The Three Musketeers (1961 film)

The Three Musketeers is a 1961 film adaptation of the 1844 novel by Alexandre Dumas, père which consists of two parts.[3] The script keeps close to the classic French novel. The director treats all the classic characters with respect, not making fun of any of them, although there is humour when d'Artagnan rides his peculiar horse and when Planchet supplies wine for the heroes.

The Three Musketeers
Semur-en-Auxois, one of the locations
Directed by	Bernard Borderie
Produced by	Films Borderie Les Films Modernes Le Film d'Art Fono Roma
Written by	Bernard Borderie et Jean-Bernard Luc [1]
Based on	The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas père
Starring	Gérard Barray Mylène Demongeot Perrette Pradier Georges Descrières
Music by	Paul Misraki
Cinematography	Armand Thirard
Edited by	Christian Gaudin
Distributed by	Pathé Distribution
Release date	November 4, 1961 (1961-11-04) (France)
Running time	186 minutes
Country	France Italy
Language	French
Box office	$33.5 million[2]

The film's location shots were made in Bois de Boulogne, around and in the Château de Guermantes in Seine-et-Marne and in Semur-en-Auxois (department Côte-d'Or).

The settings, costumes and props are very elaborate and give the impression of historical accuracy.[4] Bernard Borderie and his crew demonstrated here already the qualities which later contributed substantially to the success of his series of five costume drama films about Anne Golon's heroine Angelique. Since Bernard Borderie had already made several Lemmy Caution films he was an expert for fighting scenes. In comparison to the likewise brilliant fencing the dancer Gene Kelly (An American in Paris, Xanadu) had provided as “d'Artagnan” in an earlier adaptation, the fencing in this film looks less like dancing and more dangerous. But Borderie also knew how to present a fist fight. When d'Artagnan defends Mme Bonacieux against a couple of the cardinal's thugs, the director does not only use dramatic sound effects but furthermore lets Barray's punches look more explosive by taking out frames very precisely when he is about to hit. He is also capable of making us believe an outnumbered man could really win the day if only certain circumstances are given, because in Borderie's films the thugs are often so overly keen on decking the hero that they actually hinder each other to succeed.