The Fifth Musketeer (1979)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Good concept, poorly executed.

Admirable film.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Since the copy I acquired of this film bears the year of copyright as 1977, I can only assume it was delayed by 2 years because it was preceded by the 1977 TV version of THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK – given that the title under review is merely another adaptation of this classic Alexandre Dumas tale! Made on a grand scale, with a large and international star-studded cast, the film apparently intended to ape the jokey style of Richard Lester's recent two-part (1973/1974) rendition of Dumas' "The Three Musketeers". However, director Annakin was too much of an old-style film-maker to make that work and, in any case, his handling is generally uninspired – merely content to let the script (reworking James Whale's superior 1939 version!), the actors and Jack Cardiff's gorgeous color photography tell the tale, as it were (aided, of course, by Riz Ortolani's suitably rousing score).Amusingly, top billing here goes to the ladies: heroine Sylvia Kristel (fresh off the erotic "Emmanuelle" series, she even gets away with some very mild nudity!) and villainess Ursula Andress (at the tail-end of her stardom really but surprisingly enthusiastic). Incidentally, one of the novelties here is that Andress' Mademoiselle La Valliere (I was not familiar with the character when I encountered her in J. Sheridan LeFanu's "The Room In The Dragon Volant", which I subsequently turned into a script!) gets much more screen-time than her equivalent in the 1939 'original'; indeed, the two women have a number of confrontations throughout – notably when Andress sets a falcon on Kristal. The male lead, however, was a gross miscalculation as Beau Bridges' style of acting is too modern to pass muster in a period romp and in this company (though he must have relished getting close to two beauties such as he is flanked by here)! A measure of the (cynical) times, however, is the fact that the assassination attempt on the King (for which, being aware of it, he has deliberately sent his unwitting twin) resolves itself not by a persuasively sympathetic speech as in the 1939 version but rather a full-bloodied yet highly improbable action sequence! The Four Musketeers, then, are played up as much older than in the earlier version (they still get involved in plenty of derring-do but only 2 expire at the end): Cornel Wilde is D'Artagnan, Jose' Ferrer Athos, Lloyd Bridges (yes, Beau's dad!) Aramis and Alan Hale Jr. in his own real-life father's old role as Porthos – interestingly, 27 years prior to this, Wilde and Hale had appeared together in a similar swashbuckler, actually playing the sons of their respective characters here, AT SWORD'S POINT (1952)! Likewise, an over-age Rex Harrison 'replaces' Walter Kingsford as the Musketeers' court insider – though the muddled script fails to properly explain the reason behind the beating he receives towards the end! Ian McShane, on the other hand, is perhaps too young for the villainous Fouquet and, again, he emanates from a school of acting which jars with the rest of his colleagues (though he is certainly fun to watch). Olivia De Havilland (in her final theatrical appearance), then, is something of an embarrassment – popping up in a couple of scenes (confronting one Bridges and acknowledging another) as the former Queen-turned-Nun and Bernard Bresslaw (who seems to have strayed in from the "Carry On" series) is a blind inn-keeper! The prologue depicting the children's birth and enforced separation has been dropped here – presumably to instill an air of mystery into the proceedings; oddly, too, the all-important mask is given an impossibly clunky design (looking very much like a cooking-pot!). Finally, I have just realized that the version of the film I acquired and watched was 13 minutes short of the full-length running-time!

Despite a stellar cast, The Fifth Musketeer still remains just an average retelling of The Man In The Iron Mask, Alexandre Dumas's sequel novel to The Three Musketeers. Ironically in the role of the aging D'Artagnan is Cornel Wilde who I would love to have seen in The Three Musketeers back in the day. Wilde in fact was a fencing champion, he was on the US Olympic team before he became an actor. No preliminary tale of the birth of the twins to Louis XIII and Anne of Austria. We meet the grownup Louis XIV and Phillipe of Gascony as grown young men. Phillippe's been trained in the military arts by his foster father D'Artagnan and the other Three Musketeers, Jose Ferrer as Athos, Alan Hale, Jr. as Porthos, and Lloyd Bridges as Aramis. Louis and Phillippe are played by Beau Bridges.That seems to be the main weakness of the film. I think Beau himself would be the first to agree he hasn't the swashbuckling élan of Louis Hayward, but he also isn't as good Leonardo DiCaprio in a later version. As for Queen Maria Theresa whom we meet as the Infanta of Spain, Marie Kristel also lacks some passion. If I were either of these twins I'd have taken up with royal mistress Ursula Andress in a Parisian minute. Now she's full of passion.Rex Harrison and Ian McShane are an interesting pair of dueling ministers, Colbert and Fouquet, both of whom did vie for Louis XIV's favor, but well into his reign. McShane is not as sly as Joseph Schildkraut in the 1939 The Man With The Iron Mask. Harrison seems preoccupied like he was waiting for his salary check to clear. For the very few minutes Olivia DeHavilland is on screen as Queen Mother Anne of Austria, she's completely wasted.The cinematography is grand, it always is when Jack Cardiff does it. The film was shot in Vienna which apparently looks more 17th century than Paris does now. But Ken Annakin who usually does films that roar with action and adventure seems not to be able to get this one to rise to the occasion.

A rather sad film with several stellar actors near the end of their careers, playing men of action near the end of their own careers.The great cinematographer, Jack Cardiff, adds a touch of class to this otherwise ordinary film with some moody, misty shots of fields at dawn, gardens at sunset and fireworks.I find it almost unbearable to watch Cornel Wilde, Rex Harrison and Jose Ferrer in this film. It should have been called: Die Gotterdammerung-The Twilight of The Gods-(French-version).Lots of sword-play and some near-charming dialogue. Not as sharp or as witty as it could have been if it had been made 10 years earlier.

1st watched 1/26/2001 - 5 out of 10 (Dir-Ken Annakin): Average played out and retelling of "The Man in the Iron Mask" story. A look-alike of King Louie is put into power by the musketeers for political reasons although this version tries to play up a love interest without much success. Could have been a good romantic/adventure but lacking in heart-felt talent.