Le 5e mousquetaire

This may not be the best version of the story (The Man in the Iron Mask), but its period production values, good pace and some of its top cast lift it above the "B" remake some would rate it.

It perhaps marks a minor renaissance of the unrepentant swashbuckler movie. Beautifully filmed on location (Vienna passing for Paris), it delights the eye. There is enough slapstick sword-fighting to please all but the absolute connoisseur; the tension of the plot is well maintained; it is simply fun to watch. Memorable performances by Rex Harrison as Colbert (in one of his last movie roles) and Ian McShane as Fouquet help to keep the viewer's attentions when others of the rather mixed cast falter.

Ursula Andress' (or "Ursula Undress" as she was somewhat unfairly nicknamed after a Playboy Magazine appearance) convincing portrayal of the King's mistress would undoubtedly have been enhanced (as other commentators have suggested) by the restoration of the nudity cut by the US censors (the American running time is 12 minutes shorter than the British).

All in all, not a movie to buy for one's DVD library, but to rent for a rainy day or watch on TV and appreciate for its fun.

First of all: I appreciate all the opinions listed on this page, also those which say this movie stinks... ;-) For me, however, it is quite a special film, because at that time I was in Vienna, attending university/school of medicine. One day in autumn of 1976 a sheet of paper was stuck in the lift cabin of my students' condo, reading "Extras wanted! Be at Rosenhügel Studios by 6 am on October something, 1976. Salary 400 ATS per day, free lunch." Well, not bad, with a monthly ATS 4,000 check from my father to cover all my expenses - and no chance for the revenue office to take its share... Well,at the venerable Rosenhügel studio halls I got a black suit with breeches and a tippet, with red linings, a long-haired whig and a grey hat, and off we went to Laxenburg Castle by bus. It was cold and foggy, and, like soldiers, the main occupation of extras is - to wait. To keep us warm we got tea and coffee and a hot soup.

First shot was: Beau Bridges arrives in a coach, gets out and greets Rex Harrison "Gentleman, I did not expect you so far from the Gascogne". We, as the by-standing crowd, have to cheer, wave hats - but silently, as the "real" actors were recorded live. The brightly polished coach, brought in from the Hapsburg mews at Schönbrunn castle, is treated by a mattening spray to disperse the sunlamps' reflections. The assistant director calls by megaphone ACTIONNN! We cheer, the four horse carriage rolls in, stops. Bridges steps out - and bungles his line. CUT! Coach and horses are pushed back (the horses are not really happy with this), at least 30 minutes later we hear ACTIONNN again. And again something goes wrong, maybe the lacquer af the coach shines too bright, maybe a horse muted, once BB messed up his text again... I think we did it 5 times. And in the finished movie, at about 22 minutes run time, the lines of the twin king still are different from what I remember - seems they overdubbed it anyway.

The next day we, "the people", were told to cheer again, and surge forward, till we get a signal, which tells us to back off in terror. ACTIONNN! We cheer and surge. Suddenly a horrendous BANG hits our faces and ears, obviously released from a saluting cannon hidden under the scaffolding on which the assistant director was standing. We DID back off!! No acting necessary. This big bang comes about five minutes later than the coach scene.

All in all this was an almost magical experience, all the scenery, the big Panaflex camera with the great Mr. Cardiff at the viewer, the wind machine with a DeHavilland Gipsy Major engine - and running at arm's length around all this stellar Hollywood personality, namely Ursula Andress and Sylvia Kristel (after all, I was 22 at this time).

So, despite admitting that the finished movie is quite some disappointment compared to so many other cloak and dagger stuff, be it French or Hollywood, I can't help having a fond eye on it, as you will understand.

1st watched 1/26/2001 - 5 out of 10 (Dir-Ken Annakin): Average played out and retelling of "The Man in the Iron Mask" story. A look-alike of King Louie is put into power by the musketeers for political reasons although this version tries to play up a love interest without much success. Could have been a good romantic/adventure but lacking in heart-felt talent.

Despite a stellar cast, The Fifth Musketeer still remains just an average retelling of The Man In The Iron Mask, Alexandre Dumas's sequel novel to The Three Musketeers.

Ironically in the role of the aging D'Artagnan is Cornel Wilde who I would love to have seen in The Three Musketeers back in the day. Wilde in fact was a fencing champion, he was on the US Olympic team before he became an actor.

No preliminary tale of the birth of the twins to Louis XIII and Anne of Austria. We meet the grownup Louis XIV and Phillipe of Gascony as grown young men. Phillippe's been trained in the military arts by his foster father D'Artagnan and the other Three Musketeers, Jose Ferrer as Athos, Alan Hale, Jr. as Porthos, and Lloyd Bridges as Aramis. Louis and Phillippe are played by Beau Bridges.

That seems to be the main weakness of the film. I think Beau himself would be the first to agree he hasn't the swashbuckling élan of Louis Hayward, but he also isn't as good Leonardo DiCaprio in a later version. As for Queen Maria Theresa whom we meet as the Infanta of Spain, Marie Kristel also lacks some passion. If I were either of these twins I'd have taken up with royal mistress Ursula Andress in a Parisian minute. Now she's full of passion.

Rex Harrison and Ian McShane are an interesting pair of dueling ministers, Colbert and Fouquet, both of whom did vie for Louis XIV's favor, but well into his reign. McShane is not as sly as Joseph Schildkraut in the 1939 The Man With The Iron Mask. Harrison seems preoccupied like he was waiting for his salary check to clear. For the very few minutes Olivia DeHavilland is on screen as Queen Mother Anne of Austria, she's completely wasted.

The cinematography is grand, it always is when Jack Cardiff does it. The film was shot in Vienna which apparently looks more 17th century than Paris does now. But Ken Annakin who usually does films that roar with action and adventure seems not to be able to get this one to rise to the occasion.

In many ways, this is an unnecessary re-telling of a story we have seen realized many times before (and since), and often filmed better. It was certainly not Beau Bridges's finest hour.

What was unusual and certainly the major selling point of the film was that the leading ladies (Andress and Kristel) would shed their clothes on quite a few occasions. As this film's US rating is PG and as the American running time is 12 minutes shorter than the British 15-rated release (which is the one I saw) it is highly likely that most if not all nudity was cut from the American version. Which is a shame as this is the only proper reason to watch this film.