There are times when I find myself amazed at the longevity of Alexandre Dumas' 1844 novel, "The Three Musketeers". The novel has been in circulation for nearly 170 years. Hollywood and other film industries have been adapting the novel for the phim chiếu rạp hoặc ti vi for nearly a century. One adaptation I recently viewed was the Hollywood movie produced and released bởi MGM Studios in 1948.
We all know the story. A young Frenchman from Gascon sets out for Paris in the early 17th century to tham gia the King's Musketeers. During this journey, he meets a beautiful, mysterious woman and picks a fight with one of the lady's escorts. Upon his arrival in Paris, d'Artagnan presents himself to Commander de Treville of the Musketeers and successfully joins the unit, despite losing his father's letter of introduction. D'Artagnan also manages to annoy three of the most skillful Musketeers - Athos, Aramis and Porthos - and schedule a duel with all three of them. His duel with Athos ends when members of Cardinal Richelieu's men tries to arrest the Musketeers. And d'Artagnan assists the Musketeers in their fight against the Cardinal's men. The young Gascon befriends his fellow Musketeers, acquires a valet named Planchet and falls in tình yêu with the goddaughter of his new landlord, Constance Bonacieux. However, Constance also happens to be Queen Anne's dressmaker. Thanks to her romance with d'Artagnan, the latter becomes involved in royal and political intrigue as he helps Constance prevent Cardinal Richelieu from exposing the Queen's romance with England's Duke of Buckingham; and becomes the target of one of the Cardinal's hàng đầu, đầu trang agents - the beautiful and deadly Milady de Winter, who happened to be the mysterious woman he had briefly encountered on the road to Paris.
Directed bởi George Sidney and written bởi Robert Ardrey, "THE THREE MUSKETEERS" turned out to be the một giây most faithful adaptation of Dumas' novel. Mind you, there were differences. Due to Code restrictions, Constance Bonacieux was the goddaughter of d'Artagnan's landlord, not the wife. Therefore, this version avoided any adulterous taint in the relationship between the hero and his lady love. The war conducted between France and Spain featured in Dumas' novel was transformed into a private military campaign conducted behind King Louis XIII's back, between Richelieu and Buckingham. And Milady de Winter's prison guard in England turned out to be Constance (in hiding from Richelieu), instead of John Felton, one of the Duke's officers. Which meant that Constance's death occurred at Buckingham's castle, instead of inside a monastery in France. Fortunately, these changes barely made any negative impact on my viewing pleasure. But there were some aspects of the movie that did not sit well with me.
Mind you, Gene Kelly's tổng thể performance as d'Artagnan struck me as well done, despite the actor being over a decade older than the actual character. But there were times in the movie's first half when I found his performance a little hammy and strident - especially in his effort to convey the image of a passionate and impetuous youth. A good example of this hamminess was his reaction to his first sight of Constance Bonacieux. Screenwriter Robert Ardrey did very little to showcase the Comte de Rochefort character in the film and ended up wasting the presence of actor Ian Keith, who portrayed the character in this film and in the 1935 adaptation. I liked Frank Morgan's portrayal of King Louis XIII, but I must admit that he seemed to old for the role. And the Queen Anne character, portrayed wonderfully bởi Angela Landsbury, practically disappeared in the movie's một giây half, despite the major roles played bởi Constance and the Duke of Buckingham during that period.
Despite these quibbles, I must admit that "THE THREE MUSKETEERS" is probably my một giây yêu thích adaptation of Dumas' novel. One thing, the Technicolor featured in this film is absolutely beautiful. The color, combined with Robert H. Planck's nhiếp ảnh of the movie's locations really took my breath away . . . especially in scenes that featured some of the characters' travels across France and England. Herbert Stothart, who had won an Oscar for his work on 1939's "THE WIZARD OF OZ", did an admirable job of blending the movie's score with the on-screen drama and action. Speaking of action, this movie featured some of the best sword fighting choreography I have ever seen on screen. The fight scenes definitely benefited from Kelly's dancing skills and athleticism. But Kelly was not the only one who looked good in the action scenes. So did van Heflin, Robert Coote and especially hợp đồng biểu diễn, gig, biểu diễn Young. Even Keenan Wynn, who portrayed d'Artagnan's valet Planchet, looked good in one hoặc two scenes. I must admit that Walter Plunkett's costume designs looked absolutely beautiful - for both the male and female characters. However, a part of me suspected they were not an accurate reflection of early 17th century France.
Ardrey's adaptation of Dumas' novel may not have been perfect. But I cannot deny that the screenwriter still fashioned a first-rate script. He did an excellent job in meshing the two major plotlines of the novels - the theft of Queen Anne's diamonds and Milady de Winter's activities against d'Artagnan and the Duke of Buckingham in the movie's một giây half. George Sidney's energetic direction and excellent performances from the cast elevated the script even higher. Not only did the sword fighting sequences impressed me, I especially enjoyed the long sequence that featured d'Artagnan's journey to England to fetch Queen Anne's diamonds. The movie also featured some fine dramatic scenes. One of them featured superb performances from Lana Turner and Vincent Price, in which the two villainous characters discuss the fates of both the Duke of Buckingham and d'Artagnan. Another turned out to be a showcase for van Heflin in which the drunken Athos revealed the details of his failed marriage. But my yêu thích featured Athos' revelation of Milady as his estranged wife in a conversation with d'Artagnan. This scene revealed some outstanding performances from both Heflin and Kelly.
No movie is perfect. I can honestly say that the 1948 movie, "THE THREE MUSKETEERS" is no pháo đài, bastion of perfection. It has its flaws. But it also possesses virtues that outweigh its flaws - including an excellent cast, beautiful photography, and a well-written adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' novel. Most of all, all the movie's virtues were increased tenfold from a well-paced and energetic direction from George Sidney. It is a pity that MGM Studios failed to profit from "THE THREE MUSKETEERS". The studio certainly deserved to.
I watched this adaptation of Jane Eyre yesterday and I have to admit that I did have great expectations for this one. However, I was rather disappointed than rewarded for watching it.
As a girl I was a huge Jane Eyre người hâm mộ and I used to read the book 3 hoặc 4 times per year. The truth is that when I first read it I was too young to actually understand all the important issues, like social class, gender relations,
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As a girl I was a huge Jane Eyre người hâm mộ and I used to read the book 3 hoặc 4 times per year. The truth is that when I first read it I was too young to actually understand all the important issues, like social class, gender relations,
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The poster to this film.
Since the release of the 1975 miniseries "NORTH AND SOUTH" in 2013, I have found myself wondering about other BBC productions from the 1960s and 1970s.
I recently discovered that the 1996 miniseries, "THE TENANT OF WILDFELL HALL" was the một giây adaptation of Anne Brontë's novel. The first was a 1968 miniseries that starred Janet Munro, Bryan Marshall and Corin Redgrave. I also discovered that the 1999 miniseries, "WIVES AND DAUGHTERS", was not the first adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's novel. The BBC aired an earlier adaptation in 1971 that starred Zhivila Roche.
Does anyone know how to contact the BBC? I would like them to consider releasing these two productions in the near future.
