FILM · 1973 · USA
The Three Musketeers
43 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (43)
- #001
Oliver Reed was seriously wounded and nearly died when he was stabbed in the throat during the windmill duel scene.
- #002
As a result of producers Alexander Salkind, Ilya Salkind and Michael Salkind splitting this film into two parts, Screen Actors' Guild contracts now generally include a provision commonly called the "Salkind Clause," which requires producers to specify in advance how many films will be shot and to pay the actors and actresses involved for each one. The second clause applies even, and especially, if the producers make that decision during or after production.
- #003
Michael York cut his leg in one duel and nearly lost an eye in another. Oliver Reed took a sword to the hand. Frank Finlay was hit in the face by a two-by-four and was burned in separate fight scenes. Sir Christopher Lee fared better than most of the cast, with only a sprained knee and a pulled shoulder muscle. Conditions grew so bad that at one point York recalls doubling for an injured stuntman; he later resorted to stuffing his script inside his clothes for protection.
- #004
Frank Finlay played two roles. He also portrayed the jeweler O'Reilly, who is tasked by Simon Ward's Duke of Buckingham with remaking the two missing diamond studs.
- #005
Sir Christopher Lee's performance as Rochefort was so effective that, although the character is not mentioned wearing one in the original Musketeers books, Rochefort has worn an eyepatch in every film version since.
- #006
According to George MacDonald Fraser, Richard Lester initially said he wanted to make a four-hour film and wanted Richard Chamberlain for the role of Aramis; Fraser felt this gave him a strong idea of the tone Lester was after.
- #007
Oliver Reed and Raquel Welch clashed on set after she turned him down at a party and chose to dance with her hairdresser instead.
- #008
The crew made use of small towns such as Salamanca, where the local judge said the fee collected from this film's production was enough to feed even the poorest person in the town for a year.
- #009
The billiard room in the Duke of Buckingham's English mansion and the long hall behind it were shot in the same location as Patton (1970). They also appear in The Four Musketeers (1974), in the scene where Milady and Buckingham discuss American Indians, and serve as a series of rooms for a different character in France in The Return of the Musketeers (1989). In addition, the dress Faye Dunaway wears in the closing ball scene is also the main dress worn by the Queen in The Man in the Iron Mask (1977).
- #010
Spring and summer weather in Spain was grueling because of the heat. On a day of shooting in Aranjuez (the scene in which d'Artagnan is taken in among the Musketeers), the temperature reached one hundred twenty-two degrees Fahrenheit (fifty degrees Celsius). The large cast and crew required for the elaborate scene reportedly consumed seven thousand bottles of water.
- #011
In the original novel, Constance Bonacieux is repeatedly described as "intelligent," whereas in this film she is portrayed mainly for comic effect as somewhat clumsy, accident-prone and a little less clever, though still extremely loyal to the Queen.
- #012
Jean-Pierre Cassel (King Louis XIII) was dubbed by Richard Briers.
- #013
The sets were closed, and the European press did not like it at all. Richard Lester, however, was worried about his ideas being stolen, since four other adaptations of the book were also in production at the time (two Italian, one French and one animated).
- #014
Because the production company could not find a stuntman, Roy Kinnear performed his own riding stunts.
- #015
More than fifty locations and over a hundred sets were spread across Spain, including Segovia, where Richard Lester had made A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966).
- #016
The "riding theme" in the score was based on music from Act II of Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Aida."
- #017
Joss Ackland (d'Artagnan's Father) had previously played d'Artagnan in The Further Adventures of the Musketeers (1967).
- #018
In his memoirs, Charlton Heston wrote that he was initially offered the role of Athos but turned down the lead because roughly four to five months of shooting in Spain seemed "gloomy," though he agreed to take a much smaller role because he liked the script. He was given the choice between playing the Duke of Buckingham or Cardinal Richelieu, and Heston chose the latter.
- #019
During the laundry fight scene, one of the combatants slides on board-like objects. These are literally bars of soap. Although people generally call a bar of soap a bar of soap, this is the origin of the word: soap was originally sold in bars, and people cut smaller pieces to form soap bars.
- #020
According to George MacDonald Fraser, Richard Lester became involved in the project because the Salkinds briefly considered casting The Beatles as the Musketeers, since Lester had previously directed A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Help! (1965). The Beatles idea was set aside, but Lester stayed.
- #021
Georges Wilson was dubbed by Sir Michael Hordern.
- #022
Richard Lester wanted Malcolm McDowell to play d'Artagnan.
- #023
This was Francis De Wolff's last film before his death on 18 April 1984 at the age of 71.
- #024
Charlton Heston became friends with Oliver Reed.
- #025
The film was criticized for its scenes of animal abuse and cruelty.
- #026
If Raquel Welch had turned down the role of Constance, Julie Christie would have been the next choice.
- #027
Sir Alan Bates turned down the role of Athos.
- #028
Oliver Reed, Charlton Heston and Raquel Welch reunited in Crossed Swords (1977), also written by George MacDonald Fraser.
- #029
Tony Richardson was originally set to direct, but he was removed after saying the entire film had to take place in a monastery.
- #030
The film was planned to be shot in Hungary. After visiting the country, however, Richard Lester felt this would not be possible, partly because of the government's restrictions on filming.
- #031
This was Richard Lester's first feature film since The Bed Sitting Room (1969), though he had directed commercials and sought financing for other projects, including an adaptation of George MacDonald Fraser's novel "Flashman".
- #032
George MacDonald Fraser had never written a screenplay, but Richard Lester felt "Flashman" had the tone he was looking for in his own version of The Three Musketeers, and the author was offered the job of writing the script in late 1972.
- #033
Jean-Pierre Cassel (King Louis XIII) also played D'Artagnan in Cyrano et d'Artagnan (1964).
- #034
The sword-fighting scenes are noted for their accuracy. In many fencing training videos, footage of the action in the laundry, especially with Oliver Reed, has been used as a good example of dagger and rapier technique.
- #035
The film entered Variety's "50 Top-Grossing Films" list at No. 4 on 10 April 1974 (its premiere was held on 28 March 1974, three months after it opened in Europe) with a gross of $464,350. By the end of the year it had earned $4,234,429, making it the 24th highest-grossing film of 1974.
- #036
The film's cast includes two Oscar winners, Charlton Heston and Faye Dunaway, and one Oscar nominee, Frank Finlay.
- #037
The actors Richard Chamberlain (Aramis) and Ángel del Pozo (Jussac) died on the same day, 29 March 2025.
- #038
Although Joss Ackland was fourteen years older than Michael York, he played York's father.
- #039
Raquel Welch was difficult to work with on this film and was feuding with Faye Dunaway; the most famous conflict on set was between Welch and Faye Dunaway, and their rivalry was so intense that they were said to have refused to be on the same set at the same time for some scenes.
- #040
Charlton Heston and Michael York both played John the Baptist: Heston in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) and York in Jesus of Nazareth (1977).
- #041
When it first premiered at the Hoyts Mayfair Cinema in Sydney, the film had been announced as a 70mm presentation.
- #042
Anne of Austria was born in Spain but was a member of the House of Habsburg (Austria).
- #043
In Alexandre Dumas's novels, D'Artagnan is not illiterate.
Continue through the archive
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- IMDb IMDb kaydı
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work