On l'appelait Milady

Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnan are back; or more precisely, are still here; for the second half of the Dumas novel. As I'm sure most fans know, this was meant to be part of the complete Three Musketeers, before the Salkinds split it into two films. This led to much litigation and the creation of the "Salkind clause" in movie contracts.

Spoliers-The film takes up where the first part left off; D'Artagnan and the Musketeers have saved the Queen from embarassment and confounded the evil Cardinal Richelieu. D'Artagnan is now a full fledged Musketeer (although, in the novel, he was still just a guardsman).

Now the Cardinal hatches a new plot to persuade the Duke of Buckingham from joining the protestant Huguenot rebels at the city of La Rochelle. Milady is sent to persuade him to change his mind or kill him. Although Buckingham imprisons her, he underestimates the power of her charms. The Duke meets a tragic end and Milady returns to France to seek her revenge on D'Artagnan.

Meanwhile, D'Artagnan rescues his mistress Constance and places her in safekeeping. He learns the true identity of Milady and the mystery behind Athos' melancholy.

The Musketeers are sent to fight at La Rochelle and uncover the Cardinal's plot to kill Buckingham. Although the other Musketeers care little, D'Artagnan owes a debt to Buckingham and tries to stop the plot.

D'Artagnan pays a terrible price for his efforts, but emerges as a lieutenant of the Musketeers. He has taken his place as the leader of the group, but will find little solace in his promotion.

As with the first film, the performances are spot on. Everything is the same, as it was filmed at the same time. It is best viewed as a whole with the Three Musketeers.

Although filmed together, the producers decided to release this adaptation of the Dumas classic in two parts, with this being the sequel to the 1973 film. The first film meandered initially before the main story line of the queen's diamond kicked in. Here too the film gets off to a rambling start. Unfortunately, things don't quite come together like they did in the first film. There is less of a sense of fun here, as the mood has darkened, which is not a bad thing except that the narrative is not very well sustained. While Welch was the female focus in the first film, this one belongs to Dunaway, who is excellent as the evil Milady.

I was forced to wait 6 months between watching "The Three Musketeers" and getting an opportunity to watch this "sequel" (shot at the same time) and it was agony, though I was somewhat afraid that the second one would not live up to its predecessor. I am glad to say that I was completely wrong and that this one more than lives up to its companion. The action is just as fast and the characters as endearing (because, as we learn, only Porthos could find "a new way to disarm himself" - and then make it work when it counted!) But comedy aside (such as our heroes eating breakfast in the middle of a battle), the serious turns that had to be taken in order to stay true to Dumas' novel were very well done also. Oliver Reed imparts his loathing for Milady DeWinter not only with his words, but also with the expression in his [gorgeous] eyes and when he holds her at gunpoint in order to get the Cardinal's warrant, several seconds go by in which you as a viewer actually believe that he will kill her right there in cold blood. In fact, Reed is, in my opinion, truly the star of this picture as his character of Athos attempts to mentor young D'Artangan and prevent him from being hurt. Michael York is, as usual, wide-eyed and very courageous and Finlay and Chamberlain continue to be terrific fops but it is Reed that carries them through. Kudos also have to go to Faye Dunaway as Milady - she is truly evil and charming at the same time and you can see how her character manages to be so good at what she does. I encourage everyone to see this movie - especially as a companion to "The Three Musketeer" - and support those in favor of having an edited-together three hour version. It is truly a classic. (And side note to my fellow students - if you don't have time to read the book "The Three Musketeers," rent these two movies and you'll get the gist of what you need to know.)

Continues pretty much immediately from where 'The Three Musketeers' left things. This focuses on the need of milady - nasty Faye Dunaway - to get revenge on D'Artagnan (Michael York) and girlfriend Constance (Raquel Welch).

Darker than its predecessor and possibly not as much fun, this is still as good as the first film giving the principals more time to concentrate on character rather than the origins elements. This results in wonderful turns from Finlay, Reed and especially Heston and Lee who seem to have more to do and appear to be enjoying themselves immensely.

A bit more of the wonderful Roy Kinnear would have been nice - he seems to have been thrown in front of the camera for the occasional comedy scene and as quickly removed. Overall, great fun though.

A disappointing sequel followed some year later.

I am not a great fan of Dick Lester's films, because there are not my cup of tea, but I must admit that he has hos own trade mark. I could easily recognize any of his movies any time. my favourite is ROBIN AND MARIAN, which is also one of his darkest. and in this film, FOUR MUSKETEERS, you have many elements in common with ROBIN AND MARIAN. Visual and directing effects that are Lester's touch. I would have imagined him directing DON QUICHOTTE as Terry Gillima did. At last for him !!!! Yes I could say hat Richard Lester are quite similar in style directors.