When you say Gene Kelly most people think of him as a dancer - dancing with Jerry Mouse in Anchor's Away or singing and dancing in the rain from Singin' in the Rain - which is accurate but there is much more to him. In Singin' in the Rain he plays Don Lockwood, a Hollywood star who started as a stuntman. So I was surprised at how swashbuckling he was.
So I decided to rewatch The Three Musketeers. I'd watched it many, many years ago as a young lad but didn't remember much. I remembered enough to get my youngest to watch it with me. His fight with Rochefort at the start of the movie was a joy to behold, Kelly displays a great athleticism as does everyone involved but Kelly is clearly having the time of his life. He leaps around, whacks his opponent on the bum with his sword. Both my daughter and I were laughing at this, and I said to the wife "this is how they should do fights. None of this jerky cam business we see today."
I felt the movie lost some momentum after D'Artagnan recovers the Queen's jewels, It may be that I felt that was the conclusion of the story (crisis averted) or it might have been that the daughter was getting restless. (Looking at the summaries on IMDB that seems to be the dividing mark for 1974 The Three Musketeers/ The Four Musketeers )
At 38, Gene Kelly was probably too old to play D'Artagnan but that didn't worry me too much, I was constantly reminded of Mandy Potempkin in The Princess Bride (although the inspiration would be the other way around) watching him.
I really enjoyed this movie, seeing a very young Angela Landsbury as Queen Anne was a pleasant surprise. I now have a hankering to rewatch the 1993 version (Don't judge me) and check out the 2011 version to compare the versions.
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