This is the second version, I believe, of the beloved Alexandre Dumas novel starring Van Heflin, Gig Young & a somewhat miscast Gene Kelly. Although I admit this story never intrigued me growing up (I tended to gravitate to superheroes or figures in sci-fi) it does deliver the action goods if that's what you get out of it but by having Kelly on board, who admittedly wanted to mount a musical version of Cyrano De Bergerac & used this vehicle as a testing ground of sorts (according to the TCM intro), he feels right at home jumping & leaping from stage left to stage right but when he had to deliver the overripe dialogue, I wouldn't be surprised if he'd burst into peals of laughter between takes. Only the supporting roles, essayed by Lana Turner, Vincent Price & Frank Morgan (the Wizard of Oz himself) fare better since they knew what level this kind of material needed to be delivered at. On the whole I'd give this outing a mild recommend but I feel Richard Lester's 1973 version is the best since it doesn't take the material too seriously & ventures firmly into the world of camp & satire w/exciting results.
Review of The Three Musketeers
