Les 3 mousquetaires : 2ème époque - La Vengeance de Milady

When TV was not very common in France ,some theatrically released movies looked like miniseries,divided into two parts called "Epoques" ;this is the second part of "Les Trois Mousquetaires" called "Milady's revenge".

At the time,it was the swashbucklers craze and when they could not get Jean Marais,they hired his then alter ego Gérard Barray who was to become a specialist of the genre (see also "Pardaillan").

Bernard Borderie was a costume drama specialist,and he was about to hit the big time with his "Angelique Marquise Des Anges " saga which,unfortunately ,did not do the excellent books justice.

The same can't be said of this poor adaptation;Borderie once said he had to hide the paucity of his budgets with beautiful costumes,nice cinematography (wide screen)and plenty of horses :it shows here:neither the events in England nor the siege of La Rochelle are shown on the screen;even the death of Milady is botched (no "Bourreau De Béthunes"!) Mylène Demongeot is an attractive Milady but she is sadly unsupported by a poor script;Barray is dashing and has plenty of go;the three musketeers have a relatively short time on the screen .

NB:Gerard Barray has made few movies after the sixties,but one of them is a masterpiece :Amenabar's "Abre Los Oyos" ,the part of Serge Duvernois ,from L.I.,remade as "Vanilla skies".

Spectacular and entertaining adventure with a lot of fencing about the four audacious Musketeers and the wicked Milady of Winter. This colorful second installment packs feats, derring do, romance and lavish scenarios. As dashing D'Artagnan goes on to take part of the Musketers under command of Lord Treville. This is the follow-up to former outing with same artistic and technician team. D'Artagnan : Gerard Barray assisted by his servant Planchet : Jean Carmet, along with his friends Musketeers, Athos :Georges Descrieres, Porthos : Bernard Woringer, Aramis : Jacques Toja unite forces to combat the villainous Milady of Winter: Mylene Demongeot. To carry out a merciless vengeance from the previous entry, Milady joins again her nasty allied : the treacherous Rochefort : Guy Delorme, and uncanny Cardinal Richelieu : Daniel Soriano against the Musketeers, King Louis XIII : Guy Trejan and Queen Anne : Francois Christophe. The previous bad guys confront the good guys, The Four Musketeers under the shout : "One for all and all for one".

A nice sequel to The Three Musketeers, shot back to back, being similar to the fist part. It contains thrills, emotion, luxurious palaces, glamorous costumes, a love story between D'Artagnan and Constance, as well as breathtaking sword-play. Gerard Barray giving a perfect D'Artagnan, showing splendidly his swashbuckling skills. While Mylene Demongeot is wonderful as the gorgeous but poisonous Milady of Winter. The motion picture was competently directed by costumer expert Bernard Borderie.

There are several versions based of the famous Alexandre Dumas novel, these are the following ones : 1921 silent rendition by Fred Niblo with Douglas Fairbanks. 1935 by Rowland V Lee with Walter Abel, Paul Lucas. The best version by MGM directed by George Sidney with Gene Kelly, Lana Turner, Gig Young, June Allyson, Vincent Price , Paul Lucas, Frank Morgan. 1973 by Richard Lester with Michael York, Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain, Faye Dunaway, Raquel Welch, Frank Finlay. 1993 by Stephen Herek with Charlie Sheen, Chris O'Donnell, Kiefer Sutherland, Oliver Platt, Tim Curry, Rebecca De Mornay. 2001 by Peter Hyams with Justin Chambers, Mena Suvari, Tim Roth, Stephen Rea . 2011 by Paul Anderson with Logan Lerman, Orlando Bloom, Matthew McFadyen, among others.

Sequel to the Musketeer classic with Gerard Barray and Mylene Demongeot

The lively fun continues here too. Of course, with a downside: a devil guarded by an angel! This can only go wrong!

Perrette Pradier remains a bit pale for me as Constance Bonacieux. The brave DÀrtagnan's comrades-in-arms also develop little life of their own, but they fight excellently. Georges Descrieres as Athos, Bernard Woringer as Porthos and Jacques Toja as Aramis fence and fight that it is a joy. As Cardinal Richelieu we see Daniel Sorano, who is a bit stingy with his scheming brilliance. A huge plus point of the film, however, is the character of Planchet, who saves DÀrtagnan more than once. Jean Carmet shines in this small but fine role. About ten years later, Jean Carmet (1920-1994) was there alongside Pierre Richard as a sidekick of "The Big Blonde with the Black Shoe", who first caused a storm of enthusiasm at the 1973 Berlinale and then in West German cinemas.

As a fan of cloak-and-dagger films, you can't go wrong with either film. Great battles, attractive actors and lots of French flair!

The lovely second part of the adventures of musketeers. Same seductive air of well choreographed fight scene, twists, villains against noble fighters for justice.

A virtue - the chance to admire more Mylene Demongeot as Milady and, sure, the new level of the romance between Constance and D'Artagnan. The nostalgia, a sort of sweetness, beautiful costumes, noble ideals, doses of naivety are few virtues of this film about kidnapping, true love, tensioned situations and fair solutions .

In short, just delightful show, in which the lines of novel are fresh behind loyalty of director and a delicate world comes to life in admirable manner.