do with Catholics against Protestants and turned political over time and there was a great deal of suffering among innocent people. That's all I know. I'm only happy it wasn't the HUNDRED Years War because I remember even less about that one.The first half of the film is sort of fun, in a family-oriented way. (This is MGM in its hay day.) Gene Kelly overacts outrageously, as he did during the send up of silent movies in "Singin' in the Rain," but it somehow seems appropriate, since everybody seems full of ham. And of course it's always exhilarating to see Kelly jumping from roof to roof, swinging on ropes, and fighting with furniture during sword play. (He didn't do his own stunts on horseback, though. He couldn't ride well, there having been so few chances to gallop a horse through Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when he was growing up there.) Aramis and Porthos have little to do or say in the film. Only Athos has pathos. Van Heflin's role is mostly dramatic and he handles it well. Lana Turner's wicked charm has always eluded me. And June Allyson is no Queen's Maid. She's Jimmy Stewart's devoted and patient wife. The part would have suited her well if the film had been turned into a musical -- "The Dueling Cavalier", maybe.The costumes will coagulate your eyeballs. The plumes, the flowing capes, the floppy boots and hats. And what colors! From Chinese red, through chartreuse, to powder blue.Kids will enjoy the first half especially, since it's mostly constructed of fights, horse play, and wisecracks among the musketeers. It doesn't try to get serious until the second half, which deals mostly with tragic love stories bolstered or undone by one of Tchaikovsky's symphonies.

An absolute hideous production. Alexander Dumas must have turned over in his grave.Despite a terrific cast, the writing is unbelievably bad even with the plush color settings by Natalie Kalmus.Gene Kelly dances but in a different way here. He starts off as a complete jerk but soon proves himself to the other musketeers as a great swordsman.I love the way that Richelieu is not depicted as a cardinal but as the first minister. Always a shame to distort history in Hollywood spectacles. Lana Turner is lovely as Countess de Winters, even with all her evil. Poor June Allyson. Her simplicity just does her in. Only in films could they pull that off.Van Heflin looked like he was ready for a few more drinks after this film. Even the usual Vincent Price does not really have the opportunity to aggressively show evil here. At the end scene, he is cast off like a natural idiot.Frank Morgan as the king is his usual buffoon self. Angela Lansbury as his Queen briefly appears and does relatively nothing here. As de Winters' lady in waiting, Patricia Medina weeps a little. Actually, she should have cried more in this atrocious production.