This weekend, Paul W.S. Anderson brings his own adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's novel The Three Musketeers to movie theaters. This is hardly the first feature film foray for the titular trio of sword-fighting adventurers though. The Three Musketeers, first published in 1844, has been interpreted for the screen over twenty times in the past century and framed as everything from a silent film to a Russian musical to a Charlie Sheen star vehicle. In celebration of this weekend's latest rendering of the classic, let's re-examine the Musketeers' long cinematic history.
1921: By this time, Hollywood had already cranked out three silent iterations of the The Three Musketeers, the most notable being the 1916 feature starring vaudeville stars Louise Glaum (as Milady de Winter, the beautiful and remorseless spy for Cardinal Richelieu) and Dorothy Dalton. But it wasn't until 1921 that the U.S. enjoyed its first big Musketeers remake with silent swashbuckling star and that era's "King of Hollywood" Douglas Fairbanks. As d'Artagnan -- the hotheaded youth who is ultimately befriended by the Musketeers and protected as a son -- Fairbanks at one point performed a one-handed handspring to grab a sword during a fight scene which was considered one of the greatest stunts of this era.
1939: Four years after Hollywood released its first English-language talking Three Musketeers (one that still paled in comparison to the Fairbanks adaptation), Hollywood decided that the Dumas novel was ready for a comedic take. Hence 1939's musical comedy Three Musketeers which stars Academy Award winner Don Ameche (Cocoon) as D'Artagnan and comedy trio the Ritz Brothers as his cowardly helpers, who dance and sing about chicken soup.
1948: The Three Musketeers got its technicolor close-up in 1948 with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's splashy adaptation starring Gene Kelly as D'Artagnan, Lana Turner as Countess de Winter and Angela Lansbury (at just 23 years old) as Queen Anne. Although Gene Kelly may have given off more of a dashing vibe than the dangerous and quick-tempered sensibility ascribed to his character in the novel, his physical ability made him one of the most graceful and acrobatic Musketeers in film history.
1952: Just four years later, MGM re-adapted the novel, this time with the help of animated directors William Hanna and Joseph Barbera as a Tom and Jerry short. The Two Mouseketeers won an Academy Award for Best Short Subject and because of its success, Hanna and Barbera spun three other Mouseketeers movies off of this original.
1961: The French adapted the Musketeers into a double-feature adaptation with elaborate settings and costumes nearly a decade later. Directed by Bernard Borderie, this foreign adaptation starred Gérard Barray, Mylène Demongeot and Jean Carmet.
1973: Originally pitched as a project for the Beatles to star in, director Richard Lester (A Hard Day's Night and Help!) ended up casting Michael York, Oliver Reed, Frank Finlay and Richard Chamberlain as his sword-wielding leads with Geraldine Chaplin, Faye Dunaway and Raquel Welch making up the female contingent. Charlton Heston joined the fun as the villainous Cardinal Richelieu. This close adaptation, which also featured some bawdy humor, was met by mostly positive reviews from critics and is remembered as one of the best Musketeers in film.
1978: Oh, but what you really wanted was a Soviet musical spin on the novel? The Russians executed this feat with D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers, which stars Mikhail Boyarsky as d'Artagnan. Because of the popularity of this feature (and its soundtrack), three sequels followed.
1993: Fifteen years later, Disney tried its hand at the material by casting three of the hottest male actors of the '90s -- Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland and Chris O'Donnell -- as its leads and enlisting Bryan Adams to pen a song for the soundtrack. (The song of course was "All for Love," which he performed with Rod Stewart and Sting.) Although the film received so-so reviews (and a Razzie nomination for O'Donnell), the '90s Musketeers was a modest box-office success.
2001: So there was also a Musketeers adaptation that features a Grey's Anatomy star -- it was 2001's The Musketeer which pitted Justin Chambers as dashing swordsman D'Artagnan alongside Tim Roth, Stephen Rea, Mena Suvari and Catherine Deneuve. Although the film bombed and was universally criticized by reviewers, The Musketeer does have the distinction of being the number one film in America during the week of the Sept. 11th attacks. That's something.
2011: This weekend's installment separates itself from the looooong series of Musketeers adaptations preceding it in two ways: 1) It is being released in 3-D and 2) It is the most expensive adaptation yet. Logan Lerman stars as the young d'Artagnan alongside Matthew Macfayden, Luke Evans, Ray Stevenson, Milla Jovovich and Orlando Bloom. Will it stand the test of time and be remembered as one of the best big screen Musketeers interpretations? We'll soon find out.