The Fifth Musketeer

1979
PG
1h 44m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

When French King Louis XIV (Beau Bridges) learns that his twin brother, Philippe (Beau Bridges), could usurp his crown, he sets out to imprison him in the Bastille prison but four loyal musk... Read allWhen French King Louis XIV (Beau Bridges) learns that his twin brother, Philippe (Beau Bridges), could usurp his crown, he sets out to imprison him in the Bastille prison but four loyal musketeers are protecting Philippe.When French King Louis XIV (Beau Bridges) learns that his twin brother, Philippe (Beau Bridges), could usurp his crown, he sets out to imprison him in the Bastille prison but four loyal musketeers are protecting Philippe.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.3/10

885

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Alan Hale, Jr. plays Porthos, the same musketeer played by his father Alan Hale in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939), of which this movie is a direct remake, the earlier movie's screenplay is credited along with the Dumas novel as source material. Furthermore, in At Sword's Point (1952), a Hollywood-concocted sequel to Dumas' novel "The Three Musketeers", Hale played the son of Porthos, while this movie's D'Artagnan, Cornel Wilde, had the role of D'Artagnan's son.

Quotes
Louis XIV: [to Fouquet] Stop trying to look innocent. You haven't got the face for it.

Crazy credits
The longer version, titled Behind the Iron Mask, ends with a fadeout and no end credits at all. All of the film's credits are at the beginning.

Alternate versions
The US release, running 1 hour and 44 minutes, was cut from an original version released overseas, running 1 hour and 56 minutes. Scenes excised from the US release:
An extended scene of Louise de la Valliere's striptease for Louis XIV, exposing her full nudity.
A scene of the Four Musketeers in their prison cell. They play a game of dice, tricking their jailers by inviting them into their game, then restraining them and grabbing their keys for release. Their escape is short-lived, as they see a party of rifle-aiming guards awaiting them. The Captain flatters their ingenuity, but urges them to return to their cell.
An intro to the Musketeers and Philippe in the wine cellar of Bernard's Inn. They come out of hiding in empty wine casks.
An extended scene of the Spanish Ambassador being fatally assaulted by the horse in the stable.
A love scene of Philippe and Marie Theresa in bed together.
A dressed Philippe seeing Marie Theresa sleeping in bed. She awakes.
An extended scene of Marie Theresa dressing, exposing her breasts.
A love scene of Louis and Louise in bed together. The exposed Louise questions Louis' decision to let Philippe live. Louis argues that he is his brother, but assures her that he will eventually die in the Iron Mask, perhaps strangling in the long beard he will grow inside it.
An extended scene to Fouquet watching Colbert and Marie Theresa's Spanish-language conversion. He brings out a spy.
An extended scene of Colbert heading to Bernard's Inn. Fouquet's spy follows Colbert. Bernard plays dumb to the spy's questions.
An extended scene of Louis trying to rape Marie Theresa. The two fall off the bed with Marie Theresa moving away from his grasp (to drug Louis' goblet)
An extended scene of Louise being stood up in her dinner date with Louis. She shouts at the musicians to stop.
An extended scene of the Musketeers meeting with Marie Theresa. D'Artagnan throws his cloak around the breast-exposed princess.
Fouquet shows Colbert the rack, demonstrating its work by pulling a stuffed dummy apart.
An extended scene of Aramis' death. He is able to throw his Parrying Dagger at his assailant, killing him.
An extended scene of Philippe's duel with Louis. Philippe is able to wound Louis in the thigh.

Connections
Featured in The World According to Smith & Jones: The Napoleonic Wars (1987)

User reviews16

Review

Featured review

6/10

Waste of great talent

THE FIFTH MUSKETEER - what a big disappointment. All that amazing talent, all those famous names, and only a couple of adequate performances in the entire film. What went wrong? I have the sneaking suspicion there were too many Chiefs and not enough Indians working in this film. The filmmakers probably found it hard to control the big names, and it shows. Clever dialogue would have made it possible to overlook the tepid, unoriginal script, but alas, there is very little.

Even if I were not an Ian McShane fan I would be forced to admit his characterisation of Fouquet remains the only one in the film which seems fully formed. Even though he plays the villain I found myself cheering him on because he was the only one with any charisma or humour in the entire film. The female performers are appealing. I hear the UK version has some nudity; the US VHS version has been cut to the point of somnambulism.

Trivia for McShane fans: The hijinx appear to all have taken place off-set rather than on. During the making of THE FIFTH MUSKETEER, Sylvia Kristel (of the EMMANUELLE soft porn series of films) and Ian McShane became involved in a highly-publicized, scandalous long- term affair. And McShane has related memories (complete with a spot-on vocal impersonation) of Rex Harrison imperiously barking orders at him to get out of his light during filming. It was that kind of set.