This light interpretation of Alexandre Dumas’s classic adventure saga is a follow up to 1974’s The Three Musketeers.
D’Artagnan (Michael York), Athos (Oliver Reed), Aramis (Richard Chamberlain), and Porthos (Frank Finlay) scuttle the plans of Lady de Winter (Faye Dunaway) to remove Queen Anne (Geraldine Chaplin) from the seat of power.
Seeking revenge against the Musketeers, De Winter learns that D’Artagnan is infatuated with Constance (Raquel Welch), and so she tries to foil their romance by seducing D’Artagnan herself, and then by persuading Rochefort (Christopher Lee) to kidnap Constance. She then engineers the assassination of the Duke of Buckingham (Simon Ward), a close friend of D’Artagnan.
Upon learning of the Duke’s death and Constance’s imprisonment, D’Artagnan and his peers ride off to rescue the fair lady and see that justice is done against de Winter.
The Four Musketeers was shot the same time as The Three Musketeers, It was originally intended to be one film, but when director Richard Lester realized the movie would be four hours, he decided to release it as two separate features.
This led to lawsuits filed by several of the stars, claiming that they were hired under false pretenses and entitled to be paid for making two films; the actors won their case, but for less money than they had expected.
Oscar Nominations: 1
Costume design: Yvonne Blake and Ron Talsky
Oscar Context:
The winners were Ulla-Brit Soderlund and Milena Canonero for Barry Lyndon.
MPPA: G
Running time: 108 minutes.
Directed by Richard Lester
Written by: George MacDonald Fraser
DVD: February 13, 2001