Monday August 28, 7:00pm, The Paramount Theater
Dumas amuck
Among the most popular works of literature adapted for film, Alexander Dumas' D'Artagnan Romances, have seen no less than ninety versions produced for the screen, from Biograph's abbreviated, Fencing Contest from 'The Three Musketeers' (1898), to French and Latvian features released in 2005. Dumas' trilogy, The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, and The Vicomte de Bragelonne, have been reincarnated as animated characters, French Legionnaires, secret agents, troubadours and even Texas Rangers!
A Modern Musketeer ...
D'Artagnan was perfect casting for an excessively energetic Douglas Fairbanks in A Modern Musketeer (1917). The film offered a glimpse of the young swordsman as a fantasy sequence within a modern story. It also served as a seed of inspiration when Fairbanks launched into the final decade of his silent film career with a series of costume dramas including The Three Musketeers (1921). The art direction, production design and originality of these films, which include Robin Hood (1923), The Thief of Bagdad (1924) and The Gaucho (1928) remains unsurpassed today. As his finale to the silent era, Fairbanks returned to Dumas and D'Artagnan's further adventures in The Iron Mask (1929). Along with Fairbanks, returning from the 1921 film were Marguerite De La Motte as Constance, Nigel De Brulier as Cardinal Richelieu (a character he played four times), Lon Poff as Father Joseph, Charles Stevens as Planchet, D'Artagnan's servant, Leon Bary as Athos and screenwriter Lotta Woods. Fairbanks also gave a nod to the coming of sound by including a Vitaphone sound-on-disk synchronized musical score which included a spoken prologue and bridge between the end of the Musketeers and Twenty Years After. In 1929, the film was released with both sound and silent versions, as was often the case.
"It is sometimes more difficult for Kings to return Than to make an exit."
This was the last and final time Fairbanks would buckle his swash and the culmination of a lifetime playing humorous and high-spirited action heroes. For it's sheer brilliance of concept, its fluid movement from one scene to the next with the continuous flow of narrative, the initial introduction of characters and setup of the story in this film is unequaled. The film begins with the entrance of King Louis XIII at St. Germain as he anxiously awaits the birth of an heir. The quality of set design, thousands of costumed extras used, monumental production scale and painstaking detail of craftsmanship could never be undertaken today. From the palace, the action moves to D'Artagnan beckoning Constance from the street, below her window. She must hurry to the waiting Queen's coach, and in a sequence of almost balletic beauty she and D'Artagnan hurry from place to place, in search of a moment's privacy, and a kiss. At forty-five, Fairbanks shows every bit of the athletic grace seen in earlier films as he and De La Motte glide over a garden wall and back again. Fairbanks gives his character just the right amount of boyish mischief to balance a flawless performance. D'Artagnon literally rides into the next scene as he jumps from the coach to the aid of his fellow musketeers. They challenge the Cardinal's Guards, then seamlessly move into a wonderful display of humorous camaraderie as the four link arms in a tug-of-war between the much larger Porthos (Stanley J. Stanford) and D'Artagnan that ends as they pull a cartload of barrels into a tavern. Only Fairbanks could transform something as simple as catching a tossed breadroll into a captivating display of skill. The Musketeers are left to pass the time as the action returns to the palace and Louis presenting his newborn son to the cheering sea of humanity below (and that ain't cgi!). And then of course, there is " the other one " As in all Fairbanks' films, the swordplay is spectacular, this time using Belgian fencing master Fred Cavens as coach and consultant. Overall production was supervised by Maurice Leloir, " the acknowledged authority on the period depicted. With The Iron Mask , Fairbanks offers a combination of action, romance and humor showcasing the skills that he developed over years as he literally defined the genre. It's hard to imagine having a better time at any movie.
Dumas amuck
Among the most popular works of literature adapted for film, Alexander Dumas' D'Artagnan Romances, have seen no less than ninety versions produced for the screen, from Biograph's abbreviated, Fencing Contest from 'The Three Musketeers' (1898), to French and Latvian features released in 2005. Dumas' trilogy, The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, and The Vicomte de Bragelonne, have been reincarnated as animated characters, French Legionnaires, secret agents, troubadours and even Texas Rangers!
A Modern Musketeer ...
D'Artagnan was perfect casting for an excessively energetic Douglas Fairbanks in A Modern Musketeer (1917). The film offered a glimpse of the young swordsman as a fantasy sequence within a modern story. It also served as a seed of inspiration when Fairbanks launched into the final decade of his silent film career with a series of costume dramas including The Three Musketeers (1921). The art direction, production design and originality of these films, which include Robin Hood (1923), The Thief of Bagdad (1924) and The Gaucho (1928) remains unsurpassed today. As his finale to the silent era, Fairbanks returned to Dumas and D'Artagnan's further adventures in The Iron Mask (1929). Along with Fairbanks, returning from the 1921 film were Marguerite De La Motte as Constance, Nigel De Brulier as Cardinal Richelieu (a character he played four times), Lon Poff as Father Joseph, Charles Stevens as Planchet, D'Artagnan's servant, Leon Bary as Athos and screenwriter Lotta Woods. Fairbanks also gave a nod to the coming of sound by including a Vitaphone sound-on-disk synchronized musical score which included a spoken prologue and bridge between the end of the Musketeers and Twenty Years After. In 1929, the film was released with both sound and silent versions, as was often the case.
"It is sometimes more difficult for Kings to return Than to make an exit."
This was the last and final time Fairbanks would buckle his swash and the culmination of a lifetime playing humorous and high-spirited action heroes. For it's sheer brilliance of concept, its fluid movement from one scene to the next with the continuous flow of narrative, the initial introduction of characters and setup of the story in this film is unequaled. The film begins with the entrance of King Louis XIII at St. Germain as he anxiously awaits the birth of an heir. The quality of set design, thousands of costumed extras used, monumental production scale and painstaking detail of craftsmanship could never be undertaken today. From the palace, the action moves to D'Artagnan beckoning Constance from the street, below her window. She must hurry to the waiting Queen's coach, and in a sequence of almost balletic beauty she and D'Artagnan hurry from place to place, in search of a moment's privacy, and a kiss. At forty-five, Fairbanks shows every bit of the athletic grace seen in earlier films as he and De La Motte glide over a garden wall and back again. Fairbanks gives his character just the right amount of boyish mischief to balance a flawless performance. D'Artagnon literally rides into the next scene as he jumps from the coach to the aid of his fellow musketeers. They challenge the Cardinal's Guards, then seamlessly move into a wonderful display of humorous camaraderie as the four link arms in a tug-of-war between the much larger Porthos (Stanley J. Stanford) and D'Artagnan that ends as they pull a cartload of barrels into a tavern. Only Fairbanks could transform something as simple as catching a tossed breadroll into a captivating display of skill. The Musketeers are left to pass the time as the action returns to the palace and Louis presenting his newborn son to the cheering sea of humanity below (and that ain't cgi!). And then of course, there is " the other one " As in all Fairbanks' films, the swordplay is spectacular, this time using Belgian fencing master Fred Cavens as coach and consultant. Overall production was supervised by Maurice Leloir, " the acknowledged authority on the period depicted. With The Iron Mask , Fairbanks offers a combination of action, romance and humor showcasing the skills that he developed over years as he literally defined the genre. It's hard to imagine having a better time at any movie.