Review of The Three Musketeers

The only reason I gave this an 8 was because it was silent and no English subtitles at least the version I saw had no English subtitles. This 1921 version follows the book unlike it's entertaining but loosely adapted 1921 American rival film with Douglas Fairbanks.The Fairbanks version did keep the character of Bernajoux the greatest swordsman of the Cardinal's Guard who went to avenge his fellow Cardinal's guards and ended up being defeated D'Artagnan and was well acted and had wonderful sets and costumes.99% of Three Musketeers adaptations don't keep the character and sometimes when they do they combine Bernajoux character with Monsieur Bonancieux. Sorry to get sidetracked. This 1921 French version follows the book very faithfully has wonderful performances and great looking sets and authentic recreations of 17th century costumes. Milady in this version looks like a brunette to me. This version has all the characters including minor characters such as Lord de Winter,Duchess de Chevreuse and the Executioner of Lille. It also shows in flashbacks Athos courtship of the beautiful but treacherous woman the supposed priest's sister who later resurfaces as Milady de Winter. The priest and Milady are both shown in the flashbacks. If it is one thing I appreciate it is faithful adaptations of classical novels and this one is definitely one of them. This was followed by a sequel that was based on latter half of Three Musketeers novel and the Twenty Years After. What a shame the sequel hasn't been released on video. It had the same cast as this movie. This film is a big improvement over some of the recent French and English remakes of the novel. All true Three Musketeers fans need this version for their collection.