The Three Musketeers (1921)

Set in 1625 France, a young man (Douglas Fairbanks) from a rural province leaves for Paris in the hopes of joining the King's musketeers. He soon finds himself involved with court intrigues, duels and a romance with the Queen's seamstress (Marguerite De La Motte). Based on the classic 1844 novel by Alexandre Dumas and directed by Fred Niblo (BLOOD AND SAND). There have been over 25 film and television versions of the Dumas novel between 1903 and 2013. The most notable being the 1948 MGM film, Richard Lester's 1973/1974 tongue in cheek adaptation and this silent version. D'Artagnan is the perfect role for Fairbanks, the king of swashbucklers of the silent era (he also played Robin Hood, Zorro and the thief of Bagdad). His high energy is infectious but the film itself moves at an uneven pace and often seems padded out such as the dinner at the monastery which adds nothing to the film when it should have been tighter. And it's not even the complete novel but only half of it, ending with the recovery of the Queen's diamonds. The murder of Constance and the execution of Milady are eliminated from this version. I watched the restored 2017 transfer and I must say it's the best the film has ever looked. With Adolphe Menjou as Louis XVI, Eugene Pallette as Aramis (and unrecognizable from the portly character actor he became in the sound era), Nigel De Brulier as Richelieu, Barbara La Marr as Milady, Mary MacLaren as Queen Anne, George Siegmann as Porthos and Leon Bary as Athos.