Die Söhne der drei Musketiere

As a French, I have always been amazed by the fact that the Hollywood industry was so much inspired from French novels, myths and legends, French history as weel. Amazed and please too. This movie reminds me my childhood, no matter the factual mistakes, history mistakes. It is colorful, fast paced, beautifully made and acted. Cornel Wilde is excellent in this role. Errol Flynn could have made it too.

This movie was (very) vaguely inspired by the fourth part of Dumas ' novel " Le Vicomte De Bragelonne", which mostly dealt with the young Sun King.

For a French ,it's absolutely impossible to take the historical context seriously : it's true that there was trouble all over the land ,caused by the nobles who challenged the king's absolute power : it was called "La Fronde" :it's true that the young King had to escape from Paris and to take refuge in Fontainebleau .In 1648,however,the queen mother ,Anne D'autriche , was not dying : she did not have a heart condition and she died in 1666 of breast cancer.During her regence,she had strong support from her minister Mazarin (not mentioned here,as an user has already pointed out),who,in the wake of Richelieu, ruled the country and paved a reliable way for the absolute monarchy (which began when he died in 1661).And Anne D'Autriche had no daughter but two sons ,Louis and Philippe : the latter was gay.

Let's forget history .Lewis Allen's swashbuckler has plenty of go ,and Cornell Wilde and majestic Maureen O'Hara make an attractive pairing ; the villain ,the ambitious Duc De La Valle ,a fictious character ,could be one of those rebellious aristocrats (the own king's uncle ,Gaston D'Orléans, was part of the Fronde); As the three/four musketeers were getting old, it was only natural to replace them by their sons ;but the best idea is to introduce a girl (Athos' s daughter) Not only Miss O'Hara wields the sword with gusto (she was carefully taught;see her first appearance) but she proved herself more than useful than a man: a beautiful woman can replace a princess, turn into a servant and seduce a roughneck soldier (the scene when she is told off by her would be husband and lovers is much fun to watch).The screenplay is action-packed , the colors are superb , the film is rather short so there's never a dull moment.

A voice over warns us when the movie begins : this is what could have happened in France............ if fate had not decided otherwise.Well ,decidedly implausible ,but a good entertainment is guaranteed for all.

It's set in seventeenth-century France, when the sons of those bold musketeers Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan, and the daughter of Athos, prove that their loyalty is as firmly rooted as that of their fathers in Dumas's immortal story by attempting to save the imperilled throne of France by thwarting the evil schemes of the ruthless Duc de Lavalle.

At Sword's point - or the son of the Musketeers- is a fast-paced, colourful adventure full of swordplay,humour - there's a keen sense of breeziness displayed throughout with nary a dull moment. There's an infectious sense of a feel-good factor. The swordplay is well-staged, and Cornel Wilde comes out best with his fencing display. He was a champion fencer with the U. S. Olympic fencing team and it's certainly evident here. Robert Douglas provides the villainy and he performs effortlessly. Maureen O' Hara is beautiful and strong-minded as ever. The climax fight between Wilde and Douglas is a showstopper.

Plugging into a familiar franchise, SONS OF THE MUSKETEERS is perhaps most noticeable for Maureen O'Hara's performance as Claire, daughter of Athos, who adopts masculine attire and joins her fellow junior musketeers (Cornel Wilde, Dan O'Herlihy and Alan Hale Jr.) in writing wrongs. All of them know her true identity, but they are happy to play along in sustaining the illusion that she is actually a man, so that they can enjoy the fun of pranks such as the need for all the musketeers to share a bed together, or to take a shower together.

In truth O'Hara does not really make a convincing man, but this doesn't really seem to matter in a Technicolor adventure full of action, sword-fights and stirring music (by Roy Webb). As with many costume pictures made in the early Fifties (notably MGM's IVANHOE), the action unfolds at a brisk pace, leaving viewers little time to notice obvious implausibilities such as the musketeers speaking in a variety of accents ranging from Hollywood English to broad Nebraska. The supporting cast contains a smattering of Brits - to lend classical "authenticity" including Gladys Cooper (delivering her lines in stentorian tones reminiscent of Queen Victoria), and (in an uncredited role) Holmes Herbert, who for decades made a habit of playing butlers, lords, and miscellaneous nobles, his cut-glass British accent (honed in the theater of the early Twenties) contrasting with the panoply of other speaking voices on offer.

SONS OF THE MUSKETEERS tells a familiar tale, but it does so in a highly breezy and entertaining manner.

Sons of the Musketeers is set in France with the elderly French Queen worried about threats to her throne and her son's succession to the throne from the Duc de Lavalle sends out for a call for help from the Musketeers who helped her out many years ago.

The now elderly musketeers send their sons. Athos who sends his daughter Claire (Maureen O'Hara) herself a fine swords-woman who comes in disguised as a man.

The story has plenty of intrigue, backstabbing and swordplay. There is some knockabout comedy such as the sleeping arrangements for the Musketeers junior before Claire does her reveal.

There is plenty of cut and thrust and some nifty stunt work. Even Maureen O'Hara is good with the sword and looks ravishing with her long leathers boots on and full on Technicolour.

The film is not too long but there is still too much sword fighting against overwhelming odds before the musketeers give up, escape, fight against overwhelming odds and Lavalle always seems to have the upper hand until the conclusion of the film. It does look like padding to a flimsy story.